'The most admirable kind of worldly haven'

Well. I received an award last night for the writing I did for my MA portfolio at Goldsmiths. The award was presented by the Soho-based literary and talent agency United Agents, as a new annual tribute to Pat Kavanagh, the legendary literary agent who died last year.

My project is far from finished, so the proof will be in the pudding, as far as that goes. Which, by all accounts, is exactly what Pat Kavanagh might have said. It's humbling to think about myself in contrast with someone who lived as full and influential and elegant a life as she did. I never met her, of course, but if this passage from Hermione Lee's exquisite obituary is anything to go by, I sure wish I had:

Pat and Julian [...] created an exemplary household of two, open to people they liked, full of excellent objects, the most admirable kind of worldly haven. They divided some areas of interest. In her remarkable garden, Pat did the flowers and shrubs, Julian did the vegetables. At supper-time, Pat (as good a chef as Julian, "the pedant in the kitchen", in fact), usually did the salad, which she would devour faster than any guest could keep up with. She liked to dance, he does not. She listened avidly to The Archers, he groaned and left the room. She went bird-watching in India, shopped excellently for clothes with women friends, took Italian lessons and piano lessons, made quilts, collected pictures of women reading. But mostly they worked as a complete team: walking together in Italy and France (their last long walk was in Sicily), going to art shows and the theatre and many concerts (where Pat would sit ramrod still from first to last note), visiting friends in Scotland and Yorkshire and Oxford, Normandy, New England and California, making long adventurous journeys to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and all around America.

Now I just have to figure out what to spend the prize money on that could possibly live up to the admirable and worldly mantle of this extraordinary person. I'm sure I'll think of something...

(UPDATE. Nervous cheesy grin photos from the event, here.)

Comments

[Patrick H]

Well done, Jonathan! I'm sure when your pudding is served it will be as delicious!

P

[Brenda Parker]

Congrats! We here in Pine Hall are very proud!