41-568: Suicide Bridge is a novel by Iain Sinclair . The book examines the characters of William Blake 's Jerusalem as influenced by their psychogeography . The book mixes poetry with prose essays. Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography . Sinclair
82-478: A stand-up comedian. He moved to Gloucester Road around 1985. In 1986 he entered a treatment centre in Weston-super-Mare , where he claimed that his heroin addiction was cured. In 1989, "through a series of accidents", he "blagged" his way into running a small publishing company. The publication of his short story collection The Quantity Theory of Insanity brought him to public attention in 1991. Self
123-571: A Jew as a protest against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon . In 2018 he stated in an interview with the BBC that he had rethought his position, due to the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Britain . Self is 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) tall, collects vintage typewriters and used to smoke a pipe . His brother is the author and journalist Jonathan Self . Self became a vegetarian in 2019. In 2016,
164-550: A mixture of essay, fiction, prose-poetry and poetry; they were followed by White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings (1987), a novel juxtaposing the tale of a disreputable band of bookdealers on the hunt for a priceless copy of Arthur Conan Doyle 's A Study in Scarlet and the Jack the Ripper murders (here attributed to the physician William Gull ). Sinclair was for some time perhaps best known for
205-513: A panellist on Have I Got News for You and as a regular on Shooting Stars . Since 2008 Self has appeared five times on Question Time . He stopped appearing in Have I Got News for You , stating the show had become a pseudo -panel show. Between 2003 and 2006, he was a regular contributor to the BBC2 television series Grumpy Old Men . Since 2009, Self has written two alternating fortnightly columns for
246-639: A psychogeographical reconstruction of the poet John Clare 's walk from Dr Matthew Allen's private lunatic asylum , at Fairmead House, High Beach , in Epping Forest in Essex, to his home in Helpston , near Peterborough . Sinclair also writes about Claybury Asylum , another psychiatric hospital in Essex, in Rodinsky's Room , a collaboration with the artist Rachel Lichtenstein . Sinclair's book Ghost Milk criticized
287-609: A strong desire for a genuinely egalitarian society." In March 2017, he wrote in the New Statesman : "Nowadays I think in terms of compassionate pragmatism: I'll leave socialism to Žižek and the other bloviators." In July 2015 Self endorsed Jeremy Corbyn 's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election . He said during a Channel 4 News interview that Corbyn represents a useful ideological divide within Labour, and could lead to
328-491: A thinker concerned with the politics of urbanism . Self has also been a regular contributor to British television, initially as a guest on comic panel shows such as Have I Got News for You . In 2002, Self replaced Mark Lamarr on the BBC comedy panel show Shooting Stars for two series, but was himself replaced by comedian Jack Dee when the programme returned in 2008. He has since appeared on current affairs programmes such as Newsnight and Question Time . Self
369-618: A third class degree. At Oxford, he was editor of and frequent contributor to an underground left-wing student newspaper called Red Herring/Oxford Strumpet , copies of which are archived in the Bodleian Library . After graduating from Oxford , Self worked for the Greater London Council , including as a road sweeper, while residing in Brixton . He pursued a career as a cartoonist for the New Statesman and other publications and as
410-565: A trilogy with White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings and Downriver. The volume of essays Lights Out for the Territory gained Sinclair a wider readership by treating the material of his novels in non-fiction form. His essay Sorry Meniscus (1999) ridiculed the Millennium Dome . In 1997, he collaborated with Chris Petit , sculptor Steve Dilworth , and others to make The Falconer , a 56-minute semi-fictional "documentary" film set in London and
451-461: A used book dealer. In June 2019, Sinclair travelled to Lima to begin retracing the journey of his great-grandfather, Arthur Sinclair, to "the source of the Amazon ". Travelling with his daughter, Farne , filmmaker Grant Gee , and poet and translator Adolfo Barberá del Rosal , the journey was expected to result in a range of artistic responses including podcasts, film and various books. The journey
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#1732884710770492-619: Is a contributor to the BBC Radio 4 programme A Point of View , to which he contributes radio essays delivered in his familiar "lugubrious tones". In 2013, Self took part in discussions about becoming the inaugural BBC Radio 4 Writer-in-Residence, but later withdrew. Self was born in Charing Cross Hospital and brought up in north London , between the suburbs of East Finchley and Hampstead Garden Suburb . His parents were Peter John Otter Self , Professor of Public Administration at
533-659: Is a regular contributor to publications including The Guardian , Harper's Magazine , The New York Times and the London Review of Books . He has been a columnist for the Observer , The Times , the New Statesman , the Evening Standard and The New European . His columns for Building Design on the built environment, and for the Independent Magazine on the psychology of place brought him to prominence as
574-758: Is any more than can be said. The topic has outlived its usefulness and become a brand." A consistent theme in Sinclair's non-fiction and semi-fictional works has been the rediscovery of writers who enjoyed success in the early 20th century, but have been largely forgotten. These writers predominantly focus on London, particularly the East London districts in which Sinclair has lived and worked. He has written about, championed and contributed introductory notes to novels by authors such as Robert Westerby , Roland Camberton , Alexander Baron and John Healy . His 2016 work My Favourite London Devils focused on his rediscovery and appreciation of these writers, often while working as
