New book prints early collage art of tragic Islington playwright Joe Orton
Malicous Damage - Credit: Archant
A new book detailing the anarchic art of gifted playwright Joe Orton and his troubled, murderous lover Keith Halliwell has been released.
Malicious Damage prints a collection of the collages the pair created by defacing library books borrowed from Islington Central Library, in Fieldway Crescent, Highbury.
The artists, who lived together in Noel Road, Islington, were eventually charged with larceny, malicious and willful damage and jailed for six months.
Their turbulent relationship ended in tragedy when the jealous Halliwell bludgeoned Orton to death at their home before committing suicide.
Cllr Janet Burgess, Islington Council’s executive member for health and wellbeing said: “We are pleased to announce that this new book on the anarchic exploits of Orton and Halliwell will shortly be available for loan from Islington libraries.
You may also want to watch:
“The Council’s Local History Centre holds the surviving collection of the duo’s vandalised library book jackets from the late-1950s and early-1960s and we were honoured to have worked with the author and publisher of ‘Malicious Damage’.
“Five decades on, the couple’s notoriety is part of Islington’s rich and colourful history.”
Most Read
- 1 Jeremy Corbyn on the fuel poverty crisis
- 2 Hundreds arrested after police crackdown on county lines
- 3 Islington Council caretaker charged with rape and aggravated burglary
- 4 Call for action after scooter filmed riding on Islington pavement
- 5 Islington Council to press ahead with people friendly streets - despite disabled pleas
- 6 Kentish Town teen creates football team to 'bring community together'
- 7 Islington eco-festival opens – but what about the Edmonton incinerator?
- 8 Met Office warns of flooding risk with heavy rain set to hit London
- 9 Clerkenwell fire: Margery Street office block blaze under investigation
- 10 Meet Charrli - the Islington start-up facilitating zero-waste shopping
Malicious Damage is the first book by British writer and artist Ilsa Colsell and features a foreword by Leonie Orton Barnett, Mr Orton’s youngest sister.”
