“Best European Fiction 2010” edited by Aleksandar Hemon
This was a very interesting collection of short stories from around Europe. There’s one piece from each country, so it really felt like a broad and varied collection…
Roelof Bakker, ‘Still’, Hornsey Town Hall
Just wanted to give a belated mention to a really good photography exhibition in Crouch End recently. It was a series of…
“Crow” by Ted Hughes
I rarely read poetry, but I enjoyed this strange little book by Ted Hughes. It’s full of dark imagery, violence and unexpected…
Editing
There are different types of writers. Some like to write and rewrite and rewrite endlessly, refining gradually, each draft a little more…
“Ruminations from the Garden” by Don Henry Ford, Jr.
Almost all writers carry a notebook around with them to record thoughts and ideas as they arise. They usually end up being…
Reading binge
I was on a panel recently at Whitechapel Idea Store with Alex Wheatle and Mark Piggott, discussing “London: fact and fiction”. When I heard a week in advance…
“Ashes” by Matthew Crow
The opening image of Ashes is a powerful one – a group of kids trying to stone a cat to death. The…
“The Dark Child” by Camara Laye
This is a fairly short and simple autobiographical account of a boy growing up in Guinea in the 1930s and 40s. Camara…
“The Sea” by John Banville
John Banville is a magnificent prose writer. I loved his earlier book Birchwood, so thought I would try out The Sea, which…