Aea Varfis-van Warmelo

Two of our very best come together to talk about Aea’s one-of-a-kind, original, funny, dark, and fun novel. Well done @aeavvw and @presspeninsula . Jeez, it’s a damn fine book. @zoeguttenplan is of course one of London’s best minds and writers, and wields both pen and typographic instrument with daring, panache, thought, and style. God, she’s brilliant! It is gonna be such a good and fun event and the red-plush bar feels spot-on for the book. You’ll get it when you get there. Very limited tickets for this one, so get your hands on one sharpish. Ticket comes with a copy of the book. It’s a whole big night so stick around, get your book signed, and party with us. Really excited for this. A damn fine book to celebrate. Ticket link in bio. Flyer by Zoe.

HUGE congratulations to Aea Varfis-van Warmelo (@aeavvw ) on the publication of her debut book Attention-Seeking Behaviourr 📕 Funny, sexy, and politically astute, Attention-Seeking Behaviour is at once a personal confessional and a critical history of lie detection methods. Blending fiction and non-fiction – memoir, novel and essay – it wields confession shamelessly while positively embracing the proximity of literature and lying. Published by @presspeninsula ✨ “Sexy, frightening, immaculately written and mercilessly perceptive. I loved every page.” - @luukekennnard “It renewed what I now hope to find in the contemporary novel altogether.” - @evediariden “At once a faultless expression of emotional truth and a work of heart-breaking precision and quality.” - @benjamin.pester “A bold and exciting novel for the weary world of today.” - @johnpamchugh “I can’t think of a recent work that more clearly demonstrates that through literature we can lie to tell the truth.” - @itsamule “I may well be a liar, but this is compulsory reading.” - @kimberly.campanello “Left me raw, exposed, blinking, unsteady on my feet, totally thrilled.” - @vida_adamczewski “Very skilfully written. A frighteningly bizarre love story for our dark times.” - @saraofthebaumes

Attention-Seeking Behaviour by Aea Varfis-van Warmelo ❣️ ‘Sexy, frightening, immaculately written and mercilessly perceptive. It’s also the most exacting, eviscerating self-critique since St Augustine. Left me with a deeper understanding of myself that I sort of wish I didn’t have. I loved every page.’ Luke Kennard Published 7 May Cover @lookbird

🔴 Attention-Seeking Behaviour 🔴 ‘I have never told anyone about this before. There is no way to prove that it happened, but why would I lie?’ The narrator of Attention-Seeking Behaviour thinks you should know about the body she found in the park. She thinks you should know about her sex life, which is fulfilling and systematic. She thinks you should know that she is a writer, that she is ‘complex, creative and nasty’. But above all, she thinks you should know that she is a compulsive liar. Trying to break this habit for the sake of Normal Ben, an honest and uncomplicated man, she attempts a sincere reckoning with her long history of deception, its psychological roots and the terrible cost it has exacted on her relationships. But can we believe a word she says? Funny, sexy, and politically astute, Attention-Seeking Behaviour is at once a personal confessional and a critical history of lie detection methods. Blending fiction and non-fiction – memoir, novel and essay – it wields confession shamelessly while positively embracing the proximity of literature and lying. ‘The most exacting, eviscerating self-critique since St Augustine. Left me with a deeper understanding of myself that I sort of wish I didn’t have. I loved every page.’ Luke Kennard ‘A novel which is both amazingly playful and deeply serious; warm and destabilising, intellectually rigorous and aesthetically stylish.’ Harriet Armstrong ‘I can’t think of a recent work that more clearly demonstrates that through literature we can lie to tell the truth.’ Oluwaseun Olayiwola ‘Nimble, rigorous and almost indecently entertaining.’ Matt Greene ‘Tricksy is high praise for this compelling debut.’ Rose Cleary ‘A truly funny, slippery and daring book that is suffused with enviable sentences, a sense of nowness, and this cynical intelligence that is a joy to interact with.’ John Patrick McHugh AEA VARFIS-VAN WARMELO is a writer and poet, and an editor at Granta magazine. Her debut poetry pamphlet Intellectual Property was published by Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (2024). Publishes 7 May Cover design @lookbird For review enquires, please contact Ned at FMcM on: @fmcmassociates

PAY ATTENTION TO ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

life, my way, with gratitude and more soon

A belated but big, BIG hot thank you to everyone who came to the launch, to the Goldsmiths team, to beautiful Seun, Amy, Will and Orit. And to my secret extra reader, Arion, who is like a brother to me. Also a big thank you to everyone who’s already bought it despite me forgetting to tell people it’s actually for sale. You’re very wily.

26 minutes past new year, my camera roll reveals a certain type of psyche

Launch! 10th of January! @goldsmithscca ! Can’t even express how excited I am for my first solo publication to be launched in the excellent company of @itsamule , Amy McCauley, Will Harris and @oritgat . Welcome to anyone — friends, foes, poetry haters (I too dislike it). Event details in bio, because that’s where they belong.

new years: very good indeed, like a spring in your step

ye olde razzle dazzle

a tragedy that these two left hands will never meet in a gruesome handshake