For anyone wondering whether there is any humanity left in this troubled world, I am delighted to confirm that there is – I have just found it in the form of Flapjack Press’s new release, The First Spark Has Led to This Blaze by Henry Normal and Pete Ramskill.
Luminaries in their respective fields, Normal and Ramskill each have a list of professional achievements as long as your arm. Normal is a poet, poetry festival founder, broadcaster, performer, TV and film producer and writer whose credits include some of the most popular television shows from the past three decades, including co-writing Mrs Merton Show, The Royle Family, Coogan’s Run and many more. Ramskill is an award-winning designer, artist and sculptor who has exhibited in numerous galleries and public spaces, as well as being a poet himself with three collections under his belt.
In this new book, Normal has written the words and Ramskill has illustrated them. The poetry is a selection taken from Normal’s prolific output over recent years and contains many favourites that readers, and audiences from his live shows and BBC Radio 4 series A Normal…, will be overjoyed to revisit. For example, there’s the tour de force Birdspotting, in which we are encouraged to get our own back on birds for smattering us with their poop:
Soil Egrets with no regrets
Plop on a Pigeon a smidgen
Shit on a Tit – see how they like it
Ramskill’s accompanying illustration is a beautifully expressive hand-drawn sketch of a gull looking indignant at the author’s revenge, adding another level of humour to the work.
As well as Normal’s trademark, hilarious list poems, the book contains a number of more reflective and moving pieces that encourage the reader to view others with care and compassion, such as A Second Boat Amid The Storm:
A second boat amid the storm
shouldn’t sail too close
waves are harsh enough
without a clash of bows
A second boat amid the storm
shouldn’t drift in the dark
you may be their only salvation
they may be yours
Ramskill’s illustration is a humbling, moving work which communicates the vastness of the sea in comparison to the smallness of a boat, emphasising human vulnerability.
Love in many forms is at the heart of this book, whether for humanity in general, family or life itself, such as when the speaker in There’s More To Lemons Than Being Yellow is struck by the bittersweet preciousness of time at the beach with their son:
We’ve crossed the line between
existence and exaltation
as though commonplace
Whether a shrine or a mirage
the shoreline is never long enough
Again, Ramskill’s gorgeous image perfectly complements Normal’s words, ramping up the vividness of the scene with beautifully controlled, coloured lines which capture the intensity of light found by the sea.
Both Normal and Ramskill are experts in creating art that feels accessible to all and yet rewards deeper consideration, with layers that explore what it is to be human and alive. Their collaboration is brilliant, with words and pictures serving each other selflessly, creating a glorious, funny, tender and hope-filled book that equals considerably more than the sum of its parts, and makes the world a slightly better place every time it is opened.
Copyright © Henry Normal and Pete Ramskill / Flapjack Press
For more information about The First Spark Has Led to This Blaze by Henry Normal, illustrated by Pete Ramskill, click here.
