Originally published in 2015, Max Porter’s Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is a contemporary classic.
Faber marks the anniversary with a new exclusive edition of the book and an updated cover of the paperback edition. We sat down with the author to put to him questions submitted by Faber Members.
Max Porter on Grief Is the Thing with Feathers ten years on
Max Porter reflects on Grief Is the Thing with Feathers ten years on
How do you go on being creative . . . when all around us is rushing headlong into oblivion?
The full question from Paul, a Faber Member from Chelmsford, to Max Porter:
‘Max, I love all your work, but since seeing your Wild West talk on Instagram (which I can barely get through without tearing up), I’ve asked myself regularly how anything ‘else’ matters. The rote answer is, of course, a need for art and love and creativity, but what is the real answer – how do you go on being creative, being true to your calling, sitting down and crafting your wonderful prose when all around us is rushing headlong into oblivion? Thank you (for everything).’
How do you create the non-human voices you use on the page?
The full question from Sibylle, a Faber Member from London/Vienna, to Max Porter:
‘Your work often gives voice to things that don’t ‘usually‘ speak – grief, nature, mythic or unseen forces. From a craft and philosophical perspective, how do you choose the form these voices take on the page, and what do you believe literature can express about the human condition that eludes ordinary language, other art forms and therapy?’
Why is grief and tenderness still a taboo for male writers today?
This question is from Paulo, a Faber Member from Porto.
An exclusive edition marking ten years of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, featuring unseen artwork throughout and a cover based on a facsimile of the author’s own first edition, is out now in hardback.
A Members Collectors’ Edition of the book is also available, exclusively from Faber.
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Buy the Book
This Exclusive Edition marks ten years of a contemporary classic, featuring unseen artwork throughout and a cover based on a facsimile of the author’s own first edition.
About the Author
Max Porter is the author of The Death of Francis Bacon, praised as ‘a miniature masterpiece’, and ‘a feat of empathy, imagination and literary brio’. His Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller Lanny was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize and the 2019 Wainwright Prize, shortlisted for the 2019 Gordon Burn Prize and shortlisted for both Waterstones and Foyles Book of the Year 2019. It has sold in twenty-three territories.
Read MoreAbout the Author
Collectors’ Edition
A special, signed hardcover edition of Max Porter’s first novel.
Join Faber Members, for FREE, to buy. Members get 10% off their first order.