Join local poet Francis Daulerio in conversation with Scottish poet and author Michael Pedersen on his new memoir Boy Friends.
About the Book
An intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.
Ever feel like you were fated to be friends with someone? An alchemy in your meeting, instant fondness - part chemical, part kismet. This is how I've felt about every friend I've fallen in love with - none so much as you.
In 2018, Michael Pedersen lost a most cherished friend soon after their collective voyage into the landscape and luminosity of the Scottish Highlands. Sitting at a desk at The Curfew Tower, Northern Ireland, Michael begins to write to his departed friend - Scott Hutchison. What starts as a love letter to one magical, coruscating human soon becomes a paean to many friendships - perhaps all friendship.
In Boy Friends, Pedersen confronts the bewildering process of grief. As memories rise to the surface - both heart-wrenching and hilarious - he recalls his younger self: the overly sensitive boy growing up in working-class Edinburgh; his befuddling stint in an ancient collegiate university; a short-lived, combustible career as a lawyer; and, foremost, the gorgeous male friendships that have transformed his life.
Written to glitter, with intoxicating energy, Boy Friends is a powerful depiction of friendship and loss, a homage to the beauty of moments shared.
Review Quotes
"Despite its plaintive origins, this brims with beauty and love." -- Publishers Weekly
"Pedersen offers an extended reverie on the dynamics of male friendship, an underexplored literary landscape...A consistently intimate and often moving memoir of friendship." -- Kirkus
"A love letter to friendship." -- Jackie Kay
"With a dazzling and inventive use of language...this sweetly unconventional work...whilst dripping in raw grief is uncommonly romantic, irreverent and at times laugh out loud funny.. A delight really. And that's that." -- Shirley Manson
"Those hungry for the bone-deep truth about grief will devour Michael Pedersen's account of a friend lost...a dazzling act of generosity and an entirely original blast of non-fiction."-- Terri White
"Michael writes with true sensitivity and power . . . he is a master of words; he plays them like music." -- Kae Tempest
"This book is a first in so many ways;. . .The world needs more of Michael Pedersen- lots more." -- Bill Drummond
"A beautiful, moving, life-affirming book." -- Ian Rankin
"Astonishingly compelling . . . as perfect a portrait of friendship as I've ever read." -- Stephen Fry
"Send it to every friend you've ever loved." -- Charlotte Church
About the Author
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning poet and animateur. He has published two successful chapbooks and an acclaimed debut collection Play With Me (Polygon). His second collection, Oyster, surfaced in 2017, also with Polygon, and was illustrated by and performed as a live show with Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison.
He was shortlisted for 2018 Writer of the Year (Herald's Scottish Culture Awards), named a 'Canongate Future 40', awarded the John Mather Trust Rising Star of Literature 2014 (appointed by Scottish Poetry Library), and received a Cove Park residency and the 2015 Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship travelling to Grez-sur-Loing in France. Allied to this, he co-runs/co-founded Neu! Reekie! events, publishing, record label, known as one of the UK's fastest moving arts collectives. Now over eight years old, Neu! Reekie! have produced shows all over the globe.
Michael has collaborated with artists, musicians and filmmakers, whilst scripting short plays for National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh Art Festival. Having developed an electric reputation on the performance circuit he has read at various events throughout the world including: Edinburgh International Book Festival; Sidewalk Café (New York); Lake of Stars Festival (Malawi); Meiji Gakuin Arts (Tokyo); Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (Indonesia).
About Francis Daulerio
Francis Daulerio is a poet and teacher from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University in 2014 before releasing If & When We Wake (Unsolicited Press 2015) and Please Plant This Book (The Head & The Hand Press 2018), both with illustrations by Scottish artist, Scott Hutchison. Francis has also released All Is Not Lost, a collaborative vinyl EP of poetry-infused music to benefit the Tiny Changes charity organization, and With a Difference (Trident Boulder 2020), a split book of ‘covers’ with Philadelphia author Nick Gregorio.
Francis is a mental health awareness advocate, and has performed across the United States and abroad to raise money for suicide prevention.
He lives in the woods with his wife and children. He finds a good bit of joy there.