The Blue Tent

by Richard Gwyn

In a lonely house deep in the Black Mountains of South Wales, a man spends insomniac nights absorbed in the ancient texts left him by his mysterious aunt. When a blue tent appears in the field at the end of his garden, his solitary life is turned inside out. But who owns the tent? And when the tent’s occupants emerge, whose story are they telling? As his life unravels, the man begins to question whether he is the orchestrator or the victim of his own experiences. Are the stories that guide or steer his life—any life—real, or merely the echo of other, possible lives?

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Richard Gwyn was born and grew up in south Wales. While studying anthropology at the London School of Economics, he became interested in the threatened cultures, languages and music of peripheral communities. He also harboured ambitions as a poet and made several luminary appearances at punk gigs in the late 1970s, including a memorable support act to The Cure. Turning his back on beckoning stardom, a confusing period followed, during which he lived in London and worked as a milkman and sawyer. Then, after sustaining an injury in an industrial accident, he moved to Crete and bought a six-metre fishing boat, describing himself as a refugee from Thatcherism. For the next nine years he travelled on and around the Mediterranean forming enduring links with people, places and wooden boats. The prospect of permanent self-imposed exile seemed likely. However, after a long, revelatory walk across northern Spain, he decided to return to Wales. He settled in Cardiff, where he married Rose Pallot, and their two daughters were born. In 1993 he began a study of illness, language and the body, an interest which he pursued professionally until 2003, resulting in the publication of two books, Communicating Health and Illness (Sage, 2002) and Discourse, the Body, and Identity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). He teaches at Cardiff University, where he is Director of the MA in Creative Writing.

Richard Gwyn’s poetry includes One Night in Icarus Street, Stone dog, flower red/Gos de pedra flor vermella (both 1995), Walking on Bones (2000) and Being in Water (2001). He is also the editor of an anthology of new poetry from Wales titled The Pterodactyl’s Wing: Welsh World Poetry, launched at the Hay Festival in 2003. He has published poetry in translation from Spanish, Catalan and Lithuanian, has read his work at many venues internationally, and has collaborated extensively with visual artists in Britain, Spain and France. He is a regular columnist for Poetry Wales, reviews books for The Independent and has discussed his work on TV and radio. His first novel, The Colour of a Dog Running Away (2005), set in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, is published by Parthian in the UK, Doubleday in the USA, and has been translated into many languages. His second novel, Deep Hanging Out (2007) is published by Snowbooks. His most recent books are Sad Giraffe Café (2010), a collection of prose poems, and The Vagabond’s Breakfast (2011) a memoir.

Reviews

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very compelling read which combines a sense of Welsh regionalism with fantasy. Welsh lit meets Borges. A wholly distinctive voice and a fascinating story.

[EME · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what to say about this story. It started well then I think it went to too far and last 3 pages the author tried to wrap up everything. So after reading it I was [???].
I am sure there are people who love the style and technique of the writing but unfortunately it didn't work for me.

[Rae]

Insomnia. Synchronicity. Kabbalah. Aleph. Wales.

[Billy Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bewitching tale from Richard Gwyn. I see it lying next to other works from Wales such as Caradog Prichard's classic Un Nos Ola Leuad, Jon Gower's Uncharted and more recent collection The Murenger and Other Stories, as well as an increasing corpus of accomplished and innovative magic realist/oneiric/speculative fiction emerging from Wales. There is a distinct sense of animism issuing from the Welsh landscape, which is in some ways political given the history of Wales's representation in literature, although it doesn't pander to the exoticist stereotypes to be found in that history. There are magical, transitory places (the library, the aleph, and, of course, the tent itself) which are keyholes into other worlds, offering glimpses when looked through with a squinted eye, but which ultimately remain off-limits to the reader. This is in some ways the appeal of the book. It is entirely deserving of that hackneyed compliment, 'page-turner'. But, to call it just that would be to do it a disservice. There are poignant reflections on environment, insomnia, solitude and a particularly humorous passage about halfway through that injects a little fun into an otherwise seductively eerie narrative.

[Cath Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It reminded me - in the feelings it evoked, more than the story - of Lindsay Clarke's novel The Chymical Wedding. I like the mystery of it. Sometimes there was a bit too much explanation, actually. The author could have maintained more of that mystery. And explored the Aleph a bit more - I must now go and read the Borges story.

[Sian Lile-Pastore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked the beginning and the set up of this and the writing is good too.

The female characters felt a bit male fantasy and the aleph was kinda like the puzzle box in hellraiser, the ending felt like a kids TV show.

[Camilla Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay start but soon became very laboured and it felt derivative.

[Mark Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Academic twaddle and knob-fiddling.

[Lazy Lianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was wretched. I'll expand and say that I found it incredibly empty. Hard miss in my opinion.

[Amy Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I enjoyed the writing and was drawn into the story quickly. The ending seemed a little forced and tried to wrap up everything a little too quickly. Additionally, I'm not sure I entirely understood the ending. But that probably says more about me than anything else.

[Megan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply: excellent. A lengthier review available on Have You Read This