INTERVIEW: Patrick Hawkes, Author of The Unlit City

A few weeks ago I read and thoroughly enjoyed Patrick Hawkes’ recent novel, The Unlit City.

I reached out to Patrick with some follow-up questions about the novel and the process behind it. My thoughts and reflections on The Unlit City can be found here, which I’d recommend reading first for some context on the book.

Enjoy!

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Q: Why did you decide to write The Unlit City?
A: I didn’t really decide to write it– it just developed organically. I hadn’t written a novel in a couple of years and it began as a series of character sketches– I didn’t have a plot written down when I started writing it. But I suppose I was feeling nostalgic– I was thinking a lot about this group of friend’s I’d had when I was twenty three, and I wasn’t sure what sort of story I wanted to write– but I knew that I wanted to write something with them in it.

Q: When did you write it? 
A: I started writing it in March 2025 and I finished it in six months. Definitely older and a little more jaded. I’d been working a forty eight hour week and my mental health wasn’t great, so I decided to reduce my hours at work and spend some time doing the things that I love– reading, writing, going for long walks through the countryside. My life now is quite boring, and I like it that way, but I wanted to write about people who were young and a bit mad.

Q: The blurb mentions that the novel was inspired by real friends in Soho. How true is this? And where are those friends now?
A: All of the characters in the book are based on real people. Particularly this summer I had when I was twenty three, out of work and spending all of my time in Soho with my friends. The real life summer was a lot more wholesome– I met my friends through Narcotics Anonymous meetings and we spent all of our time bumming around the cafes along Old Compton Street, or else going to clubs where we’d drink diet coke instead of alcohol… The real life Klara was a former model who when I knew her, was sleeping on friends sofa’s, trying to quit cocaine and working part time at a food stall in Soho. The real life Sylvia was a King’s English Lit dropout who had spent five years on heroin, the real life Jimmy was a rent boy who didn’t give a fuck about anything (although he never killed anyone). I wanted to take my friends from back then and almost write a what if– what if we’d all been completely unhinged and amoral. Klara moved back to Hong Kong after that summer and went on to become the CEO of a tech company, while doing her cabaret on the side. She now lives in Edinburgh, she’s engaged to a musician, and she’ll be studying for her Masters in neuroscience from September 26. She’s the only one of the gang that I’m still in touch with. Last time I spoke to the real life Sylvia, she was back at Kings, completing her degree in English Literature. We’re not in touch anymore and I have no way to contact her because she’s not on socials, and I never knew her last name. Jimmy– I have no idea what happened to Jimmy. I never heard from Jimmy again after that summer. But I think he went back home to his family up North. 

Q: Which of these characters is closest to you?
A: Joe definitely. His character isn’t based on me, but I have the most in common with Joe. The aspiring writer with depression and a drug habit, obsessed with Soho, living out of bedsits and not doing a lick of work. I’m nothing like that now but my early twenties were the spit of Joe’s, only instead of smack it was tina. Haven’t used drugs in years and I never want to again. Lots of regret and guilt over all of that.

Q: How did working on this text make you feel?
A: Nostalgic mostly, because I don’t think I’ll ever move back to London. I used to know everyone in Soho, I was there every single day for nearly ten years and had hundreds of friends at one point, I couldn’t walk down the street without bumping into somebody that I knew. But now whenever I go back to London, and inevitably end up in Soho, I don’t bump into anyone that I knew. Nostalgic for Soho more than anything else, because it was a great place to be young and gay. But it also made me glad that I don’t live like that anymore. Don’t miss the parties, the late nights, the come downs, don’t miss the crowds (I used to feel so alive in a crowd, but now my idea of paradise is a deserted moor). And I don’t miss how lost I felt in London, there were a lot of meaningful friendships and lots of good times, but it wasn’t a happy life for me.

Q: Is there a message you’d like the reader to take from the book, and why?
A: That’s a tricky one. To be honest I don’t think there’s a deeper message. I wanted to write about this slice of life, about Soho and my friends, but there’s no deep meaning there. I didn’t mean to glorify drugs so much, I have a real horror of drug use after my experiences, but I suppose I wanted to show that whatever happens, you get through it and you move on.

Q: Do you think writing and creative output is as important as your characters do?
A: I don’t to be honest. I used to– when I was a lot younger, and that’s why the characters are all so insufferable, because I wanted to capture that obsession– I used to think that the most important thing about me was that I wanted to be a writer, but now I just see it as a hobby– something I enjoy very much but I don’t need it to ever go anywhere. I don’t even feel like I need people to read my writing. If people do then great, and I’m happy that it’s out there in the world, but the act of writing is the important thing for me, because I enjoy it.
I think it’s more important that you live a good life and that you’re happy, whatever you spend your days doing. Some people are creative, others aren’t. It doesn’t matter.

Q: What does it mean to live a literary life? What’s worth sacrificing for it?
A: I used to have lots of really pretentious ideas that I’d gotten from places like Rimbaud and the Beats about what a literary life should look like, but on the whole I’ve never found that kind of living as being conducive to a literary life. It’s definitely not worth sacrificing your health or your happiness for. I think living a literary life is just about following your Tao, your deep interest, and seeing where it leads you. Read great books. Enjoy creating little worlds on the page. It might not take you where you want to go, but it will always get you where you need to be. 

Q: What do you miss most about being young?
A: I turned thirty one last year. I miss being hungry for the world– I used to be more of a go getter. I wanted to get to know everyone and I was really keen on meeting new people and having a good time, having interesting conversations and experiences, but I’ve become a lot more insular. I only have a handful of friends, who I hardly see, I’m not interested in dating, I’m not ambitious. I’m a lot happier, but I suppose I miss how alive I felt when I was younger.

Q: Do you think violence is always lurking on the edge of polite society, particularly in glamorous locations?
A: It’s a violent world. I went to NA meetings in Soho for years, and some of the stories people used to tell would make my toes curl. And you’d see a lot of stuff on the streets. There are some bad people out there.

Q: Why did you choose to self publish your book? And why now?
A: I sent it to every literary agent and indie publisher in London and they all turned it down. One indie publisher based in Kent offered me a publishing contract– a few months before I self published it when I was still working on redrafts, and they told me that it didn’t need an editor and that they were happy to publish it as it was. I’m so glad I said no! I really appreciated the offer and the input, but I knew that it wasn’t ready (it could still do with the eye of a good editor), but it just didn’t sit right with me. I decided to self-publish because I’ve been writing novels for five years and each one has been turned down by literary agents, and I wanted to put some of my work out there. I know it’ll never take off on Amazon, but I just wanted to hold an actual book in my hands and know that it was mine.

Q: What’s your favourite thing about the novel and why?
A: The first four chapters– I think that they’re the best in the book. I’m really proud of them.

Q: What would your perfect night through to morning look like?
A: I don’t enjoy partying anymore. My ideal night is a night in. Good food, a film, a couple of hours with a book and an early night. Simple things. Bed by ten.

Order The Unlit City online now