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Go shoppingFoyles really knows how to put on a good literary night. Hosting all manner of book launches and talks, their events are always engaging and well-lit (amazing how harsh lighting can bring about a complete change in atmosphere). Last Thursday was the launch of The White Review’s third issue.
Entering the launch was a little like squeezing into an exclusive bar where the brainy and beautiful mingled, laughing and chatting about Tolstoy and Hirst alike. The White Review is a quarterly arts and literature magazine founded by Jacques Testard and Benjamin Eastham, who both boast an incredible background in editorial and modern art. The White Review was jumpstarted by new funding platform WeFund, which pairs creative projects and sponsors together, and since then has gained a cult following and critical success.
We were joined that evening by sculptor Richard Wentworth and writer Marina Warner, both lively talkers who brought about much laughter and discussion to the room. Wentworth’s self-deprecating humour is refreshing in the sea of overly-serious, stiff artists – riding the elevator up with him before the launch was in itself an experience (‘ah, I see, those little people have skirts. Well, then I guess you’re allowed two men and three women in the lift. But what happens if the men are terribly thin and the women fat?’). The discussion veered with lightning speed witticism from art criticism to Frieze to Grayson Perry to literature and the New York art scene (Wentworth warns us ‘never be sarcastic. They will take you seriously’). At one point a large makeshift hammer was presented to Warner by Wentworth, its heavy metal head stuck rather tightly onto what looked like a tennis racket holder. The rather dapper looking editors were also on hand at the end to answer questions by the eager audience.
The issues were on sale that night too – thick pages of writing, photographs and pullouts – as well as a rather stylish canvas bag emblazoned with ‘THE WHITE REVIEW’. This new issue features fiction by Federico Falco, poetry by Jon Thompson, art by Stephen Gill, an interview with Will Self, reportage by Melanie Challenger and much much more.
