Books, Stories and Articles
by
Alan Wakeman
You
can buy my most recent book titles here - plus a selection
of my published short stories and articles. For a complete
list of my publications (including out-of-print titles
which may still be available from Amazon, Ebay etc.)
click the bibliography tab at the bottom. |
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During the 1970s I sometimes awoke from vivid dreams
about two friends called Hamun & Giben. I drowsily
scribbled them down in my bedside notebook and, when
I re-read them later in the day, was gratified to
discover a wise fable of human self-delusion and conceit
which seemed to have come from another realm. |
To
involve my waking self in this perplexing process
of composition I did a pen and ink illustration for
each new fable and, once I was sure the whole episode
had come to a natural end, I offered the complete
set to Wildwood House who published them in 1978.
Their first edition sold surprisingly well before
my friendly publishers were taken over by a global
conglomerate which promptly put my favourite title
out of print where it remained for a quarter of a
century. |
But,
in 2005, Gemini Press published a handsome new edition
and to whet your appetite for a copy of your own here's
a link to one of my personal favourites: |
THE VEGAN COOKBOOK
by Alan
Wakeman & Gordon Baskerville
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| Faber
and Faber 1998 |
ISBN
9780571-178049 |
UK
£12.99 RRP |
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The
Vegan Cookbook offers more than an authentic cuisine
- it proffers a way of life based on compassion for
all living things. For veganism is grounded in the simple
truth that primary food - fresh fruit and vegetables,
grains, seeds, nuts, pulses and so on - is not only
healthier, but ecologically, ethically and spiritually
superior to the mass-produced fodder of agri-business
and factory farming. But gourmets will also find delights
here among over 200 recipes ranging from the everyday
to the celebratory. |
For
this new edition, the authors have conjured up more
than a dozen new recipes, improved some of the original
ones, expanded the Alternative Dairy chapter and thoroughly
revised and updated the information sections. |
'Demonstrates
that a vegan diet can be varied, luxurious and reach the highest
culinary standards. As with all successful cookery books,
the imagination, as well as the taste buds, is stimulated.'
The Vegan
'A
fabulous book: informative, imaginative and provides sound
logical reasons for becoming vegan.' City Limits
The
range of recipes is revelatory. The section on baking is particularly
good. Veganism is developing an authentic cuisine. Time
& Tide
And
from a reader:
'Although
I now have a large-ish collection of vegan cookery books (nearly
every one that has come out) only yours approaches the subject
from the gourmet angle - delicious flavours in their own right,
not substitutes and mock-ups - nor worthy and well-meaning
fodder of the bean-stew-and-chewy brown stuff variety.'
Linda Wilkinson, Devon
ARTICLES
| I've
chosen a selection of my published writing which,
in my opinion, are still relevant to humanity's current
dilemmas. For example, I've
been writing and publishing on the damage we're doing
to our amazing planet since the 1960s. (See Either/Or.)
Back
then, my suggestions produced no response (apart from
sarcastic jeering). It's cold comfort to have been
proved right in the end - especially as the only change
in government policies I'm aware of since then - is
that those in power now routinely mouth public platitudes
about the damage we're collectively doing to the environment
we share with all other living things while pursuing
the very policies that promote the population growth
and rampant consumerism that cause it. |
I'd
rather my work was reprinted without payment than
not read at all but do agree with Dorothy Parker that
for writers "the two most beautiful words in
the English language are: "Cheque enclosed".
Either way, I ask to be credited for my work and enjoy
receiving feedback and/or copies of any publications
containing reprints. |
Click
a title to read the complete article.
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Next a few other topics that concern me. First,
a
jokey jibe at straights to give them an inkling
of what it feels like to be got at in the non-stop,
subtle and insidious way we gays were before gay
liberation changed the world. I made up the complete
original text in 1975 as I painted it on the foyer
wall of The Almost-Free Theatre during
the world's first ever season of openly-gay plays
where it caused such a sensation that I later
published it as a fund-raising poster for Gay
Sweatshop, the theatre group of which I was
a founder member. I've heard of sightings of my
poster from New York to New Zealand, Sydney to
Sao Paulo and discovered it on various Internet
sites - on one of which it had scored a million
hits! This makes it my most successful publication
but, please note, I wrote it as a contribution
to the gay community and have never made a penny
from it. However, I do ask for my name to be included
as the author in any reprints:
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A
LABOUR OF LOVE
My
struggle to write a new
English translation
worthy
of
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's
brilliant LE
PETIT PRINCE.
by
Alan Wakeman
SEEING
WITH THE HEART
The
search for a publisher of my new
translation
of
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's LE
PETIT PRINCE.
by
Alan Wakeman
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