Neil Gaiman
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- From Coraline to The Sandman and American Gods to Doctor Who, Neil Gaiman has made his mark by bringing fantasy and sci-fi from the fringe and into the spotlight. Gaiman joins Clem Bastow onstage to talk about his varied work, the tyranny of genre, sneezing baby pandas and red daleks.
Gaiman’s conversation is lively and wide-ranging; he moves quickly from describing why he feels like a fraud to discussing why he’s not published in mainland China (and how a sneezing panda named Chu might change that). When Bastow asks him if he’s bothered by the effect genre prejudices may have on whether all of his work is read or not, he says that beginning as a comic writer, “every single possible prejudice that can be levelled at an area of the arts is levelled at you.”
The breadth of his output is one of Gaiman’s most distinctive features. Speaking about his reluctance to be pigeonholed as a writer, he reveals that his restlessness stems from what he learned during early days as a journalist interviewing other writers. He also describes how he tries to enter the storytelling process as openly as possible.
Questions are invited early in the session, prefaced by Gaiman’s explanation of what he considers a question. Gaiman engages playfully with his audience, who ask questions about his inspiration for Neverwhere, his creative approach, his resistance to his work appearing in school curriculums, plot outlines and his knowledge of his characters.
He’s queried on where his ideas originate - “the question that must not be asked of writers” - and elucidates the experience of writing for Doctor Who (“um… it was awesome!”).
On weightier topics, Gaiman talks about the ideas behind his unconventional characterisation of death and the kind of death he’d prefer to meet. He offers his thoughts on love and vulnerability and confesses that as a social creature, “writing is peculiarly lonely”.
To close the evening, Gaiman slips his iPad onto his lap and reads a poem he wrote for an Australia Day event earlier in 2011. “There are so few places in the world that I could possibly read this poem,” he explains.
Neil is off the cuteness meter.
Isn't he.
Many thanks for this. I love how at 46 mins he mentions not wanting to say who the parents of the Endless are because he may put it in a story, then just recently finding out in the Overture series. Well played Neil, well played.
I'm an old guy, stumbled across this guy talking, and bought American Gods. It is really, really good. Weird but good!
Love hearing Neil speak.
Special acknowledgement to Clem for guiding this wonderful conversation!
In Mexican folklore and culture death is "Lady Death," female, while other cultures portray death as male. It's said that she's an extremely beautiful woman. Very interesting.
If my writing career ends with even one fraction of the people who turn out for his events, I'll consider myself a success.
The more I hear Neil Gaiman talk, the more I want to hear him talk.
I've never read any of his stuff, though - anyone have any advice on where to start?
Ed Barrett The Sandman
Omar Osuna Thanks for the thought, Omar.
Now I just need to work out where The Sandman starts . . .
+EvilEddtheRed "Preludes and Nocturnes" - though stick with it through at least "The Doll's House" (the 2nd volume). P&N is fantastic, but the series really gets traction once the groundwork is laid.
+Colman O'Reilly
Thanks for that, Colman - very much appreciated.
+Ed Barrett The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, and American Gods. And then everything else he's written!
It is amazing to have this available to watch online. I love listening to Neil Gaiman. That said, I must apologize If I offend anyone for the following criticism: Clem Bastow’s frequent “mmmm”’s while Neil is talking is a bit too grating to listen to. I understand it’s her way of acknowledging what Neil is saying but the same repetitive sound doesn’t add anything of value to the interview. I will try to finish watching this later and see if I can tune her out. Hopefully she changes up her non-lexical conversation sounds through the interview. If not this might need to be something for her to look into/work on in the future. (mix them up or use them more sparingly to denote more emphasis on what was just said by the interviewee)
If you had a drinking game, for every time he said umm, you drank. You’d be pissed in 5 minutes.
The lack of viewers for this video is downright wrong.
What would you rather have? Viewers who are genuinely devoted to Neil Gaiman, or tons of viewers who are likely to troll?
Besides, if you're not a glass is half empty sort of person, you might notice that in nearly one whole year, out of 8,000+ viewers, there has not been one single down vote.
Love Neil Gaiman, and never get tired listening to him. I was so lucky attending his show last Saturday in Houston😊 but it drives me mad sometimes how many times he says (ummmmmm)😉
lol ummmm
Thank for uploading this! Love it! :) Makes me sad I don't live anywhere near the Wheeler Centre :(
Such a lovely ending by that poem
He's definitely my favorite author whose work I've never read
well you should read Coraline and maybe American Gods or Anansi Boys
im amazed at the number of these out here
So, when did Howard Stern switch to being an author from Portchester?
Thanks! Love him
I wouldn't worry too much if China doesn't like Neil Gaiman's books; they don't like the Dalai Lama's books either.
i really love this man. he is not the type of other writers....a genius
what a great guy!
Fairlives Will Be Extranomral
War Which Ya Talking About..
sneezing panda? any covid survivors around?
Please speak for human rights in Kashmir and China
Fairy tales...
but make it creep