Principal photography is just getting underway in Scotland on the Annabel Jankel-directed Tell It To The Bees with Anna Paquin boarding to star opposite Holliday Grainger. The period romance is…
There’s a radiant passage at the end of Philip Hoare’s prize-winning 2008 book Leviathan, where the author describes diving with a group of sperm…
Filmed live at the Young Vic, Paul Mason’s stage adaptation of his book Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere- available on BBC iPlayer.
We are delighted to announce that Julianne Pachico has been longlisted for the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize! Read more about the prize here.
“It is trim rather than bulky, refrains from indulging in too many antique spellings, and tells its story with crafty precision. [Spufford is] capable…
Francis Spufford has been awarded the 2017 Desmond Elliott Prize for his “miraculously constructed” debut Golden Hill (Faber). Set in New York in…
The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam by Douglas Murray is number one on the Sunday Times Bestseller list. Read more Order a copy…
Julianne Pachico and Colin Barrett debate line writing vs free writing, inherited literatures and how to give a reading on Granta.com.
The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington by Joanna Moorhead will be next week’s BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week. Read more and listen…
Anne Sebba has one the Franco-British Society Book Prize for her book Les Parisiennes. The award is presented annually to the author of a work published…
In the 1940s, the heiress fled New York and, with a makeshift gallery, became the star of Venice. But she was not the first…
“This is that rare thing – an ingenious novel that draws on profound research to evoke the spirit of another age, yet wears that…
Hogarth is to mark its centenary with a birthday edition of its first publication, Two Stories, including newly commissioned work by Mark Haddon, to…
Congratulations to Julianne Pachico and Rebecca F John, who have both been named on the Hay 30. The list, selected by the Hay Festival to coincide with…
Congratulations to Francis Spufford, whose first novel GOLDEN HILL is on the RSL Ondaatje Prize shortlist. The prize is awarded annually to a book…
We are delighted to announce that Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill is on the newly resurrected Folio Prize shortlist. The winner of the Rathbones…
Very many congratulations to Lyndal Roper whose historical biography Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Bodley Head) is one of six books shortlisted for the Wolfson History…
We are delighted to announce that Stay With Me has been shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. Read more about the ‘daring’ and…
We are delighted to announce that The Other Mrs Walker by Mary Paulson-Ellis is number 6 on The Times Bestseller list. Read more about…
We are once again thrilled that Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill (Faber) and Jo Baker’s A Country Road, A Tree (Doubleday) have made it on to the 2017 Walter Scott…
We are thrilled to announce that Jo Baker’s A Country Road, A Tree (Doubleday) and Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You (Picador) have been shortlisted for the oldest…
We are delighted to announce that THE STORY OF A BRIEF MARRIAGE by Anuk Arudpragasam, published by Granta, is on the 2017 Dylan Thomas…
Throughout her childhood, Joanna Moorhead never heard a good word from her family about her cousin. When she went to Mexico she found out…
We are delighted to report that STAY WITH ME by Aitken Alexander author Ayobami Adebayo has been longlisted for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for…
Little Bits of Sky by Sue Durrant has been longlisted for the 2017 Branford Boase Award. The shortlist will be announced on 9th May. You can…
A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE by Jo Baker and GOLDEN HILL by Francis Spufford have been longlisted for the 2017 Walter Scott Prize for…
“You, Mrs Christie, are going to commit a murder. But, before then, you are going to disappear” On the night of 3rd December…
Harriet Harman, Labour’s former deputy leader, is as roundly Roundhead as Mr Clark was confidently Cavalier. Her new autobiography, “A Woman’s Work”, is…
A new scientific breakthrough has enabled patients with locked-in syndrome to communicate. Lu Spinney, whose son suffered catastrophic brain damage in a snowboarding…
Watch a series of short interviews of Laird Hunt talking about his new novel THE EVENING ROAD
Francis Spufford has won the prestigious Costa first novel award for Golden Hill, a “dazzlingly original tale” set in 18th-century New York. Read more about his…
Congratulations to Max Porter who has won Sunday Times/Peters Fraser and Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award for his book Grief Is the Thing…
Stay with Me is published in March 2017 by Canongate.
Congratulations to Francis Spufford whose novel Golden Hill has been shortlisted for the 2016 Costa First Novel Award. Read more about the award and shortlist here….
Click here to see the cover reveal and read an exclusive extract.
