The Title: Why 'Black Chalk'?

I’ve been asked many times what on earth the title Black Chalk means. But I’m nervous about ascribing only one meaning to the title or telling people what they must think regarding its significance. But here are a few of the thoughts I had when picking Black Chalk for the title of my first novel.

Firstly, and most obviously, the novel is mostly set in Oxford University, so the reference to a chalkboard felt appropriate. And the theme of the novel is somewhat dark, so ‘Black’ was also apt.

Secondly, the novel contains a poem entitled Black Chalk but I don’t want to say too much about that as I don’t want to write a spoiler for my own novel.

But personally, and most importantly, the title Black Chalk refers to the idea that, were you to write with black chalk on a blackboard, the words would be there, up on the board, but you wouldn’t be able to read them.

For me, this is a metaphor for experiencing an emotion, the way in which sometimes we might feel something — anger, tension or contentment, say — but we don’t necessarily know why we’re feeling this way. It’s as if a set of rules have been written, instructing us how to feel, but we can’t see the words of those rules. And if we try to decode them, we might have no idea what they say or mean.

For example, I’m a very competitive person. I think almost certainly too competitive. Why is this? Well, I have a few theories (upbringing, ego, gender) but mainly I think my competitiveness is simply part of my nature, a genetic component. It’s as if there exists, somewhere within me, a set of rules (genes) telling me how to feel and behave. And I find it very hard to resist these invisible forces that drive me (competitively) forward.

The six main characters in my book — who play a game, a very competitive game, a psychological game, a game of human nature — are all driven by elements of their own character that they might not understand with complete sceficity: itches, tensions, loves, fears, hatreds…

And this is what leads, unfortunately, to the dark consequences that run throughout the story — Black Chalk.