by Alex Dueben

“I wanted it to be the kind of book that I love to read”
– G. Willow Wilson

G Willow Wilson first made a name for herself in comics in 2007 when the graphic novel Cairo which she wrote was published by Vertigo. It made quite a splash, combining fantasy and realism in an attempt to capture life in Egypt’s capital city. She followed it up with the series Air, which was illustrated by her Cairo collaborator M.K. Perker. Her other comics work includes Superman, The Outsiders, Vixen, and most recently Mystic. She’s also published nonfiction in many places including The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times. In 2010 her memoir The Butterfly Mosque, was published about her move after college to Cairo where she met her future husband and came to fall in love with the country.

Her new book, Alif the Unseen, is her first novel. It tells the story of a hacker in an unnamed Arab Gulf country, and involves the jinn, a battle with the state security services overseen by “The Hand,” the nature of storytelling, the power of the internet and climaxes in a revolution. It’s also a book that was written before The Arab Spring erupted last year. We caught up with Wilson and spoke about the book and the current political climate in the Middle East following the Egyptian Presidential election.

Read our exclusive interview with G. Willow Wilson on SuicideGirls.com.

by Alex Dueben

“It was bitter for all of us when Brandon Lee was killed”
– John Shirley

John Shirley may not be a household name, but for three decades he’s been an incredibly influential and prolific writer. He was one of the most important early writers in the movement that would later be called cyberpunk, and William Gibson and others have paid tribute to his influence. Shirley’s novel City Come A-Walkin’ and his later trilogy A Song Called Youth – which has recently been re-released in a single volume omnibus edition – remain among two of the best cyberpunk works ever published. Shirley is also an award winning horror and fantasy writer perhaps best known for novels like Demons, Bleak History, and Dracula in Love, and short story collections like Heatseeker and In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley.

A singer/songwriter who’s fronted a number of bands and has written lyrics for bands including Blue Oyster Cult, Shirley is also a screenwriter who’s worked in film and television. He was the original writer on the movie The Crow and has written episodes of TV shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Profit, “VR.5, Poltergeist: Legacy, Batman Beyond, and The Real Ghostbusters.

Shirley’s newest project is The Crow: Death and Rebirth, a comic miniseries released by IDW, the second issue of which has just been released. Shirley spoke with SG over e-mail to talk about his return to the concept of The Crow, which also marks his return to cyberpunk.

Read our exclusive interview with John Shirley on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“Every good director makes his actor think every idea was his own creation.”
– Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons is best known for starring in the David Cronenberg film, Dead Ringers. But of course that was back in 1988, now Jeremy Irons is transporting us even farther back in time by starring in The Merchant of Venice which is directed by Michael Radford. Irons plays Antonio to Al Pacino’s Shylock.

Read our exclusive interview with Jeremy Irons on SuicideGirls.com.

by Alex Dueben

“I dislike comedy; never get the jokes. True for TV as well as ancient lit.”
– Anne Carson

Since the publication of her now classic book Eros the Bittersweet a quarter century ago, Anne Carson has become one of the most acclaimed classicists, translators, poets and essayists of her generation. In one of her most acclaimed translations, If Not, Winter, Ms. Carson translated and presented the complete works of Sappho, including the fragments, revealing what has been lost as well as what was written in a way that is striking, showing Sappho’s genius as a poet but also serving as a reminder of what has been lost to time.

Ms. Carson is also a noted poet and essayist who writes about love and desire, longing and despair, heartbreak, what has been lost and how we fill those voids that have been left in our lives. In Autobiography of Red, a novel in verse, she retells the myth of Herakles’ tenth labor where he slays the monster Geryon. In Ms. Carson’s contemporary telling, Herakles steals the boy’s innocence and breaks his heart. In her recent book Nox, she tackled a much more personal subject, her relationship with her late brother and his death, composing a hauntingly beautiful book that certainly stands as one of the great books about grief.

Ms. Carson also achieved pop culture notoriety when in the first episode of The L Word, a discussion of Carson’s work became an elaborate seduction scene. That a book about love in ancient Greek literature could serve as such a catalyst is odd enough, but that Ms. Carson could be mentioned by name makes her the rare writer and public intellectual with a reputation to be so noted. Given all that, it seems in poor taste to note that the characters in The L Word largely misunderstood the book.

Her most recent book is Antigonick. A translation of the classic play by Sophokles, the book, published by New Directions, is one of the best designed books of the year and a unique reading experience. Ms. Carson hand-lettered the text of the play, which isn’t presented like most plays but incorporated within pages of artwork. As is the case with her previous book, Nox, Antigonick is unique and a reading experience that can’t be replicated electronically. Ms. Carson was kind enough to agree to speak with us about the book and her work and we exchanged a series of emails in which she demonstrated that her passion for literature and the Greek classics has not dimmed, but that she is uninterested in discussing personal topics. Despite her lack of interest, she did answer the questions. As she said in response to a different question, “Canadians are dutiful.”

Read our exclusive interview with Anne Carson on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“There was nothing exciting about playing the violin or the recorder.”
– John Digweed

It’’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since the seminal dance album, Renaissance: The Mix Collection, was released. Now Sasha and John Digweed have teamed up to digitally remix and remaster the album for the modern age. I got a chance to talk with Digweed about the long influence of his work.

Read our exclusive interview with John Digweed on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“To go from being a waiter to making a film with my best mates is just amazing.”
– Nick Frost

Due to the success of Shaun of the Dead, co-stars Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are now international movie stars. The DVD has recently been released in America and it’’s loaded with cool extras like audio commentary, casting tapes, Simon Pegg’s video diary and Edgar & Simon’s pitch to the studio. I got a chance to talk to both Pegg and Frost in New York City.

Read our exclusive interview with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“Although I am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict I still feel that drugs should be legalized.”
– Greg Behrendt

Comedian Greg Behrendt has had a banner year. His book with Liz Tuccillo, He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, has sold almost 2 million copies, his standup act is popular enough to sell out large venues and the sitcom he worked on, Committed, is doing well. Behrendt kickstarted his career working with Un-Cabaret, honing his unique voice through standup.

Read our exclusive interview with Greg Behrendt on SuicideGirls.com.