I went to the Barbican recently for two exhibitions – Radical Nature and the Free Art Fair. I liked the first more than the second. The Free Art Fair was a great idea: have am exhibition at the Barbican and give away the work at the end through a random draw. It was ruined, though, [...]
Archive | October, 2009
Congratulations, Ruth Dugdall!
Last year I won the Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary, an event that changed my life and led to the publication of On the Holloway Road. This year it is the turn of Ruth Dugdall with her novel The Woman Before Me. The award ceremony last night was a wonderful experience for me personally. It was [...]
Biological debt
Saw this interesting take on the body’s energy levels. At the moment I am working nights to supplement my writing income, so energy is something I always struggle with. I generally don’t drink caffeine, but sometimes when I’m desperate to make quick progress I do. When I wrote the first draft of On the Holloway [...]
“The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy
A man dies slowly and in great agony. He ponders the meaning of life, and this increases his anguish: even worse than the physical pain of a slow, lingering death is the spiritual anguish of realising he has wasted his life. Tolstoy’s main target here is dishonesty and hypocrisy. This is established from the opening [...]
Media hoaxes and churnalism
Greg Watts just linked to an interesting article in the Financial Times about the recent spate of media hoaxes, like a boy supposedly trapped in a balloon and a fake US Chamber of Commerce press conference on climate change, and the wider questions of media credibility. For me, the hoaxes are definitely a symptom of [...]
“The Iron Duke” by L. Ron Hubbard
I don’t generally read this kind of thing, but it was given away free by a very nice lady on the L. Ron Hubbard stand at the London Book Fair earlier this year. I don’t like to write anything off without having read it first, so I thought I’d give it a try. The writing [...]
Monday morning inspiration
“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
Why the London Evening Standard is dying
A few weeks ago, I walked past an Evening Standard vendor, and glanced at the headline: “WORLD’S FIRST AIDS VACCINE”. This was big news – a massive scientific breakthrough that could save millions of lives. My response was to shake my head and keep walking. People think the Standard’s circulation is plummeting because of the [...]
“In Dependence” by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
I love the opening line of this book: One could begin with the dust, the heat and the purple bougainvillea. One might even begin with the smell of rotting mangos tossed by the side of the road where the flies hummed and green-bellied lizards bobbed their orange heads while loitering in the sun. But why [...]
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“The Sense of an Ending” by Julian Barnes
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Introducing “A Virtual Love”, coming to a bookshop near you in Spring 2013
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The Sense of an Ending, explained
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Finding some inspiration
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Beauty is a sleeping cat
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Earl Lovelace at Bim Literary Festival
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Austin Clarke at Bim Literary Festival
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Learning from Derek Walcott: Bim Literary Festival, day one
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Great opportunity for unpublished UK writers
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How to write a book review
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Vishy: Interesting 5-step process, Andrew! I agree with t...
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