THE AUTHOR
What's in a Name?
Our names express more than sounds and syllables, they represent experience, memory, emotion and a license to approach life with bold creativity. At least this is what Wilberforce believes, and attempts to bring to bear in the characters and topics that form the touchstones of his novels.
As a philosopher, he takes great pride in levelling curious challenge against such concepts as "the norm" and, as an author, seeks to display his thought-provoking narrative upon the canvass of his pages. People, and the way in which they inhabit their time, are the essence of his writing style, and ensuring that authentic voices are heard by the reader is a pivotal focus.
One overarching mantra that Wilberforce fiercely champions is to always live for the present, rather than the past or the future.
As a great friend of his once said: "Life will be best enjoyed when its rhythm is allowed to run away with you..."
“...it isn't positions which lend people distinction, but people who enhance positions."
Agesilaus, Spartan King
THE WORK OF B.D. WILBERFORCE
Wilberforce has always found words to hold an irresistible mystery - exploring, capturing, and applying phrases in every aspect of his life. Stories, and the way in which people tell them, have underpinned group dynamics and supported greater understandings of the self for thousands of years.
As he develops his career as an author, you can find his part in this living history of humanity by delving into his developing portfolio below.
“He better skilled, that rules worse horse, will all observance bend"
Homer
PORTFOLIO OF WORK
A nod to the projects that capture Wilberforce's imagination
FURZE: SWEETHEARTS AND SWAN SONGS
11 November 2021
"At 0730, our guns opened a terrific fire on the enemy’s trenches. Neuve Chapelle and Aubers. For three quarters of an hour this lasted – the roar and noise was extraordinary.” Lieutenant Keith Furze, Wednesday 10 March 1915.
Furze: Sweethearts and Swan Songs is B.D. Wilberforce's first novel, and a roaring introduction to his literary aspirations. Based on the hand-written diary that his great-grandfather, Lieutenant Keith Furze, kept during World War One, the novel is an insight into the experiences and emotions of a young British Officer on the Western Front. Although based on memories from over 100 years ago, it is a stark reminder that, sometimes, one’s pain is so great and one’s emotions so tumultuous that the only way to overcome them is to remain fiercely optimistic in the face of adversity.
Crucially for B.D Wilberforce, Furze merges historical events with philosophical thought, bringing to life the concerns and ideas of memory through the medium of society's current challenges. The nature of duty, friendship, vulnerability, purpose in life, loss, and love, are all explored through Furze's conversations with those dearest to him. These touching narratives aim to exemplify that the practice of philosophy can still bring great benefits when applied practically to one's personal and professional lives.
From the Battle of Festubert to the dance halls of the Savoy, follow a youthful heart as it faces the depths of personal loss and the peaks of a first kiss.
“To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the other.”
Alexandre Dumas
"...biology is not your destiny, but your toolkit in life."