Charlie Plummer as Charlie Thompson in Lean on Pete British writer-director Andrew Haigh is in post-production with Lean on Pete. Adapted by Haigh from Willy…
The much anticipated film adaptation of A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen premiered on 3rd November followed by a special edition Street Cat Bob…
Listen to Mark Haddon read The Kill and 288a Main Road
Royal Victoria Hospital Shocking stories of the World War I Hampshire hospital doctors who faked footage on cures for shellshock. Author Philip Hoare examines…
It is with deep sadness we announce that, after a period of ill health, Gillon Aitken has died peacefully this morning. A towering figure…
ITV Studios Global Entertainment has sold glossy historical drama “Victoria,” about Britain’s second-longest-serving monarch, to more than 150 countries, the company said Monday….
Jack O’Connell has been cast as Alexander McQueen in a film about the high-flying fashion designer, adapted from Andrew Wilson’s book Blood Beneath the…
Rory Stewart OBE is MP for Penrith and The Border and Minister of State at the Department for International Development (DFID). After a period…
On Sunday evening, 28 August 2016, in their home near the small rural town of Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan, Alan Hawe put a…
The condition of peace and prosperity sometimes votes for its own destruction. Those that argue loudest for abandoning sane, well-tested arrangements often do so…
In the summer of 1986, I finished secondary school, and that autumn I enrolled in a secretarial course in Cork City. It was a…
The harm we cause one another – casually, accidentally, deliberately, unknowingly – haunts Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s mind. Her debut novel, Harmless Like You, which…
The year I was born, my grandparents moved to Nova Scotia. The year my younger sister was born they moved to Florida. I’ve been…
For many years I was a bookseller. Once a bookseller, always a bookseller. Now I work as an editor, and I’ve written a…
The Gordon Burn Prize is a partnership between the Gordon Burn Trust, New Writing North, Durham Book Festival and Faber & Faber. The winning…
One day, many seasons ago, Jon Hotten was on the field when a bowler took all ten wickets. In his memories, the afternoon has…
Between Norwich and Colchester my phone sleeps signalless in my lap. In this half of the journey, I notice the way the light swoops…
The Gerda Henkel Prize 2016 goes to Oxford-based historian Prof. Lyndal Roper. The Gerda Henkel Foundation is honouring Lyndal Roper for her outstanding achievements…
Lionsgate has released a trailer for Alexandre Aja’s upcoming thriller based on Liz Jensen’s best-selling novel and starring Aaron Paul, Sarah Gadon and Jamie…
Walking to school in the 1970s, Kevin Barry would step over gutters running red with blood. This was a decade before Limerick earned…
She isn’t shocked, exactly, by Kirsten’s disappearance. There is a part of Emily that has always been waiting for Kirsten to leave – to…
Today, thousands of friends and family of Jo Cox gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate her life. I had never met Jo but she…
What was it like to hang out with Muhammad Ali for four days in the mid-1970s? And what did the Champ think about women? Julia…
What is the First Book Award? The First Book Award celebrates the wealth of new writing included in the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme each…
In film and writing, noir – not a colour but a vital absence of the same – is nonetheless a necessary hue. The stark…
I was glue-lipped, dangling on the border between the horrors and the thirst. We were out in Ziggy’s yard, huddled on the lichen-knackered back…
Review by Cathy Rentzenbrink
Organisers of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2016 have unveiled the shortlist for the annual award which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary….
New York in the 18th century is brought brilliantly to life in Francis Spufford’s debut novel
Max Porter, an editor and former bookseller, has won the £30,000 International Dylan Thomas prize for his “extraordinary feat of imaginative prose”, Grief Is the…
Bobby Tallis possessed the drainpipe physique, knee-length mackintosh, and winsomely dissolute demeanor of a poet, or so he believed, as he pursued a…
Major international distributors have embarked on Wim Wenders’ buzzed-about epic romance “Submergence,” which is currently shooting with Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy….
Pulse Films and Addictive Pictures have acquired the film rights to the Margaret Thatcher assassination thriller
In the shrewdly competitive world of publishing and publicity, the story behind a novel is often as important as the story between its…
Ex-Fall guitarist Brix Smith Start endured wild and colourful marriages with both Mark E Smith and Nigel Kennedy. Now she’s written her memoir… In…
The writer Mohammed Hanif probes for truth in Pakistan.
Curious Incident author Mark Haddon has turned to short stories – the results are gripping
Kevin Barry joins Octavia and Carrie on this months’ edition of Literary Friction.
Newly-awarded and much in demand, Alicia Vikander’s first post-Oscars move has been to team up with James McAvoy for Wim Wenders’ adaptation of J.M. Ledgard’s Submergence.
Sheridan Smith and The C Word receive BAFTA nominations.
The American musician and novelist on breaking up his acclaimed band Richmond Fontaine, and how Raymond Carver’s stories opened his eyes.
