Tag: books

As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’ Is it because our characters switch to fictional form so often? This is a blog on Marlon James (2026) ‘The Disappearers’.

September 18, 2026

As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’1 Is it because our characters switch … More As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’ Is it because our characters switch to fictional form so often? This is a blog on Marlon James (2026) ‘The Disappearers’.

Do I write what people actually want to read? The issue here is not whether writing can be called writing only because it is read by someone, even if only by yourself, but whether writing appeals to what those people,or person, think that they want.

September 16, 2026

There is, of course, an important and inalienable link being writing and reading, for nothing that is written isn’t from its inception being read, even if only by its writer who assesses as they proceed that the writing is satisfactory to them or its intended audience. The standards of reading judgement vary of course and … More Do I write what people actually want to read? The issue here is not whether writing can be called writing only because it is read by someone, even if only by yourself, but whether writing appeals to what those people,or person, think that they want.

Back to the Booker longlist one week before shortlist announce. To be updated over the coming week.

September 14, 2026

Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July. Update. Daily writing prompt Do you think everything happens for a reason? View all responses Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July The question is open. Each year I set out … More Back to the Booker longlist one week before shortlist announce. To be updated over the coming week.

‘Don’t get me into some philosophical bullshit about lie versus fiction. Fiction is creation. Lie is distortion. One don’t have a fucking thing to do with the other’. Words from Marlon James ‘The Disappearers’ (2026).

September 13, 2026

Sometimes our prompts invite us to validate a proposition that, to say the lest, is questionable and is, at the most a deliberate untruth. Look at this question, for instance: ‘If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?’. It starts with a conditional phrase, ‘If you … More ‘Don’t get me into some philosophical bullshit about lie versus fiction. Fiction is creation. Lie is distortion. One don’t have a fucking thing to do with the other’. Words from Marlon James ‘The Disappearers’ (2026).

Without Satan, Milton’s poetry would be bereft of the means of a story and even more bereft of the nuanced glance of life turned into a kind of song where contraries separate and come together in conflict and eternal bondage that poetry is, and is ever condemned and blessed to be at its best.

September 12, 2026

To like the ‘villain more than the hero’ is not an eccentric thing at all, neither is it a thing to be confessed, for without this trope of literature and literary readings it is doubtful story-telling or even the more numinous concept poetry as means of artistic and humane expression could exist at all. Usually … More Without Satan, Milton’s poetry would be bereft of the means of a story and even more bereft of the nuanced glance of life turned into a kind of song where contraries separate and come together in conflict and eternal bondage that poetry is, and is ever condemned and blessed to be at its best.

Although you never ever regret reading Colm Tóibín’s books, you may regret ‘The Bridge’ for raising the hope that ‘A Long Winter’ for his queer hero, Miquel (the finest of them all) never ends.

September 8, 2026

Colm Tóibín is a true writer of the heart but not from it, except in as much as hearts seem to beat on when there reasons for doing so, in the myth that the heart is the centre of emotional attachments or longing for such have not yet been initiated or have long gone. Later … More Although you never ever regret reading Colm Tóibín’s books, you may regret ‘The Bridge’ for raising the hope that ‘A Long Winter’ for his queer hero, Miquel (the finest of them all) never ends.

In Dean Atta’s first novel intended for adults, ‘Big Man’, the protagonist, Big, explains to new entrants to his profession of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) workers and consultants why he is doing the ‘job he is doing right now and why’, without mentioning salary: ‘Big told the twenty somethings he enjoyed being freelance because he was neither a boss nor an employee’. This blog is really about Dean Atta (2026) ‘Big Man’ London, Cipher Press.

September 5, 2026

If the salary was the same, what job would you be doing right now and why? In Dean Atta’s first novel intended for adults, ‘Big Man’, the protagonist, Big, explains to new entrants to his profession of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) workers and consultants why he is doing the ‘job he is doing right … More In Dean Atta’s first novel intended for adults, ‘Big Man’, the protagonist, Big, explains to new entrants to his profession of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) workers and consultants why he is doing the ‘job he is doing right now and why’, without mentioning salary: ‘Big told the twenty somethings he enjoyed being freelance because he was neither a boss nor an employee’. This blog is really about Dean Atta (2026) ‘Big Man’ London, Cipher Press.

Mainly, the only regret I find when I have read a book is that I can’t read it again ‘for the first time’, but it passes! A last day at Edinburgh Book Festival 30th August 2026.

August 31, 2026

Mainly, the only regret I find when I have read a book is that I can’t read it again ‘for the first time’, but it passes! A last day at Edinburgh Book Festival 30th August 2026. I must have been somewhere near Dunbar when I took the photograph from the train that was fast moving … More Mainly, the only regret I find when I have read a book is that I can’t read it again ‘for the first time’, but it passes! A last day at Edinburgh Book Festival 30th August 2026.

‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’. This is a blog  on Ali Smith (2024) ‘Gliff ‘.

August 28, 2026

‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’.[1] The paradox may be that we express our identity in words and names not in the process of telling and hearing our stories. I think Ali Smith thinks that may be true of the configuration of sex/gender too. This is a blog  … More ‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’. This is a blog  on Ali Smith (2024) ‘Gliff ‘.

This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday as Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands remember the Dirty Warriors that led the countries of Argentina and Chile and ‘disappeared’ their opponents. I want to know more about why all this matters so urgently again, now!

August 27, 2026

This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday with Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands. the essence of my interest lies in the following quotation. ‘The generals were in power then, and nobody stayed out late, even though the cafés and bars in the street around us remained open, eerily … More This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday as Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands remember the Dirty Warriors that led the countries of Argentina and Chile and ‘disappeared’ their opponents. I want to know more about why all this matters so urgently again, now!

‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’ This is a blog on Rebecca Perry (2026) ‘May We Feed The King’.

August 26, 2026

‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’[1] The threat of something excessive that will break through the fabric covering it, scattering every thread (even of narrative) that holds it together is only one of the indicators of worlds that fall … More ‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’ This is a blog on Rebecca Perry (2026) ‘May We Feed The King’.

Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July. Update.

August 23, 2026

Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July The question is open. Each year I set out to read at least some of the books. Here is the list for this year, which I will update as I progress through my reading and responses: 2026 Booker Longlist … More Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July. Update.