615-500: Is currently Professor of Modern Thought at Brunel University London , where he teaches psychogeography . His 2002 novel Dorian, an Imitation was longlisted for the Booker Prize , and his 2012 novel Umbrella was shortlisted. His fiction is known for being satirical, grotesque and fantastical, and is predominantly set within his home city of London. His writing often explores mental illness, drug abuse and psychiatry. Self
656-486: Is prone to self-promotion at the expense of his patients. He is often the antagonist of the stories he appears in, although not always with villainous intent. Among Self's admirers was the American critic Harold Bloom . Journalist Stuart Maconie has described him as "that rarity in modern cultural life, a genuine intellectual with a bracing command of words and ideas who is also droll, likeable and culturally savvy." In
697-434: Is unrecognisable." This marked the culmination of a series of works that detailed Sinclair's attempts to grasp the changing nature of London and to re-map his own experiences of the city. Sinclair's own view of psychogeography later echoed many of the earlier criticisms of his work which focused on the commodification of 'heritage zones' in less affluent areas of the city. In a 2016 interview, he stated: "I don’t think there
738-520: The New Statesman . The Madness of Crowds explores social phenomena and group behaviour , and in Real Meals he reviews high street food outlets. For a May 2014 article in The Guardian , he wrote: "the literary novel as an art work and a narrative art form central to our culture is indeed dying before our eyes", explaining in a July 2014 article that his royalty income had decreased "dramatically" over
779-423: The 2015 UK general election Self voted Labour in a general election for the first time since 1997 . In May 2015, he wrote in The Guardian : "No, I'm no longer a socialist if to be one is to believe that a socialist utopia is attainable by some collective feat of will – but I remain a socialist, if 'socialism' is to be understood as an antipathy to vested interests and privileges neither deserved nor earned, and
820-763: The London Borough of Hackney , and had a flat in Marine Court , the art deco building modelled after an ocean liner in St Leonards-on-Sea , East Sussex. As well as writing and directing a number of documentary and semi-documentary films, Sinclair has appeared as himself in a number of films by other directors: Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Self
861-574: The London Psychogeographical Association . One of a series of works focused around London is the non-fiction London Orbital , the hardcover edition of which was published in 2002, along with a documentary film of the same name and subject. It describes a series of trips he took tracing the M25 , London's outer-ring motorway, on foot. Sinclair followed this with Edge of the Orison in 2005,
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#1732884710770902-626: The London School of Economics , and Elaine Rosenbloom, from Queens , New York , who worked as a publisher's assistant. His paternal grandfather was Sir Albert Henry Self . Self spent a year living in Ithaca in upstate New York . Self's parents separated when he was nine, and divorced when he was 18. Despite the intellectual encouragement given by his parents, he was an emotionally confused and self-destructive child, harming himself with cigarette ends and knives before beginning to use drugs. Self
943-566: The Outer Hebrides , about the British underground filmmaker Peter Whitehead . It also features Stewart Home , Kathy Acker and Howard Marks . A significant proportion of Sinclair's work has consisted of an ambitious and elaborate literary recuperation of the so-called occultist psychogeography of London. Other psychogeographers who have worked on similar material include Will Self , Stewart Home , Michael Moorcock , Aidan Andrew Dun and
984-490: The British government for using the 2012 Summer Olympics as an excuse to militarize London while forcing the poorest citizens out of their homes. The 2012 games mark a shift in Sinclair's psychogeographical writing, moving to a more documentary mode with fewer semi-fictional elements included in his work. In 2017 Sinclair published The Last London , a conscious move away from writing about "A city so much estranged from its earlier identities (always shifting and revising) that it
1025-540: The End of the Night with inspiring him to write fiction. Zack Busner is a recurring character in Self's fiction, appearing in the short story collections The Quantity Theory of Insanity , Grey Area and Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe , as well as in the novels Great Apes , The Book of Dave , Umbrella and Shark . Busner is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practising in London and
1066-532: The age of 12, progressing by way of amphetamines , cocaine and LSD to heroin , which he started injecting at 18. Self struggled with mental health issues during this period, and aged 20 became a hospital outpatient . Self attended University College School , an independent school for boys in Hampstead . He later attended Christ's College, Finchley , from where he went to Exeter College, Oxford , reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics and graduated with
1107-693: The blood disease polycythaemia vera with which he was diagnosed in 2011. He sent his younger children to private schools after they experienced bullying at state schools in Lambeth . He has described himself as a psychogeographer and modern flâneur , and has written about walks he has taken. In December 2006, he walked 26 miles (42 kilometres) from his home in South London to Heathrow Airport . Upon arriving at Kennedy Airport he walked 20 miles (32 kilometres) from there to Manhattan . In August 2013, Self wrote of his anger following an incident in which he
