The Iron Age

"Once again, I think this is a slightly problematic book. It started as an award-winning short story that has been turned into a short novel. One can feel that. I love Tramp Press, I think they are commissioning some of the most interesting fiction this side of the Atlantic. They’ve got a brilliant eye. The Iron Age does two things very well indeed. First, it conjures Finland, which strikes me as a very mysterious place, especially in the early 20th century when this story is set. It’s steeped in myth and that is deeply entrancing in itself; it feels Other, like if one was stranded in Finland, one wouldn’t necessarily be able to operate with one’s western coordinates. The line between magic and reality is troubled. Strange people might turn up in your cabin. Some things are just slightly wrong…. Take the cover: there are these two cute children in dungarees and then you notice that one is smoking. Things are slightly off kilter. It’s probably the reason I picked this book: the portrayal of the father. Yes, he’s ignorant, tyrannical, and bullying, but Kajermo is also sensitive to his lack of self-awareness, his existential vulnerability – a kind of despair. Again, the author dimensionalizes the character so you actually feel there is a person in there. He could just be a representative of a certain kind of man, but Kajermo kind of pushes him beyond that and into life. You feel there’s nothing for him – in Finland, but perhaps also in Sweden when the family moves to. Perhaps there is nothing for him anywhere, and he kind of knows this. Yeah, Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen at Tramp Press were in the Guardian again over the fact that they still sent letters that say, “Dear Sirs.” They said ‘we are not going to look at any the work of anyone who assumes we are men.’ Which is not to say that they publish women exclusively. “Tramp Press are commissioning some of the most interesting fiction this side of the Atlantic. They’ve got a brilliant eye” Other publishers like Cassava Republic Press and Peepal press do publish on an exclusive basis – African writing and Caribbean writing, respectively – and that does mean that certain highly original and important novels that might not have got on the radar in this country get some exposure. Two novels that made the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses longlist and shortlist respectively were both incredible imaginative acts that no major publisher would ever buy. The Marvellous Equations of the Dread by Marcia Douglas and Born on A Tuesday by Elnathan John. All I can say is that while I’m not on the judging panel of the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Press this year (at this stage) – my sense is the long list is going to be super-competitive, stronger than last year, with more translated fiction, single author short-story collections of real originality, and formally inventive novels – who can ask for more than that?"