Iain Sinclair, Lud Heat

David Cunningham (University of Westminster)
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Lud Heat

, subtitled

A Book of Dead Hamlets May 1974 to April 1975

, was first published by Sinclair's own small press, Albion Village, in 1975. Although presented as a poetry book,

Lud Heat

combines, in a complex collage, passages of verse and prose, autobiography and fiction, history and myth, criticism and social realism. Little noticed at the time of its publication – unsurprisingly given its very small print run – it has gained some posthumous fame by virtue of Sinclair's subsequent success as a novelist and essayist, and because of Peter Ackroyd's heavy borrowings from its first section for his bestselling novel,

Hawksmoor

. With the growing interest in his writing, Vintage finally republished the book in 1995, in a single volume with

Suicide Bridge

(1979).

The book is built around

1542 words

Citation: Cunningham, David. "Lud Heat". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3810, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3810 Lud Heat 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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