His name: Robert Darch. The title of his book: Vale. He presents it as follows:
A lot of the themes that the work explores are very prescient at the moment, especially isolation, illness and a nostalgia for a lost time.
The book reflects on a long period of ill health (a minor stroke, then glandular fever, followed by a diagnosis of ME/CFS) I experienced in my twenties and the isolation and loneliness that happened because of that.
Whilst I was ill I would get lost in daydream and fiction, creating imaginary worlds to temper the isolation and sadness. Vale imagines a lost summer spent swimming in rivers and exploring woods underscored by a sustained sense of eeriness.
Robert Darch : Vale
Self Published in 2020 by Lido Books
Cover Illustration by Anna Skeels
Essay by Dan Cox
Cover Design by Nia Gould
64 Pages / 220 x 170mm
36 colour images
Printed Hardcover with Silver Foiling
Casebound & Sewn
GardaPat Kiara Paper 150gsm
Edition 750
Offprint at Gomer Press
ISBN: 978-1-8382195-0-5
