Norma

What sort of a mind produces a whole book as though it might be an error, each sentence a fault line? The Canadian poet Anne Carson – here chiefly writing prose – explains Wrong Norma is thus named because she knows the pieces within the book do not add up. We are not to expect them to be on speaking terms with one another. I have interviewed Anne Carson, a classicist frequently tipped as a contender for the Nobel prize, for this newspaper – but interview is not the word for what took place between us by email. I sent her…

A song that has had 94m plays on Spotify since its October release begins with 64 seconds of cosmic, atmospheric music. Over a burbling analogue synthesiser and occasional ornamentation from piano and trumpet, we hear a soft, female voice narrating a journey: “Travelling forever in the dark / Darkness into blackness.”This sample from Azimuth’s 1977 album track The Tunnel is followed by Drake and Yeat rapping on IDGAF, the second most played track from Drake’s UK/US No 1 album, For All the Dogs (“Fuck the bitch, I make her…

Image: Union Square/NetflixEvery author who wants their work adapted for the screen would probably hope that it is done with care and respect for the source material. But when you find yourself in charge of your own adaptation, do you stick to every word or do you use it as an opportunity to make something new?Dead End: Paranormal Park was an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation. While primarily based on my DeadEndia graphic novels series (which are receiving deluxe, expanded reprints from Union Square, on sale…

If you talk about the greatest singers of all time and miss out Norma Waterson, it’s like talking about guitars and missing out Jimi Hendrix. Her voice was a wondrous thing. She was also one of the loveliest people, all warmth, curiosity and kindness.When I met her in late 2008, the experience hit me like a bullet train. I was making a Radio 4 series, The Ocean, which involved this mad road trip around the country interviewing folk musicians. Suddenly I was this tiny fly on the wall of the lives of this wonderful family…

Image: NetflixIt’s been a rough year for animation—not because of a dearth in quality of material; if anything,there’s more great series and movies to watch in 2022 than ever before. But as the industry faces mistreatment and mishandling by corporate interests, it’s getting harder and harder for ideas to thrive. Which is why it’s so good that one of the year’s best is getting a second run.That is of course, Netflix’s Dead End: Paranormal Park, an adaptation of the comic series DeadEndia showrun by the series’ creator,…