Gormenghast stained glass window

The New York based stained glass artist, Joseph Cavalieri, has produced a very attractive montage in glass to fulfil a commission from a Peake fan. Aspects of Gormenghast have been incorporated into the work that include the Countess's cats, the outer dwellers houses, and the castle seen in the background as a looming presence.

Warwick University at The Fringe

The highly regarded Warwick University graduate student theatre company Curious Directive will be performing Boy in Darkness at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival between 7th and 22nd August. The play can be seen at the Zoo Venue in the city.

For further details please contact The Edinburgh Festival Fringe: 0131 226 0000

Mervyn Peake play performed in Camberwell

One of Mervyn Peake's plays was performed at the tiny Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell on 21st June, which produced a great response from the full house. Adapted by Brian Sibley, The Cave was performed by Flat Pack Productions who brought this powerful piece to life. The denouement of the play; the whole cast die from gut shots, brought gasps from the rapt audience. A complete triumph, and one which hopefully will repeated in the not too distant future.

Fabian Peake's new website

Fabian Peake, Mervyn's younger son, has produced his own website which clearly shows in its wide-ranging display of fine art, that his father's influence in paint, pencil, cloth and word, has certainly been passed on.

At the British Library

An exhibition not to miss, although it will be coming down after 28th June, is Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, which has a wonderfully comprehensive selection of 1st edition children's poetry classics on display. Set out in glass cabinets both the text and the illustrations bring back memories of childhood. Mervyn Peake is represented by two of his most famous and loved interpretations, with a open page showing the crocodile from Alice and another of The Ancient Mariner.

Liz Jensen's choice

Good to read in the Arts and Books section of The Independent of 5th June that the well-known writer Liz Jensen has chosen as her Book of a Lifetime the Titus Tilogy.

A Mervyn Peake concert

A concert, with music by the financier and composer Nigel Hamway, of twelve nonsense poems by Mervyn Peake, was held in the chapel of Harris Manchester College, Oxford on 29th May. With the soprano Nancy-Jane Rucker alternating with the baritone Benjamin Thompson, and accompanied by Simon Kroll, and the pianist Louise Gullifer, they played and sang to the 150 very appreciative invited guests.

The musical setting of the love poem To Maeve by pianist Eve Barsham, was both poignant and moving and very well received by an enraptured audience. The concert was recorded live by the composer who hopes to make it available in due course.

Maison d'Ailleurs exhibition

This additional information, en Francais, regarding the exhibition opening in Switzerland in October this year, might be of interest to our many French visitors.

Treasure Island dinner

A special dinner will be held on 18th June at 7.00 pm, at Clifton Hill House, Bristol, the former home of John Addington Symonds, a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson. I have been asked to say a few words about my father's illustrations for Treasure Island which were produced on Sark in the late 1940's, and my memories of posing for the character, Jim, from the novel.

The other speaker at the dinner will be Nicholas Newton, son of Robert, renowned for his role as Long John Silver in the 1950 Walt Disney production of Treasure Island.

A Talk at Warwick University

A talk on the Life & Work of Mervyn Peake will take place at the Capital Centre, University of Warwick, at 7pm on Tuesday 23rd June.

Further details of the event can be found here.

A Nigel Hamway concert in Oxford

May 29th at Harris Manchester College, Oxford

The Mervyn Peake admirer, composer, Cambridge graduate, and head of the City venture capital firm, Charterhouse Development Capital, Nigel Hamway, will be giving a concert of his music in the chapel of the Oxford college at the end of May. Written especially to accompany some of my father's nonsense verse, the 100 or so members of the invited audience will also each be handed a copy of the recently published, Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake at the end. It is also hoped that the poem To Maeve will be sung as a solo composition by a baritone in the choir.

A talk in Lee

With an even larger number of entrants to the 2009 Mervyn Peake Awards, up 23% on the 2008 tally, I am also very pleased to announce that the combined Lee, Lewisham and Bromley branches of the Parkinson's Disease Society have invited me to speak on 28th May at the Lee branch. The talk will begin at 7.00.

The reason for my original suggestion of the awards in 2001 to the then chief executive of the Parkinson's Disease Society, was because my father would continue to produce work even to the end of his life, and I felt that others suffering from the same appalling condition might view his example as one to follow.