An Interview with Quentin S. Crisp

Quentin S. Crisp is a British author. Unlike the better-known personality of the same name, our Quentin Crisp was given the name at birth but uses his middle initial so as not to cause confusion. Born in North Devon, Crisp now lives in London. He has a bachelor's degree in Japanese from the University of Durham and spent two periods living in Japan. Japanese literature is a significant influence in his work.
Crisp runs the Chomu Press (chomupress.com/) with his brother Leon, publishing fiction by contemporary authors.
The interview was filmed on Saturday 3rd March, 2012. Many thanks to the Chaucer Head Bookshop (www.chaucerhead...) for the friendly venue. The background noises are from customers who were trying not to disturb the filming - our thanks to them for their patience with us!
Crisp's debut short story collection, Morbid Tales, has recently been reprinted by Tartarus Press (tartaruspress.c...)

[@williamfurman2042]

Really nice to see a great fellow like him, with his fine mind.

[@carltaylor6452]

just stumbled across this. I've read very little of Crisp's work - I have a few of his books - but the one booklet I have read and which I treasure is 'The Little One'. It's a beguiling text that I never get tired of re-reading. I've bought copies for friends to try and convince them of it's undoubted merits, but ultimately it's one of those small treasures that you end up thinking speaks only to yourself. This is not an unusual experience for a young person - for example, perhaps discovering Richard Brautigan for the first time - but I was in my mid-50s when I discovered 'The Little One', and it impressed itself upon me in a similar and quite extraordinary fashion. If I never read anything else by Crisp that grabs me in the same way, I'll certainly be thankful to him for gifting me that one small thing 🙂

[@Tsotha]

Earlier this year I read QSC's short story collection "All God's Angels Beware" which contains both "Suicide Watch" and a story wherein Annette Funicello plays a central role, so this is highly interesting to watch. I live in Denmark where Funicello is an obscure figure so it's interesting seeing some photos of her and learning more about her, since I do not have much more cultural baggage attached to her name than the archetype of "1950's actress+pop singer who was popular in her day but now forgotten". I imagined that the young lady on the Chomu Press paperback version of "AGAB" is meant to be her. I am also not surprised that QSC is so well versed in Japanese literature to the point of being able to read classical Japanese lit in the original language, from his stories "Karakasa" and "The Fox Wedding" which show an indepth knowledge of the country and its culture. Also curious to find out that he spent so much of his youth living in rural Wales since a couple short stories in that collection are set there and perfectly capture the distinctive atmosphere of its place, in particular "Ynys-y-Plag". By the way I find it decidedly uncanny that QSC's current fashion sense is so similar to mine 4-5 years ago.

[@alexjohnson9798]

Fascinating guy

[@ToddNiemi]

Fascinating! Wish it had gone on much longer.

[@vicentecompany3237]

Today i was feeling a little sad but reading your essay about weird make me feel better cause it was very interesting and it kept my mind separated from problems. Thanks quentin :)

[@Qscrisp]

Thank you. I'm glad if anything I've written can help in such a way.

[@vicentecompany3237]

Quentin Crisp thank you, you are such a great writer, keep on writing those wonderful stories, I will also search something about osamu dazai to read :)

[@SAMcWaters]

Chomu Press is releasing some of the most interesting new fiction right now. Their short catalog is just astounding. I don't think there is a bad book in there. And it's cool he is fascinated by a biography of Annette Funicello. So many people are worried about what they ought to read versus what they really want to read.

[@ornleifs]

Yes - " A dream is a wish your heart makes" is a song, it's from Disney's Cinderella. I was not familiar with Quentin S. Crisp but what he talks about in this video is very interesting and I will definitely check his books out.

[@loritracy1385]

Thank you 😊

[@donaldwright6617]

That was a fascinating interview. What an articulate speaker! One thing I didn't understand: what was the name of the village, apparently in South Wales, where he lived for a few years? (He mentioned the name at about 15:28 and again at 15:41.)

[@PeteLavalette]

Ystradgynlais

[@unclediggie6559]

When I see the name Quinton Crisp I'm expecting old gay British guy not the love child of Harry Potter and Allen Ginsberg.

[@warbywar1]

I have over 10,000 books I'm really proud of it. WAR Sri Lanka

[@drblackistheuniverse]

Nice interview :)

[@rolandsievers1610]

Warum muss ich mir solche interessanten Videos eigentlich immer auf Englisch anschauen? Die Deutschen sind so eingebildet darauf, das "Volk der Dichter und Denker" zu sein. Aber wenn man KZbin mal durchforstet nach interessanten Videos, vor allem über Literatur, antiquarische Bücher, Buchbinderei, Graphik, Antiquariate etc., dann ist das Angebot im deutschsprachigen Raum sehr überschaubar... Die guten Beiträge stammen alle aus dem angelsächsischen Raum...

[@gunterford7014]

du kannst es anfangen... g

[@hrishikeshnath6039]

I found Newton

[@JohnVKaravitis]

Run at 1.5x speed.

[@sasquatch6903]

Nothing is lost but it's sins?

[@Qscrisp]

"Nothing is lost but it sings." At least, I believe that's what it says. I certainly hope it's true.

[@robertharris5538]

This is not Quentin crisp or Dennis Pratt

[@RBRussellTartarus]

No, and nobody said it was. Read the description.

[@GEricG]

@@RBRussellTartarus it's like someone seeing a video of an interview with Harry H Corbett and complaining that it's not the Sooty puppeteer.

[@gordygibson8776]

Identity Theft of the late great Quentin Crisp...not an interview.

[@RBRussellTartarus]

So many mistakes in so few words! The description clearly points out that the two men should not be confused. There is no theft--the interviewee was given the name at birth. And if you watch it, you'll be treated to almost twenty minutes of interview. (Albeit that, as interviewer, I have edited out my questions.)

[@sueselena7906]

I had mistaken this video for a old 1970 Bookshop

[@Qscrisp]

Wherever I go, I take the 70s with me.