Archive | January, 2011

Coal funding hits record high

26 January 2011 · Thinking · Comments { 3 }

Was astonished by a recent snippet from Christian Aid: Christian Aid has criticised a record high of US$4.4 billion in World Bank funding for coal power stations – a 40-fold increase over the past five years. I can’t believe that at a time when we are facing the need for urgent action to avoid disastrous [...]

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Congratulations Sophie Duffy!

22 January 2011 · Literary events · Comments { 0 }

It was wonderful the other night to see the Luke Bitmead Bursary awarded for a third year, this time to Sophie Duffy for The Generation Game. The prize is £2,500 and a publishing contract with Legend Press. I didn’t get to talk to Sophie at the event, but I did speak to several of the [...]

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“The Buddha of Suburbia” by Hanif Kureishi

19 January 2011 · Reading · Comments { 4 }

I grew up in Beckenham, the exact part of London suburbia in which this novel is set. To my knowledge it’s the only time a novel has ever been set in Beckenham – in fact, it’s probably the only time a novel has even mentioned Beckenham in passing. So I very much enjoyed the opening [...]

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“Lux the Poet” by Martin Millar

12 January 2011 · Reading · Comments { 1 }

I thought I would like this book more than I did. It’s a comedy set in the Brixton Riots of the early 1980s, set around the adventures of a narcissistic poet called Lux. In a wonderfully creative mix of storylines, a whole array of other characters run around in Brixton in the chaos of the [...]

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RIP Prospero

6 January 2011 · Living · Comments { 0 }

I learned recently of the demise of Prospero’s Books, my local independent bookshop in Crouch End. It made me very sad – it was a great bookshop, with knowledgeable staff who were always very supportive of me and of other local writers. I was even on their bestseller list for a while. The strange thing [...]

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Learning from the French

5 January 2011 · Literary events · Comments { 7 }

Moving from journalism into fiction writing, it sometimes feels as if I have gone from one dying industry straight to another. All I read about my profession is doom and gloom, and I sometimes wonder whether I’ve chosen a career that will be obsolete by the time I’ve established yourself in it. It’s the internet, [...]

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