1148-480: The formation of a schism in the party. Self is a republican . Self's mother died in 1988. He was married from 1989 to 1997 to Kate Chancellor. They have two children, a son, Alexis, and a daughter, Madeleine. They lived together in a terraced house just off the Portobello Road . In 1997, Self married journalist Deborah Orr , with whom he has sons Ivan and Luther. In 2017, Orr and Self separated , and Self
1189-571: The novel Downriver (1991), which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 1992 Encore Award . It envisages the UK under the rule of 'the Widow', a grotesque version of Margaret Thatcher as viewed by her harshest critics, who supposedly establishes a one-party state in a fifth term. Radon Daughters , a novel influenced by the work of William Hope Hodgson , formed the third part of
1230-459: The previous decade. The July article followed the release of a study of the earnings of British authors that was commissioned by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society. Self is a professor of Modern Thought at Brunel University London . He was appointed in 2012. Self has given his reason for writing as follows: "I don't write fiction for people to identify with and I don't write a picture of
1271-447: The work of J. G. Ballard , Alasdair Gray and Martin Amis . He has said that he previously admired William Burroughs but went off him. He has cited influences such as Jonathan Swift , Franz Kafka , Lewis Carroll and Joseph Heller as formative influences on his writing style. Other influences on his fiction include Hunter S. Thompson . Self credits Céline's book Journey to
Suicide Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-417: The world they can recognise. I write to astonish people." "What excites me is to disturb the reader's fundamental assumptions. I want to make them feel that certain categories within which they are used to perceiving the world are unstable." When he was ten, he developed an interest in works of science fiction such as Frank Herbert 's Dune and those of J. G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick . Self admires
1353-611: Was (and remains) connected with the British avant garde poetry scene of the 1960s and 1970s – authors such as Edward Dorn , J. H. Prynne , Douglas Oliver , Peter Ackroyd and Brian Catling are often quoted in his work and even turn up in fictionalized form as characters. Later, taking over from John Muckle , Sinclair edited the Paladin Poetry Series and, in 1996, the Picador anthology Conductors of Chaos . His early books Lud Heat (1975) and Suicide Bridge (1979) were
1394-420: Was a voracious reader from a young age. When he was 10, he developed an interest in works of science fiction such as Frank Herbert 's Dune and the works of J. G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick . Into his teenage years, Self claimed to have been "overawed by the canon", which stifled his ability to express himself. Self's use of drugs increased in step with his prolific reading. He started smoking cannabis at
1435-612: Was born in Cardiff , Wales, on 11 June 1943. From 1956 to 1961, he was educated at Cheltenham College , a boarding school for boys, followed by Trinity College, Dublin (where he edited Icarus ). He attended the Courtauld Institute of Art and the London School of Film Technique (now the London Film School). Sinclair's early work was mostly poetry, much of it published by his own small press , Albion Village Press. He
1476-615: Was caught by a rival journalist using heroin on the Prime Minister's jet; he was fired as a result. At the time, he argued "I'm a hack who gets hired because I do drugs". He joined the Times as a columnist in 1997. In 1999 he left the Times to join the Independent on Sunday , which he left in 2002 for the Evening Standard . He has made many appearances on British television, especially as
1517-478: Was hailed as an original new talent by Salman Rushdie , Doris Lessing , Beryl Bainbridge , A. S. Byatt and Bill Buford . In 1993, he was nominated by Granta magazine as one of the 20 "Best Young British Novelists". Conversely, Self's second book, My Idea of Fun , was "mauled" by the critics. Self joined the Observer as a columnist in 1995. In 1997 when covering the election campaign of John Major , he
1558-629: Was his favourite author. Sinclair was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009. In 2013 he became a visiting professor at the University for the Creative Arts . In October 2018, the University of Surrey reported that Sinclair had been appointed "distinguished writer in residence" with their School of Literature and Languages. As of 2010 Sinclair lived in Haggerston , in
1599-454: Was living in a rented flat in Stockwell . Orr died on 19 October 2019. Self has stated that he has abstained from drugs , except for caffeine and nicotine , since 1998. In 2024 he wrote: "I gave up smoking – and indeed, consuming nicotine in any way, shape or form – almost six years ago”. In the same column he revealed that he had been diagnosed with myelofibrosis . It is a progression of
1640-569: Was partly funded by the British Film Institute 's documentary fund and part by crowdfunding. The expedition provided material for an essay-feature film entitled The Gold Machine , released in 2022. A book by Sinclair with the same title was also published in 2021. A small selection of prose-poetry inspired by the trip was published by Earthbound Press. In an interview with This Week in Science in 2004, William Gibson said that Sinclair
1681-597: Was stopped and questioned by police in Yorkshire while out walking with his 11-year-old son, on suspicion of being a paedophile . The police were alerted by a security guard at Bishop Burton College . He had asked the security guard for permission to cross the school grounds. In September 2018 Self was accused of " mental cruelty " by Orr in relation to their divorce , in a series of posts on Twitter . Self has discussed his Jewish heritage , by way of his mother, and its impact on his identity. In 2006, Self 'resigned' as