The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime explains how, in order to find his voice as a short story writer, he had to escape the legacy of Chekhov and Carver
The shortlist for the 2016 Orwell prize for the best political writing, announced on Thursday evening, is dominated by the Middle East, from a…
Following the death of the enigmatic pop idol, Matt Thorne explains his lifelong devotion to Prince.
GPs are to going to give books to help teenagers with mental health issues. It’s a great idea – but not a new one. Aitken Alexander Authors Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin discuss the power of novels-as-therapy
Harry Parker discusses his new novel ‘Anatomy of a Soldier’ on this month’s edition of Literary Friction – a Literary Talk Show on NTS Radio hosted by Carrie Plitt and Octavia
The novelist on his basement office in Oxford, England, where he wrote some of his forthcoming collection, “The Pier Falls and Other Stories.”
Nicholas Stargardt’s The German War wins PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize 2016 History prize awarded to ‘elegant and eloquent’ account of ordinary people who…
Adopted at birth in Ireland, Caitríona Palmer eventually found and got to know her birth mother. But there was one strict rule in their relationship – it had to remain a secret.
In this extract from his new book, Slow Burn City, Rowan Moore looks at London as a wonderland for all tastes, if not all pockets…
KITCHEN TILES, WHITEGATE, MAY 2015 The notebook is hand and hard-bound. The cover marbled light and dark blue with a bold red…
Before she was a writer, Sara Baume set out to be a visual artist. “First and foremost I see; I see the world and then…
A new work of verbatim documentary theatre by Gillian Slovo
Read more about The Other Mrs Walker by Mary Paulson-Ellis, and Anatomy Of A Soldier by Harry Parker here
First ever radio adaptation of John Fowles’ groundbreaking and hugely influential novel
An assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher inspires a masterly novel
Helen Stevenson, is the author of ‘Love Like Salt’, which is a family memoir about her daughter Clara having Cystic Fibrosis
Rock star Phil Lynott was recording his second solo album in a studio in Soho and, as usual, the control room was overflowing with hangers-on….
The author of Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging has died, but her words will live on. Here are our favourite quotes to celebrate her life and the books she gave us
Writers from six countries and across four continents, including Colum McCann, Deborah Levy and Petina Gappah, make up the 12-strong longlist for the £30,000…
Harry Parker: ‘Losing my legs in Afghanistan was like losing a loved one’ ‘It was on July 18 2009, when Harry Parker was returning from…
Captain Harry Parker lost both his legs to a Helmand province IED in 2009 and had a quarter-hour of fame carrying the Paralympic Torch…
Lean on Pete will be adapted and directed by Andrew Haigh whose last film, 45 Years, starred Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling.
Do you have a happy relationship with your clothes?
Was it Tulip what done it?
He inspired Mick Jagger, fought with Lucian Freud and shared lovers with Ronnie Kray. But David Litvinoff’s taste for danger would take…
Ex-soldier Harry Parker, who lost his legs in Afghanistan, has written a war novel with a difference “It’s quite a weird book, isn’t…
“A suspense novel which is at the forefront of a new wave of British Gothic fiction has won the Costa First Novel Award. The…
The longlist for the second Penderyn Music Book Prize has just been announced and three Aitken Alexander authors have been nominated: David…
(photo copyright Catherina Hess) KARACHI, Pakistan — I worry about Muslims. Islam teaches me to care about all human beings, and animals too, but…
WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2015 SHORTLISTED FOR IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2015 Read Kevin’s interview in Slate here. ‘In razor-sharp prose, Barry’s novel…
Hollywood’s red-hot star Alicia Vikander is in advanced negotiations to topline Wim Wenders’ romantic thriller “Submergence” opposite James McAvoy. The film is based on…
Inspired by the nature writing of Robert Macfarlane and gothic yarns in which the wild Lancashire coast features prominently, The Loney pitches modern pilgrims into a desolate landscape.
Read the full story and Q & A with the author published in the New Yorker
David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Roxy Music, New Order … all owe their emergence in large part to one DJ. From psychedelia…
Hanya Yanagihara and Susan Barker announced as finalists for this $50,000 prize
Kevin Barry’s Beatlebone and Richard Beard’s Acts of The Assassins are nominated for the 2015 Prize
The list of twelve includes two Aitken Alexander authors, Emma Sky and Samanth Subramanian
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time author, Mark Haddon joins Jonathan Buckley, Frances Leviston, Hilary Mantel and Jeremy Page on this year’s shortlist
The 2015 winner will be announced on Tuesday 13th October in London’s Guildhall
New book trailer for Paul Willetts’ non-fiction espionage thriller directed by Guy Myhill
This is Japan’s most important cultural prize for his work as an historian, for his work on cultural preservation and his peace work
When the Man Booker prize rules changed last year to allow any novel written in English to compete, there were fears that British…
Without us noticing, we are entering the postcapitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of…
Thirteen boys, all born at the stroke of midnight on millennium night, as the world moved from the 20th to the 21st century….
