Max Porter has kept the heads of his readers spinning ever since he mesmerized the literary world with his debut Grief is the Thing with Feathers (2015), a moving portrait of a widowed father and his two young sons coping with the sudden death of their mother with the help of Crow, a human-sized talking bird. Porter's writing, resembling word alchemy, seems to defy categorisation. It borders on poetry, essay, novel, and painting, hovering between musicality, visuality, and writing. Each shape-shifting, transcendent, genre-defying new book is a formally restless feat of boundless energy and empathy. And with each new book, Porter seems to push the limits of language and of the reader’s imagination. 

Max Porter in conversation with Petr Vizina.

Max Porter rose to stardom in Britain and Europe following the publication of his debut novella Grief Is the Thing with Feathers (2015), which won the International Dylan Thomas Prize and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. It was adapted for the stage by Irish playwright and director Enda Walsh in a production starring Cillian Murphy. Porter‘s second book Lanny (2019) was longlisted for the Booker Prize. His interest in the visual arts gave rise to The Death of Francis Bacon (2021), a luminous portrait of the dying artist written as a series of paintings. His most recent novel, Shy (2023), a lyrical study of teenage boyhood, long topped the best-seller lists. Porter will chair the judging panel of the International Booker Prize in 2025.