The start of 2016 saw the launch of SEX : MALE, the collected works by the UK’s most transgressive gay author, PP Hartnett, with all ten covers featuring illustrations by gay serial killer Dennis Nilsen.
There’s a mix of revised previously published titles and new pieces such as FULL SCREEN and POZMEUP within Hartnett’s collected works.
‘Sites such as Recon, fuck nites such as The Vault, Hoist and Fist, offer more to my imagination than prissy romps by Alan Hollinghurst and Patrick Gale,’ says the quietly-spoken award-winning Irish author from his home in Haworth, West Yorkshire.
‘What I write is largely run from by mainstream publishers and a far cry from what Ann, Charlotte and Emily Brontë produced just a spit from where I’m based when in the UK. It’s both a relief and release to be away from the constraints of dreary corporate editors who haven’t a clue about ‘alt’ literature.’
‘My work reflects the dark side of desire, anal warts ‘n’ all. Blame it on the Benedictine monks who schooled me.’
It’s almost twenty years since Hartnett released his first novel, Call Me, which went on to be published internationally. The cult gay classic entered the Books Etc charts at number one. That was followed by I Want to Fuck You, then his two novels signed to Sceptre. Sixteen and Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide gained surprise amounts of mainstream press, with Michael Arditti selecting the latter as BOOK OF THE WEEK in The Times upon publication.
Hartnett’s focus is invariably on taboos areas and associated patterns of distress, disturbance. ‘In this digital age, the short-term and long-term effects of Internet pornography need to be assessed and evaluated.’
Hartnett has recently released two spoken word collections, which he has described as ‘…a CCTV of the brain.’ Both of these works explore the variety of grey matter one wouldn’t necessarily wish to have within one’s own cranium, but might readily identify with.
‘You might well ask why I chose to correspond with Dennis Nilsen over a ten year period, why I selected to include illustrations personally mailed to me by the life-sentenced criminal for covers. Now there’s a can of worms, ready to serve. The motivation stretches beyond mere provocation, yawns wide beyond a cynical marketing ploy.’
Within the last of the collected works, Needs Discussion features a short story written in a collaboration with Nilsen, entitled Jason’s Arse. ‘I sent Nilsen the piece to read, possibly edit. His suggested revisions were so extensive in the retyped draft he posted to from Whitemoor Prison that we entered into an unexpected collaboration that some might find wholly distasteful.’
Hartnett is currently putting together a limited edition of his poetry, tentatively entitled Date of Birth, Time of Death, to be published in November 2016, with a central London launch already scheduled. With titles such as Charismatic Sex Act, a piece about rimming, this author’s writing is definitely raw and real.
SEX : MALE by PP Hartnett is out now, published by Autopsy and available on EPUB3 format through Barnes & Noble (inc Nook UK), EBSCO, eSentral, Goodreads, Google Play, Kobo, Magzter, OverDrive (inc Waterstone’s) and Storytel. Also availableas in PDF format through Lulu, lulu.com. ISBN 978-0-9931941-2-2.
