Andrew Blackman, literary fiction writer, traveller, book reviewer and essayist

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 6: The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette, Kôtsukéno Suké

The theme of honour runs through many of the fictions of Jorge Luis Borges. But why bother retelling such a well-known story if all you’re going to do is reinforce the standard narrative?

Reading

Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami

Ms Ice Sandwich is a beautiful and endearing novella about a young boy's innocent crush on a grocery-store clerk.

The Joy of Bookshops

I recently visited a bookshop for the first time in ages. Browsing the shelves, picking up books at random, reading back covers and ruffling through the pages was a true…

Reading

Best Books I Read in 2021

In another difficult year, books once again brought me solace. Here's a roundup of my best books of 2021 (these are the best books I read this year, not the…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 5: The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan

As with many Borges stories, the line between fact and fiction in this story is unclear. So why does Borges make these alterations?

Bridgetown on the eve of Barbados becoming a republic

Living

Symbols Matter

As Barbados becomes a republic, there's a bizarre disconnect between the way foreign media and local people are framing what's happening.

Living

Digging Myself Out

This is not an apology post. More of a commitment to myself to give more time to things I value, like blogging regularly.

Reading

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire is an Australian crime novel that throws the crime-writing conventions out of the window. It's more about male violence and sexual aggression than about solving the murder with which it starts.

Reading

The American Way: Stories of Invasion

This new short story collection by Comma Press focuses on what the American Way looks like to those at the sharp end of US aggression around the world.

Reading

The Truth About Amritsar

Why did British troops massacre hundreds of Indian civilians at Amritsar in 1919? This book explores the whole shocking story.

Reading

Digging to America by Anne Tyler: Review

In Digging to America, Tyler charts the course of two mismatched families, the hale and hearty, all-American Donaldsons and the quieter, more reticent Iranian-American Yazdans. All they have in common…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 4: Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities

Why does this short story by Jorge Luis Borges create such power? Maybe it's the human frailty underlying the tale of a tough New York gangster.

Reading

Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen

Five chapters. Five narrators. Five different experiences of being young Greenlanders trying to navigate the complex territory of gender and sexual identity. That's the basic setup of Crimson by Niviaq…

Reading

The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti

Set in Aotearoa and London some time in the 19th century, Tina Makereti's excellent novel tells the story of a Maori boy who makes his way to London, where he…

Andrew Blackman

Andrew Blackman

Andrew Blackman