M John Harrison, a 77-year-old award-winning author of seven story collections and 12 novels, is known for works like Nova Swing and The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again. His new book, Wish I Was Here, is a fragmentary work of autobiography and speaks on rock climbing, a pursuit he turned to in his 30s to “blast” himself into the “real world.” Harrison explored memory and the writing down of memory, denouncing it as a failed device. He talks about how “the mistake he made was to immediately sit down and write about it.” He has discovered how the moment one writes a memory, it goes through further transformations to a point where it “isn’t really a memory at all.”
Harrison was drawn to science fiction writing after an editor accepted a story of his. He was influenced by authors like Charles Williams, Robbe-Grillet, Alan Garner, JG Ballard, and CS Lewis. He is pleased with the development of science fiction and fantasy, as it has become a medium to talk about serious issues. He finds Cormac McCarthy’s The Road to be too much of a cliche of post-apocalyptic fiction and favors Ballard, Brian Aldiss, and Michael Moorcock’s approach of eventually playing off on the topic.
Harrison continues to consume new books, currently reading Bret Easton Ellis’s new novel, The Shards. He is known to frequently read, as he argued with five other people in 170 book reviews for the Booker Prize. Although, he noted that most of these books were outside of his usual reading list.
Additionally, Harrison’s relationship with chocolate is one of an addict. He recalled the time climbing a limestone route in the Peak District when he noticed jackdaws eating Mars bars from his opened rucksack- not being able to do anything about it as he was 80ft up and tied to a rope. He concluded with laughter that “the jackdaws have won.”
A prolific author and avid reader, M John Harrison is an inspiration for many. His theoretical views on memory, writing, and addiction adds to his reputation as one of the best sci-fi writers alive.
