Max Porter walks into the Southbank Centre’s cafe and politely apologises for running late. Above the polyphonic din of a baby crying and music blaring, the author tells me it’s all the fault of his “close personal friend” Ruth Wilson. He’s got his tongue firmly in his cheek, but frankly, as excuses go, it’s a pretty chic one. The pair are in the throes of rehearsals, alongside actors Toby Jones and David Alade, for a dramatic reading of Porter’s latest novel, Shy, to be staged at the Southbank. It’s an unorthodox alternative to a traditional book launch: “The idea that I go out and be like, ‘I’m going to read a bit, now buy it’ is just not good enough,” he jokes. “I’m not saying everyone needs dramatic abridgements with Toby Jones starring, but what’s the point of this now we’re in a totally content-driven environment?”
Porter hasn’t been able to eat all morning, so he tucks into a cheese and ham baguette and a ginger shot as we talk. The author refers often to being a father, but with his slouched posture and youthful face it’s more like speaking to a wise, older brother. Shy is his fourth book, following his acclaimed debut Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, a Ted Hughes-inspired exploration of grief, and Lanny, a curious folktale about small-town England. His novels have scooped up a host of literary awards, including the Dylan Thomas Prize, and marked him as a phenomenal new talent. As a writer, he has a voice that is inimitable, a mesmerising blend of poetry and prose that dabbles with form; entire pages can be taken up by one line, words move in unexpected directions. Prior to his novels, he wore all possible publishing industry caps: he’s a former Daunt bookseller, and until 2019 he was the editorial director of Granta Books. The slender, strange Shy is characteristic of Porter: dark, furious, evocative and, above all, achingly tender. Taking place across a few decisive hours in the life of a troubled, angry young lad named Shy, who flees a school for kids with behavioural issues, it is perhaps Porter’s greatest exercise in empathy yet.
