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A Cohort of Creative Bohemians...

Several years ago, I began working on an idea for a book about my life as a writer and journalist in Spain. The book, I imagined, would include all of the people I had interviewed during the last 20 years or so, along with those whom I had met who had made an impression in some way. I quickly decided that this would be far too big a task, as the list of interesting individuals was vast to say the least, and so I had to rethink the project.

I then began searching through the archives of the SUR in English for interesting interviews I had conducted for the newspaper, along with other files I had dusted off after many years of sitting dormant in my studio.

I soon realised that the book would focus on the expat artistic scene of the Costa del Sol and set about compiling a suitable list of candidates to be included. This proved much harder than I first imagined, not because there was a lack of interesting people, but because there had been so many.

After almost three years of working on the project, I am pleased to announce that this book – A Cohort of Creative Bohemians and other interesting individuals – is now complete and set to be released in the next week or so.

The book reveals not only my own life and career in Málaga, but also the lives and achievements of the variety of interesting people I have interviewed, or who have crossed my path, in that time. During my career as a writer in Spain I have had the pleasure of meeting so many exceptional people who have arrived on the Costa del Sol to concentrate on their art. Many find the freedom and relaxed lifestyle, the colours and aromas, not to mention the wealth of cultural tradition that is to be found here, the perfect ingredients to inspire their work. 

One of the aspects of working for the newspaper that appeals to me most is the fact that I get to interview so many interesting people. One thing I have learnt over the years is that everybody has a story to tell, and what I sometimes think may be a potentially ordinary, or even boring, meeting has quite often caught me off guard.

I have been fortunate with the variety of people I have had the opportunity to interview, as these include authors, musicians, priests, archaeologists, actors, artists, historians, photographers, designers, and people who have done extraordinary things, including a few who, in doing so, committed a prosecutable offence.

Although I occasionally get the opportunity to interview celebrated musicians and artistes who are visiting the coast, it has been with the local expat sector that I have had some of the most enjoyable liaisons.

The Costa del Sol is home to numerous expat musicians, singers and composers, some of whom have been at the forefront of the British music scene (or claim to have been), and others who have spent their lives on the boundaries of it.


Of course, the list of interesting individuals is endless and does not solely include musicians (nor does the book), and one of the problems I had when compiling this book was knowing where to stop.

Sadly, one of the things that struck me whilst doing the final edit of this book was the amount of people contained in its pages who are no longer with us. I had met so many of these people as a journalist who was interested in their life-stories, and many of them went on to become close and trusted friends. 

I hope that in some way, recording their stories in this book, (and the stories of those of you who are, thankfully, still with us today) will become a testament to their achievements and the contributions they have made to the cultural scene in the province of Málaga. They have all left footprints on the sands of time, whether this is for their artistic talents, for their selfless drive to help others, or because they simply had a great story to tell.

I am grateful that my work has brought me into contact with all of these fabulous people, for it is they who have made my work so enjoyable over the years, and it is they who have made this book possible.

  

 

  


Fotos
1 Magnet Man
2 Pigsy
3 The Wasps 

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