Julian Gough | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 1966 (age 57) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | University College Galway |
| Website | juliangough |
Julian Gough (born June 1966) is an Irish musician, novelist, and poet. Initially known as the singer and lyricist for the Galway band Toasted Heretic, he has since established a career as a satirist, novelist, commentator and writer of children's books. Musically, he is best known for his songs "Galway and Los Angeles", "You can Always go Home" and "LSD (isn't what it used to be)"; his fictional works include "The Orphan and the Mob" (the first chapter of his novel Jude: Level 1), which won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2007, and the End Poem that appears at the end of Minecraft .
Gough grew up near Heathrow Airport in London, before moving to Nenagh aged seven. [1] He was studying English and philosophy at University College Galway in the late 1980s when he and some friends founded Toasted Heretic. The band recorded four albums and had one top-10 hit, "Galway and Los Angeles", in 1992. [2] [3] Gough's first novel, Juno & Juliet, was published in 2001 by Flamingo, almost a decade after Toasted Heretic split up. His second novel, Jude: Level 1, was published in 2007 [4] at Old Street Publishing, shortly after he won the 2007 National Short Story Award for the book's first chapter, titled "The Orphan and the Mob". [5]
In 2010, Salmon Poetry released Gough's first poetry collection, Free Sex Chocolate, which juxtaposes Gough's more recent forays into poetry with his earlier lyrics written for Toasted Heretic. [6] He is also the author of several short stories and novellas that satirize global economic policies, including 2003's Great Hargeisa Goat Bubble [7] and CRASH! How I Lost a Hundred Billion and Found True Love. In 2015, Gough signed a book deal with Picador. [8]
In November 2011, Gough was invited by Markus Persson, creator of Minecraft , to create a story for the ending of the game, in preparation for its release. [9] The resulting work, called the End Poem, has been described as both confusing to [10] and revered by [11] the Minecraft community. After a psilocybin trip prompted Gough to consider the poem's line "The Universe loves you because you are love" and the love he had received but not accepted for the poem, he wrote an essay on his Substack in December 2022 explaining that he had never signed a contract with either of Minecraft's parent companies, releasing the original version of the poem into the public domain. [12] [13]
Gough writes columns and opinion pieces for various newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian , [14] Prospect Magazine [15] and A Public Space . [16] His novel Jude in London came third in the 2011 Guardian Not The Booker prize [17] after the author threatened to share pictures of him "wearing only the [Not The Booker trophy] mug" should he win the competition. [18]
Since 2016, he has been the author of the Rabbit and Bear series of children's books, illustrated by Jim Field. [19]
"End Poem" from Minecraft .
The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. The winner of the Booker Prize receives £50,000, as well as international publicity that usually leads to a significant sales boost. When the prize was created, only novels written by Commonwealth, Irish, and South African citizens were eligible to receive the prize; in 2014, eligibility was widened to any English-language novel—a change that proved controversial.
Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain such as those from his native South West England.
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Toasted Heretic were an Irish rock group who attracted a cult following in the late 1980s and 1990s. They were founded in Galway in 1985, where singer and lyricist Julian Gough was studying English and philosophy. Their best known early independent released songs include "You Make Girls Unhappy" and "LSD " both released on their first two EPs.
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Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Sue Hubbard is a poet, novelist and art critic based in the UK.
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Major poetry related events taking place worldwide during 2022 are outlined below under different sections. These include poetry books released during the year in different languages, major poetry awards, poetry festivals and events, besides anniversaries and deaths of renowned poets etc. Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
The End Poem is a poem by Julian Gough that appears in the end credits of the video game Minecraft. It is the only narrative text in the mostly unstructured sandbox game. Markus "Notch" Persson, Minecraft's creator, invited Gough to create the poem in 2011; it initially appeared in Beta version 1.9. The poem takes the form of a 1,500-word dialogue between two unspecified, godlike entities, discussing what the player has done in the game, which it compares to a dream. Critical reception of the poem has been mostly neutral to positive, often emphasising its oddness; it has been positively received among Minecraft fans.
The traditional division between the novel and short story is becoming increasingly blurred.
It's time writers got back to the serious business of making us laugh.
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