Derek Jarman: the Authorised Biography

“Peake has given Derek Jarman the biography he deserves.” —Gay Times

This volume is the official authorized biography of artist, filmmaker and gay rights activist Derek Jarman (1942-94). First published in 2011, this classic biography returns in a new edition featuring contributions by bestselling authors Olivia Laing and Jon Savage looking at Jarman’s impact and legacy over the past five decades. The book was authored by Jarman’s longtime literary agent, Tony Peake, who was given unprecedented access to Jarman’s archives.
Jarman’s story stretches from the bleakness of postwar Britain and his RAF childhood to studenthood at the Slade and work as a designer for such figures as John Gielgud and Ken Russell. It is the story of a filmmaker, a gay activist, a painter and a gardener, and a vivid bohemian existence in a London long gone. Jarman created a singular garden in the shingle surrounding his simple fisherman’s cottage at Dungeness in Kent, which has become a site of memorial, celebration and pilgrimage. He became known as an impassioned and provocative spokesperson not only for gay men, but for anyone oppressed by bigotry. Derek Jarman died of AIDS-related causes in February 1994; Peake describes the inimitable courage and grace he possessed in the face of painful death, and the legacies he left behind.
Tony Peake was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1951 and is based in London and Essex. He is a novelist, short story writer, biographer and celebrated literary agent. He has written three novels: A Summer Tide (1993), Son to the Father (1995) and North Facing (2017).