Tag: fiction

‘Be ready for the duplicity of adulthood and adults’ is my advice and it continues thus; ‘and if you can, learn how not to collude whilst you learn, as you must, to survive’. This blog is a reflection on the film ‘Bad Apples’ (2025) directed by Jonatan Etzler and starring the very wondrous Saoirse Ronan.

September 7, 2026

‘Be ready for the duplicity of adulthood and adults’ is my advice and it continues thus; ‘and if you can, learn how not to collude whilst you learn, as you must, to survive’. This blog is a reflection on the film ‘Bad Apples’ (2025) directed by Jonatan Etzler and starring the very wondrous Saoirse Ronan. … More ‘Be ready for the duplicity of adulthood and adults’ is my advice and it continues thus; ‘and if you can, learn how not to collude whilst you learn, as you must, to survive’. This blog is a reflection on the film ‘Bad Apples’ (2025) directed by Jonatan Etzler and starring the very wondrous Saoirse Ronan.

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.

‘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.

Agathe, the first-person narrator of ‘The Vivisectors’ tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , such that either its parts looked like statues standing independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. This is a blog on Missouri Williams (2026) ‘The Vivisectors’.

August 23, 2026

Some books can be read till their end but still not be ‘finished’. Agathe, the first-person narrator of The Vivisectors tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. Perhaps you … More Agathe, the first-person narrator of ‘The Vivisectors’ tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , such that either its parts looked like statues standing independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. This is a blog on Missouri Williams (2026) ‘The Vivisectors’.

Do we need ‘conspiracy theory’ because we find trust in short supply? August 20th Day Seven in Edinburgh Highlights: 1. Pleasance Dome 10, ‘Moth and Dog Are Dying to Get Out’, a play exploring the relationship of two boys, their  coming out and the confrontation of distrust and ‘conspiracy’ involved (The Fringe Festival); 2. NW Room, Jem Calder & Derek Owusu (The  Book Festival) & Courtyard Theatre Édouard Louis (The Book Festival).

August 22, 2026

What’s a conspiracy theory you actually find believable? Do we need ‘conspiracy theory’ because we find trust in short supply? August 20th Day Seven in Edinburgh Highlights: 1. Pleasance Dome 10, Moth and Dog Are Dying to Get Out, a play exploring the relationship of two boys, their  coming out and the confrontation of distrust … More Do we need ‘conspiracy theory’ because we find trust in short supply? August 20th Day Seven in Edinburgh Highlights: 1. Pleasance Dome 10, ‘Moth and Dog Are Dying to Get Out’, a play exploring the relationship of two boys, their  coming out and the confrontation of distrust and ‘conspiracy’ involved (The Fringe Festival); 2. NW Room, Jem Calder & Derek Owusu (The  Book Festival) & Courtyard Theatre Édouard Louis (The Book Festival).

The best books show that erasure is not an option but seeing all events as a part of a dynamic process to which we change our response, or even find atonemt for, is. August 17th Day Four in Edinburgh : At the Book Festival thinking about Two Queer books about transition and our response to it (Kae Tempest & Dean Atta), and accepting a New Cemetery with Simon Armitage.

August 19, 2026

The best books show that erasure is not an option but seeing all events as a part of a dynamic process to which we change our response, or even find atonemt for, is. August 17th Day Four in Edinburgh : At the Book Festival thinking about Two Queer books about transition and our response to … More The best books show that erasure is not an option but seeing all events as a part of a dynamic process to which we change our response, or even find atonemt for, is. August 17th Day Four in Edinburgh : At the Book Festival thinking about Two Queer books about transition and our response to it (Kae Tempest & Dean Atta), and accepting a New Cemetery with Simon Armitage.

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

August 13, 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.

In lieu of a literary dinner, consider what literature is? This is a blog on Makenna Goodman (2026) ‘Helen of Nowhere’.

August 13, 2026

In lieu of a literary dinner, consider what literature is? ‘I made a point to say this loudly, as I didn’t know if I were speaking or thinking and yet it was clear she could her me regardless of whether the words were, in fact, coming out of my mouth’.[1] The status of words and … More In lieu of a literary dinner, consider what literature is? This is a blog on Makenna Goodman (2026) ‘Helen of Nowhere’.

In Djamel White’s novel ‘All Them Dogs’ being ‘officially an adult’ is learning to no longer be ‘fighting an urge to pop’ and becoming in control of how you appear and how much you visibly react: ‘Keep it there and keep it steady’. But in that novel the desire to be ‘officially an adult’ is the reason we lose responsibility for ‘the child’ we find in the world or inside us, failing to safeguard it: the mark of effective adult responsibility.

August 8, 2026

In Djamel White’s novel All Them Dogs being ‘officially an adult’ is learning to no longer be ‘fighting an urge to pop’ and becoming in control of how you appear and how much you visibly react: ‘Keep it there and keep it steady’. But in that novel the desire to be ‘officially an adult’ is … More In Djamel White’s novel ‘All Them Dogs’ being ‘officially an adult’ is learning to no longer be ‘fighting an urge to pop’ and becoming in control of how you appear and how much you visibly react: ‘Keep it there and keep it steady’. But in that novel the desire to be ‘officially an adult’ is the reason we lose responsibility for ‘the child’ we find in the world or inside us, failing to safeguard it: the mark of effective adult responsibility.