Saturday the 21st of June was the longest day of the year and for once London lived up to the promise of summer—it was pleasantly warm and we were able to enjoy our lunch in the outside section of Hardy’s Brasserie in Marylebone. The company comprised: the man himself Ivan Vladislavić, Nicci and Stefan from And Other Stories and four others: two Rebeccas, an Eleanor and a David. The guests had travelled from as far afield as Oxford and Reading to meet the author.
It is one thing to go to a reading event or a panel discussion and observe an author you admire from the safety of the audience, but the thought of making conversation over lunch is slightly more intimidating. Fortunately, Ivan was friendly and put us all at ease by talking about the weather. (In a review I would call him ‘Vladislavić’ but having eaten with him it seems strange to refer to him by his surname.)
The conversation was varied and though we talked about The Restless Supermarket in particular, we also discussed the state of Icelandic fiction and the way that thoughts and ideas impress upon us with a strange intensity at 3am. Nicci, Stefan and Ivan played musical chairs to vary the conversation but the group was small enough for us all to talk together as well. I was very relieved to hear that the ‘Proofreader’s Derby’ included in the book was in fact the corrected version; I had worried that perhaps my proofreading skills were not up to the task—that the errors were so subtle I hadn’t picked up on them.
Ivan also told us an amusing anecdote about The Restless Supermarket: a second edition of the book was published in South Africa, without Ivan’s knowledge or permission, and was unfortunately riddled with typos. The book was recalled but many copies had already been sold and it was suggested in the media by some suspicious journalists, that the typo-ridden version was some sort of publicity stunt—a ‘proofreaders derby’ edition. Though he did emphasise the importance of allowing other people to have editorial input into your work, Ivan said that he edits and proofreads his own books extensively before he hands them over.
Though I am a fan of Ivan’s work, I was not as well-qualified to admire it as some of the other guests; the other Rebecca had listened to an interview with Ivan on the World Service (at 3am—that fateful hour) ten years ago, had got a friend to bring back a copy of The Restless Supermarket from South Africa, and enjoyed the book so much that she attempted to interest some UK publishers in it. Sadly she was unsuccessful, but she’d been very happy to hear that And Other Stories were finally bringing Ivan’s work to UK readers. Eleanor, who works for the Oxford English Dictionary, opened our minds to a whole new level of linguistic pedantry that would put even Ivan’s proofreading protagonist, Aubrey Tearle, to shame. I may have misheard (it seems incredible) but I think she told us that she had just spent six months on the word ‘take’. The other guest, David, is a regular at these literary get-togethers and blogged here about the last event with Elvira Dones.
My sole claim to the conversation was the fact that I had lived in Johannesburg for eight years and share some of the affection for the city and its people that is so evident in Ivan’s books. Towards the end of Double Negative the protagonist, Neville Lister, watches the TRC hearings in an attempt to ‘reanimate the deadened nerve-endings of my sympathy’ and this sums up beautifully what Ivan’s writing does for me.
The food was fantastic and it was a lovely afternoon altogether. Many thanks to Nicci and Stefan for organising it, and of course to Ivan—it was great to meet an author who writes about South Africa with such honesty, humour and warmth. I really hope that his wonderful writing receives the recognition it deserves in the UK.
Rebecca Rouillard is the Managing Editor of the Writers’ Hub and you can find her on Twitter as @rrouillard.