Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Two Queer tidbits

I am most grateful to Lee Levine for informing me that William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel Queer, which we discussed on Jan. 3, has been filmed and is now in post-production. None other than Daniel Craig (yes, the former James Bond) plays Lee, and Drew Starkey plays Allerton; Luka Guadagnino (who directed "Call Me by Your Name") directs. Leslie Manville, Jason Schwartzman and Henry Zaga are also in the cast. No word yet on a release date, but hopefully soon!


During that same discussion, Denton Welch's name came up as a major influence on Burroughs. Robert Muir kindly shares the following bio of the author, courtesy of Wikipedia:


"William S. Burroughs cited Welch as the writer who most influenced his own work, and dedicated his 1983 novel The Place of Dead Roads to him. In 1951 the English composer Howard Ferguson set five of Welch's poems (included in A Last Sheaf) as a song-cycle for voice and piano, titled "Discovery." Others who have named Welch as an influence include filmmaker John Waters, artist Barbara Hanrahan and the writers Beryl Bainbridge and Barbara Pym."


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