We are going to see a lot of Alan Moore this month, with the release of two books: his final graphic novel, The Moon And Serpent Bumper Book Of Magic in two weeks and today sees the release of the first of his five Long London novels, The Great When set in 1949 in an alternative London. The subsequent books will be set in 1959, 1969, 1979, and then jumping to 1999. And now, we have learned the name of the second of that novel, I Hear A New World.
The second book is titled after the album by Joe Meek, I Hear A New World, recorded in 1959 but released in 1960, subtitled "an outer space music fantasy". ... But he is also famed for taking a shotgun owned by musician Heinz Burt, killing his landlady, Violet Shenton, and then shooting himself in 1967. Those last moments of Joe Meek's life also featured in Alan Moore's spoken word performance art piece The Highbury Working, A Beat Séance, created by The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels collaborative team of Moore, David J, and Tim Perkins and performed on the 20th of November 1997 at the performance club Absorption at The Garage in Highbury, with dancer Paule van Wijngaarden.
Joe Meek will also appear in the novel, I Hear A New World, as a character, alongside The Great When's Dennis Knuckleyard. Expect a lot more Alan Moore with Zoom events to book festivals the world over, such as today's Wisconsin Book Festival being interviewed by Benjamin Percy in a couple of hours. Or at the Century Club in London in a couple of weeks. Then there will be the inevitable Guardian article about Alan Moore and superheroes, reviews in The Times newspaper. and plenty of the usual kinds of headlines that will spill out. Oh, and The Great When to top the bestseller charts…