Will Self

thumb|right|I think of writing as a sculptural medium. You are not building things. You are removing things, chipping away at language to reveal a living form. William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English satirical novelist, newspaper columnist and broadcaster. Quotes 1997-2008 So I was smacked up on the Prime Minister's jet – big deal. Interviewed by The Independent on Sunday (April 1997). The éminence cerise, the bolster behind the throne. The Independent on Sunday (8 August 1999). Referring to the Queen Mother. Things are only boring if you are boring. Room 101 (BBC Two, 19 March 2001). [Referring to Tony Blair] The Emperor has been ferried from Potemkin village to Potemkin hospital, and before he arrives a rigged rent-a-crowd of "ordinary people" are brought in to wave little flags. Hell - he hasn't even travelled on a bus, but swooped in by helicopter. There's no longer a proper press corps to speak of, but instead journalists have been "embedded", much in the same way that they were with the army in Iraq. The analogy says it all, because undoubtedly the cadres were hoping that these trusties would begin to sympathise with the man upon whom their jobs depended - just as the hacks did in Iraq. "Psychic Geography 82 Fear and loathing on the Election trail", The Independent Magazine (30 April 2005). There can be no more thrilling idea of intimacy than connecting with someone through the agency of the written word. Here we meet, on the page, naked and unadorned: shorn of class, race, gender, sexual identity, age and nationality. The reader I seek is a tautology, for he/she is simply…the person who wants to read what I have written. The Guardian (9 May 2007). thumb|right|I have a healthy appetite for solitude. If you don't, you have no business being a writer. I have a healthy appetite for solitude. If you don't, you have no business being a writer. The Guardian (9 May 2007) I think of writing as a sculptural medium. You are not building things. You are removing things, chipping away at language to reveal a living form. Quoted in "Will Self (1961- )", The Guardian (22 July 2008) Wealth is a form of power in our society. With great power comes great responsibility. If you have too much wealth, ipso facto, you have too much power - therefore you have too much responsibility - and you're a kind of dictator. The Moral Maze (BBC Radio 4, 1 October 2008). About Will Self My ex wants to divide up the contents of the former marital home by coming round, when I'm not there, putting a red dot on absolutely anything he wants, then getting me to organise it all into a place where he can have it picked up. Anyone else had this? Anyway. #MeToo. I have C-PTSD. I wonder why? His "compassionate writings" on mental illness make me want to throw up. I changed the locks long ago. He's been litigating against me for more than two years, and I'm broke. I can't afford a restraining order. From a series of tweets by Deborah Orr, Self's ex-wife, quoted in "Will Self accused of cruelty in divorce row with Deborah Orr" The Times (21 September 2018). Orr died from cancer a year later. Her twitter account has been deleted. External links Will Self Official Will Self site 1107102 Will Self Profile at Contemporary Writers Guardian Books author page: Will Self Will Self article in Issue 08 of TATE ETC. magazine The Sweet Smell of Excess: Will Self, Bataille and Transgression A short interview: BBC Interview: Spike Magazine Audio Interview (available in Real Audio or mp3) at Salon.com Self interviewed by the International Necronautical Society Transcript of Self's encounter with Richard Littlejohn interviewed on Radio Five Live by Nicky Campbell: BBC Will Self on why he writes "The Principle" Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:People from London Category:Novelists from England Category:Short story writers from England Category:Journalists from England Category:Columnists from England Category:Broadcasters Category:Satirists from England Category:Socialists from England Category:Postmodern authors