I watched an incredibly moving film last night. Tarnation, by Jonathan Caouette, is a journey through one man’s childhood and teenage years, up to now, 31 years of age. Using footage from a lifetime of home-movies, he leads us through this dark, dank, very strange labyrinth, chronicling his mother’s years of electro-shock therapy, his childhood in foster homes, the later years of getting to know his mother who spent her life in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Life isn’t art, until it’s recorded, edited, montaged into a film like this. Caouette is a genius, and with the help of Gus Van Sant he has made a crucial, infinitely-real, eye-opening film about one man’s incredible life.

 Jonathan and his mother Renee. Despite the years of therapy she remained beautiful.

Finally, some photos from the Cabala anthology reading. The anthology included stories by five authors. All bar Jacqueline Houghton were there at Waterstones in March for a reading.

About the anthology – ‘From gothic fairytale to humorous pop-culture satire, five of the North’s top writers showcase the diversity of British talent that exists outside the country’s capital and put their strange, funny, mythical landscapes firmly on the literary map.

Adam Lowe, the editor, and myself.

L-R: Adam Lowe, Rachel Kendall, A J Kirby, Jodie Daber, Richard Evans