I have often been asked about my book Jackets. Seven of them are art works by my friend Joseph Burke who sadly passed away and is greatly missed. Joe specifically designed the jacket for my first novel: The Summerhouse, and gave me permission to use other of his paintings. I have continued to use his art for two reasons: it's good, and secondly it keeps his work alive. Actually the statement, "you can't judge a book by its cover", may be true; in my case, it's all down hill after the jacket!
I sincerely hope that through my scribblings you are encouraged to seek out more information about Joe's art. If you appreciate Joe's art, then I can highly recommend looking at Barry White's website (see link). Barry was both Joe's friend and inspiration.
My words carried you here
My words carried you here
A flicker of candlelight
The rain lifts its veil and takes flight
As the sky pushes down, darkly,
Gently lowering velvet pillows of night,
The last remains are held within silver
Beads hung on silken threads
That shimmer in fading light.
And stillness of lake is broken by tips of
Raven’s wing, of rising oar and plank-ed
Prow through glass flat waters, glides,
As nature casts its eventide shadows
And silhouettes, day, resonant as bow upon
String, now to whisper fades.
And morning dew, held in blades of grassWhere I lay, no longer holds its shape, its form
My thoughts of you gone into silence
Like the hushed beat of butterfly wings,
But as night descends, for a moment,
I see some reflect, a glimpse of you
Caught in a flicker of candlelight.
Copyright © Philip Wickham.
All moral rights have been asserted. CIP catalogue records
for all titles are available from the British Library.
The British Library Catalogue
And so then…from the moment I sat down and for the first time, typed Chapter One, in The Summerhouse, I have been inspired by many things; amongst them are good friends, places, muses, spontaneity and many cast off sentiments, "a thought came to me the other day, I’ve no idea where it came from? I think it came from somebody who had just thrown it away!"
To be a writer is to dwell in a strange otherworldly existence: the emotion, passion, obsession, agony, frustration, excitement and unquestionable and absolute belief in your characters, is truly unfathomable and utterly bewildering to people that orbit around your everyday life. It can be both pleasurable and a curse. To most people you can appear to be as mad as a box of frogs. But one thing you can say about writing is that once it begins to pulse and flow through your veins and arteries, there is not a damn thing you can do about it.
Other Links
Paintings by Barry White
Judy Taylor Sculpture
Paintings by Glenn Clarke
Paul Barclay Illustrator and Artist
What then does fate hold for mankind at the Convergence...
Collected poems, Philip Wickham 2009
A Spring Morn
The song thrush moved frantically
Through its repertoire, as if searching
For a cryptic melody; a key that would
Unlock the response to mate
Within a heartbeat, the air was filled
With sweet symphonic birdsong
As they perched on telegraph wires
Like notes upon staves.
Collected poems, Philip Wickham 2009
Amazon Review
By Jazzman Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Beyond the Green Shuttered Room (Kindle Edition)
Once again Philip Wickham takes his readers on a cracking global journey but this time an adrenaline fuelled adventure set in the early 20th century featuring music, motorbikes, and the odd mysterious character along the way ( surely all good novels should have these three elements? )
Against a background of unfolding world events the main characters’ life, and larger than life, personality unfolds.
The reader certainly clocks up some miles - getting to see the world, with some surprising locations described in the well researched detail we now expect from a Philip Wickham book. However, I must point out that if the World Health Organisation had existed at the time they would definitely not have approved of the amount of alcohol ‘units’ consumed at what seems like every port of call!
This is a story not just about the cards that life deals, clearly painful at times, but also about living life to the full ( more physically painful – but clearly fun! ). The formative, and gripping early life stories of the main characters are revealed as the main story unfolds, giving us an insight into why they may find themselves on their own particular life journeys.
One of the fascinating characters whose appearances are woven throughout the story does have a controversial, misguided, and consuming belief about the life of one of history’s most influential and enlightened figures. I had to stop to remind myself that he is a fictional character - and read on with interest as the story took on a another unexpected new turn.
It’s also a book about the complex nature and value of friendship and how it is sometimes found in the most unlikely places.
Needless to say for anyone who has read his other books the 'journey' undertaken by these engaging characters is also a very personal and sometimes complex one.
The surprising finish leaves the reader with a sense of satisfaction mixed with regret about how major world events can impact on peoples lives.
Lauren Zara Brown Artist
At last she’s left me,
And taken everything I owned.
From the king-size double bed,
To the state of the art mobile phone.
She even took the quilted toilet rolls,
And the oranges and lemons
From the dish.
I knew she was capable of many things,
But not taking the pith!
Collected Poems Philip Wickham © 2009
The taking
At last she’s left me,
And taken everything I owned.
From the king-size double bed,
To the state of the art
Mobile phone.
She even took the quilted
Toilet rolls,
And the oranges and lemons
From the dish.
I knew she was capable of
Many things,
But not taking the pith!
Collected Poems Philip Wickham © 2009
New Novel for 2015
Marshmallow Moon
et
Fleurs de Lumière
Montmartre, Northern Quartier, Paris, France: a parallel world and time. If the free-form, jazz fusion, musical composition could be translated into words; this parallel world is what would describe it. A surreal dreamlike synthesis; a symposium of exotic colours, eccentricities and absolute abstract pleasure...
Editor's Choice
To Walk in Blue Light
Devon Life Magazine March 2016