Hi, and thanks for correcting and expanding the biographical article on Warwick Collins. It was terribly difficult for me to find any material on him, so after reading the article as it stands now I wonder if you know him personally. If, by any chance, you know the exact date of birth, could you please add it? Also, should we remove Darklands altogether (if, as you say, it has not been published yet) or at least add that fact? Finally, since you removed the reference to his skin colour, did I make a mistake there?
I really enjoyed reading Gents, and if the book had not been republished and promoted by Borders, I probably would never have noticed its existence.
All the best, <KF> 21:54, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
Kurt, I do indeed know Warwick Collins. In fact I am him. You did a fine job with the initial entry. I have been a rather retiring creature and it is difficult to find material on me. However, I like the internet, and its institutions like Wikipedia. My birth date is 14.12.48. DARKLANDS was never published (I'm afraid I didn't like the way my publishers, Weidenfeld, marketed THE RATIONALIST and THE MARRIAGE OF SOULS as bodice rippers, rather than as 18th century novels of ideas, which is what they are). Confusingly, Weidenfeld booked an ISBN number for DARKLANDS, which has perhaps exacerbated the situation. So please eliminate all references to DARKLANDS (I have done my best so far). As to skin colour, you are right about that but is it relevant? It seems to me the less one knows about certain aspects of the author, the more open-minded one's approach to a book like GENTS. For what it is worth, I am neither gay nor black, but I always thought where critics are concerned it might be a good thing that there is a slight nervousness that if they too easily criticise either the knowledge of West Indian culture or cottaging in GENTS, some huge black queen might pitch up on their doorstep and remonstrate with them a la Jeannette Winterson!
And thank you very much for your kind words on GENTS. I am afraid that I have little time for the London literary establishment, and my obscurity in English is to some extent self-inflicted. Against that, I was pleased to see that the Times last year (Sept 8, Books) reviewed it in their occasional Classics column as an all-time classic.
Best,
W