Professor Amanda Vickery joins forces with BBC Radio 3’s Tom Service once more to uncover the hidden story of the world’s favourite opera
Justine van der Leun on the unlikely partnership between the apartheid regime’s most infamous killer and the woman searching for his victims’ remains.
Deborah Cohen on Kim Gordon, geeks and guitars
Emma Sky discusses her experiences as a top political advisor to the US in Iraq
Ring of Steel ‘gave ground-breaking insight into an extensively-covered historical period’
Jon Michaud reviews Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel for the New Yorker
Sam Delaney’s Mad Men and Bad Men and Ben Lerner’s 10:04 longlisted for their fresh, fearless approach to writing
Sheridan Smith talked to The Guardian this week about her emotional journey making BBC drama The C Word.
Wyndham Wallace reveals how he coaxed the cult singer-songwriter back to the stage after 25 years in the wilderness
Ring Of Steel awarded best book in the field of military history
Longlist features our very own Sara Taylor with her debut novel, The Shore, out 26th March
Amanda Vickery on the history of British women’s battle against the patriarchy and the long journey ahead
Jack Fairweather’s important book about Afghanistan has been picked as one of the World’s top books in global affairs
Ben Lerner’s 10:04 one of the eight shortlisted titles
Crime Writer’s Association announces the new winner of this prestigious award
Sam Delaney On What Happened When British Politics Met Advertising
Philip Hoare celebrates Dippy’s usurpation in the Telegraph
Samanth Subramanian looks at the fevered subculture of record setters for the New York Times
Angela Readman wins the Charles Causley Poetry Competition
Srinath Perur on what we can learn from the collapse of ancient capitals for the Guardian
Daisy Hay’s essay on how the marriage of Benjamin and Mary Anne Disraeli broke every rule in the book
Wolf Larsen’s If I Be Wrong featured in Three Ireland advert
We look at who’s chosen which Aitken Alexander books as their picks for 2014
James Bowen and Street Cat Bob’s Christmas Message
In case you missed it: Danielle McLaughlin’s story as published in The New Yorker
Short story collection Young Skins awarded Guardian First Book Award
Bilal Tanweer wins Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and is shortlisted for DSC prize
Film adaptation of Robert Wilson’s 4th Falcón novel released
Filming is underway on Liz Jensen’s much loved novel
A Monarch Unveiled in a two part production for BBC4
The Independent call Philip Marsden’s Rising Ground ‘superb’
The Three Degrees by Paul Rees up for Sports Book of the Year
The theatre adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens in New York to fantastic reviews
Lenny Abrahamson To Direct ‘Neverhome’ Adaptation Of Laird Hunt’s Civil War Novel
Adapted for the stage by Nicholas Wright and directed by Simon Godwin.
A.N. Wilson explores the life of his hero John Betjeman for BBC4
An excerpt from The Jihadis Return by Patrick Cockburn
Moving to Berlin allowed Greg Baxter to discover the power of history well-told
The Israeli story writer and filmmaker discusses fact, fiction, and inspiration with Sophie Lewis
Michiko Kakutani Reviews Jack Livings’s The Dog for The New York Times
Tara Clancy on her ragtag Queens softball team and their ultimate desperation play
A short story by Jack Livings from his new collection, The Dog
From the Frank O’Connor Award winning collection Young Skins
For the centenary, Philip Hoare looks at the decadent side of the Great War
Etgar Keret on the war against Israel’s “enemy within”
Philip Ball discusses one of our most powerful fantasies
The Men Who Changed British Football Forever
Zarghuna Kargar speaks to widows in Britain and Afghanistan connected by the same war
The beautiful illustrated cover of The Incarnations by Susan Barker
Samanth Subramanian on India’s complex relationship with the English language
One of the most thrilling and unpredictable rock bands ever?
![edward-st-aubyn-007[1]](http://www.aitkenalexander.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/edward-st-aubyn-0071.jpg)
How Edward St. Aubyn made literature out of a poisoned legacy
My concern has always been to do right by Saba and her story
‘I thought I was writing something people would appreciate’
will we all finally fall 4 him?
by Amanda Vickery
Andreas Campomar Picks His Favourite Latin American Goals
Deborah Cohen looks at the enduring influence of 1930s fashion
In this video Penny Vincenzi talks about her latest novel