White Rabbit unveils first novel in a decade from ‘Teesside’s finest living novelist’ Milward  

White Rabbit has signed the first novel in 10 years by Richard Milward, who the publisher describes as “Teesside’s finest living novelist”, titled Man-Eating Typewriter and told in Polari.

Publisher Lee Brackstone acquired world English language rights from Becky Thomas at Lewinsohn Literary Agency, for publication on 16th March 2023 in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio. 

White Rabbit will also be reissuing Milward’s first three novels: his début, Apples, Ten Storey Love Song and Kimberly’s Capital Punishment.

The publisher’s synopsis of Man-Eating Typewriter reads: “Set at the fag-end of the 1960s and framed as a novel within a novel published by a seedy London purveyor of pulp fiction, Man-Eating Typewriter is a homage to the avant-garde counterculture of the 20th century.

“Told in Polari, it is the story of an anarchist named Raymond Novak and his plan to commit a ‘fantabulosa crime’ in 276 days that will revolt the world. A surrealistic odyssey that stretches from occupied Paris to the cruise-liner SS Unmentionable to lawless Tangier before settling in swinging London, the book casts Novak as an agitator and freedom fighter – but, as his memoirs become more and more threatening, his publishers find themselves far more involved in his violent personality cult than they ever intended.”

White Rabbit goes on to describe the book as an “act of seductive sedition by a writer with unfathomable literary talent and boldness.”

“Wild, transgressive, erotic and resolutely uncompromising, this marks the return of a writer who is out there on an island of his own making; a book that will be talked about, celebrated and puzzled over for decades,” it concludes.

Milward said: “The book is all about being free – the narrator, Novak, untethers himself from strict moral standards and shakes up language – and it means a lot to me that, since publishing Apples in 2007, Lee has given me full freedom to experiment in my work. Aside from all the special music books, White Rabbit’s fiction list is a real treasure trove of risk-taking innovation.”

Brackstone said: “I am thrilled to be working again with one of the most gifted writers of his generation, Richard Milward. I first met Richard almost 20 years ago when he sent me his wondrous début, Apples, unsolicited, without an agent. Written while still a teenager, Apples was celebrated by the likes of Irvine Welsh and Michael Bracewell as the arrival of a spectacular new talent.

“Man-Eating Typewriter has been 10 years in the writing. I have absolutely no qualms claiming this is the most experimental, unconventional and linguistically inventive novel of the 21st century so far. Hostage to fortune as that may be... the proof is in the reading. Be prepared. This book is truly sui generis and truly, truly demented.”