wowie | Quote: Forging Your Own Path

About your Perceval Press, what kind of satisfaction do you derive from searching for artistic talent?

V: In Perceval Press to publish people? Well, the name "Perceval" is connected to a legend; the legend of Perceval. What happens to him and his legend that was made well-known in the 12th century in the Middle Ages in Europe but has universal appeal, I think. He and his companions come to a very thick, dark forest; they come to the edge of this forest and they decide to each go their separate way, and to make sure they choose a place to enter into this forest where there is no path. Symbolically, I liked this idea. For artists, I wanted to provide a place where they could have... people who maybe would have a difficult time getting books published could get published, but more importantly than that, if they get published that the work would get published in the way that they saw it, you know? So that they could make their own way. And then if people like it, they like it - and if they don't, they don't - but at least the artist or the poet, the thinker, the musician, could try something the way they wanted to. And so far, we've been successful. I know that it's one of the benefits I have, as others do who are involved in Lord of the Rings, the popularity of this movie trilogy has made it so that people are interested in other things that I do, whether it's photography, painting, poetry or publishing books by other people, they're curious. So they come because of Lord of the Rings, maybe, but then they're looking at the work for it's own reason. So I think I've been fortunate to be able to use a little bit of that attention to bring attention to other people. That's satisfying.

wowow.co.jp, 01 Mar '04

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