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By TNV, January 17, 2011

Sleeping States is the recording and touring name of Markland Starkie, and various friends and collaborators. Markland previously contributed a piece of writing to this website. But the text of The Next Village stayed with him, and a song of that name appeared on his subsequent album, In The Gardens Of The North. Below is a film of Markland performing the song solo as part of the Bandstand Busking series.

This website has not really taken off in the way I’d hoped. Perhaps people were intimidated by the notion of saying something back to Kafka. Perhaps The Next Village is not something that stimulates a lot of people. In any case, most of the people asked to contribute to the site have not done so. And it hasn’t gathered any momentum in terms of unsolicited contributions – there have been very few.

But many have contributed. And I’m happy that this website contains some remarkable pieces of writing, and film, and music and photography. It stands as a small but I think moving testament to the power of the little piece of prose that inspired it.

I am no longer soliciting pieces for the website, and in truth I haven’t been doing so in some time. If contributions come to me in the future I will of course post them. And this website will remain on-line and accessible.

Many thanks to all the contributors, and to all the website’s visitors. Enjoy the music.

P.S. Sleeping States are currently on a short tour of the eastern US. Go and see.

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By TNV, July 10, 2009

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Haydon Saunders is an artist living in Staffordshire. You can see some more bits of him here.

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By TNV, July 8, 2009

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by Fat Butcher,  2009.  Footage courtesy archive.org See more work by Fat Butcher at  www.fatbutcher.wordpress.com and at  www.m-o-t-h.tv

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By TNV, July 3, 2009

Il Prossimo Villaggio

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Marcello Mastroianni was an Italian film actor. He appeared in dozens of films during the course of a career that spanned more than fifty years. Among the best known are Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, and 8½. Mastroianni died in 1996. He was apparently an admirer of Kafka, and of The Next Village in particular. I’m indebted to Péter Kovács for bringing this wonderful piece of film to my attention.

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By TNV, June 30, 2009

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Dermod Moore spent a year in a village in Italy, population 81. His is the author of Diary of a Man. He is now back in his native Dublin, doing some writing, some thinking, some talking. Listening, too, he’s good at that. And planning. Always planning. He recently directed a short film called My First Kiss.