MICHAEL HILL
Official website of Author & Poetry Writer Michael Hill
featuring his latest book
A LETTER FROM MARIGOLD
Available to order from Waterstones and all good bookshops
A LETTER FROM MARIGOLD
This is Michael Hill’s most recent book of short stories which reflects and develops his established way of thinking whilst preserving the poetic nature of his style. Importantly, he still confronts the fact that human nature never changes: with the result that many of these tales feature the age-old sins of selfishness and deceit. Hill, however, is wary of rash judgements; and although he frequently responds to negative circumstances with humour, he sometimes feels compelled to point the finger at seriously bad behaviour... And yet, by contrast, much of his output remains optimistic and transformative.
Hill’s stories are always alive. They are also characterised by an extremely broad range of themes:the response to a national disaster, for example; the tragic life and death of an Islington window cleaner; the simple beauty of a riverside revisited after a lifetime’s absence; a vision of sunlight on water or a fundamental flaw in the relationship between two sisters.
All of which guarantees that ‘A Letter from Marigold’ is an enthralling and often surprising read in which the writer thinks deeply about ordinary people and places. It’s an absorbing successor to his previous collection. And there’s never a dull moment.
A LETTER FROM MARIGOLD
TESTIMONIALS
“
I thoroughly enjoyed Hill’s beautifully written stories; and in The Significance of Oliver Jupp, I was overwhelmed by his account of an elderly man’s loneliness. I was also deeply impressed by Spring Festival whose portrayal of wild landscape is as close to poetry as prose can get.
PATRICIA CHRISTOPHER
“
Stylishly, and with plenty of humorous and idiosyncratic turns of phrase, Michael Hill sets his scenes; then sympathetically, if sometimes caustically, he paints his people in. I was hooked.
SALLY KINGTON
Especially impressive is The Balcony on the Third Floor in which Catalan village traditions and the night sky are imbued with convincingly magical overtones. Heartening without sentimentality... A finely crafted collection of truly accomplished cameos.
“
JEAN BRAID
BIO
Michael Hill was born in South East England in semi-rural circumstances which encouraged a love of landscape and a dislike of regimentation. Later on, however, in the aftermath of World War II and still only twelve, his abrupt encounter with grammar school life instantly broadened his outlook and enriched his imagination.
Following national service, and a year studying Anthropology, Hill completed a Graphic Design course at the LCP. Aged thirty five, he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at Kingston University where he remained until his retirement. And since then, his writing has never wavered; his output continues unabated.
CONTACT
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