The Sea View Has Me Again

A sound work by Shona Illingworth and Patrick Wright with Big Fish Arts.

Patrick Wright's book The Sea View Has Me Again (hardback December 2020, paperback June 2021) is the story of Uwe Johnson, one of Germany’s greatest and most-influential post-war writers, and how he came to live and work in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in the 1970s. Shona Illingworth is a filmmaker whose work explores the intersections between the complex individual and societal processes of memory and the impact of amnesia.

The writer and artist, who have been sharing their investigations since 2017, recorded a conversation on the Isle of Sheppey in May 2021. This has been brought together with recorded readings from Johnson’s descriptions of the ‘moral utopia’ he found on Sheppey, made with local arts organisation Big Fish.

Patrick and Shona’s sound work was broadcast on Sheppey FM at 16:30 on Sunday 23 May, and a recording is now available online through Estuary 2021. Listen via the player at the top of this page, or through SoundCloud.

Thanks to Big Fish Arts and the readers.

Pre-order a copy of Patrick Wright's The Sea View Has Me Again here. Associated texts and images, still and moving, can be found on patrickwright.net.

Credits

Voices:
Patrick Wright
Shona Illingworth

Readers from Big Fish Arts:
Justin Aggett
Jo Eden
Jim Enright
Albion Grey
Jeanette McClaren
Chris Reed
Sue Percival
Janys Thornton
Jeremy Thornton

Sound Mix:
Jeff Knowler