William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World, by Philip Hoare; Pegasus Books, Ltd., 2025
A partial biography of a life still in progress, following William Blake’s continuing influence on writers and artists (many of them queer), as well as Blake’s role in the author’s own life. Hoare gives some love and appreciation to William Blake’s artistic collaborator and wife Catherine Blake, and the book includes photos of her three known solo works of art: an illustration of a scene in the gothic novel The Monk, a surreal face Catherine saw while looking into a fire, and a portrait of William. After reading Hoare’s book, now I have to read Billy Budd and seek out the films of Derek Jarman and the art of Paul Nash and the writings of Nancy Cunard and…