“Making Inroads” by the Rowan Arts Project
I really enjoyed this free book put together by the Rowan Arts Project. It’s a series of interviews with people who live and work on the Holloway Road…
Coal funding hits record high
Was astonished by a recent snippet from Christian Aid: Christian Aid has criticised a record high of US$4.4 billion in World Bank…
Congratulations Sophie Duffy!
It was wonderful the other night to see the Luke Bitmead Bursary awarded for a third year, this time to Sophie Duffy…
“The Buddha of Suburbia” by Hanif Kureishi
I grew up in Beckenham, the exact part of London suburbia in which this novel is set. To my knowledge it’s the…
“Lux the Poet” by Martin Millar
I thought I would like this book more than I did. It’s a comedy set in the Brixton Riots of the early…
RIP Prospero
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…
Learning from the French
Moving from journalism into fiction writing, it sometimes feels as if I have gone from one dying industry straight to another. All…
My non-review of the best books of 2010
So all the newspapers have been publishing their end-of-year roundups. Some even started back in November. Here’s why I won’t be doing…
Pigeon-feeding inflation
The cost of feeding the birds has gone up a lot. It only cost Mary Poppins tuppence a bag, but in Trafalgar…