In the lead-up to the announcement of the Goldsmiths Prize 2023, Richard was interviewed in the New Statesman by Ellen Peirson-Hagger, judge and assistant culture editor. The article is behind a paywall, but you can register for three free articles a month. Read the piece HERE.
From the article:
Ellen Peirson-Hagger: The novel’s language and outlandish goings-on make it an incredibly fun read. What is the role of humour and pleasure in literature, and is there enough of it?
Richard Milward: When people ask me what I write about, I tend to boil it down to just “the joy and horror of life” - and I do think comedy can be as powerful and insightful as tragedy. Sentence by sentence, I want to create a kind of rush in the reader, whether that’s through humour, or something unsettling, or an unusual turn of phrase, or the rhythm of the words. I think the Polari especially helps add to the humour in Man-Eating Typewriter. It’s quite a sing-song, sardonic lingo, and so when Novak’s criticising the world around him - a stifling, conservative world he finds unbearable - that world appears even more absurd than it would if he was slagging it off in standard English.