Andrew Wilson Essay: The professional voyeur
Is the biography the literary equivalent of dragging out other people’s dirty laundry and spritzing it with pseudo-respectability as Janet Malcolm said? Read how…
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The Guardian Patrick Melrose review – a brilliant portrayal of addiction
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Allegra Goodman shortlisted for 2018 Sunday Times Short Story Prize
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Film review: Lean on Pete
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Jessie Greengrass makes Women's Prize Shortlist
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Women of Liberty
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Red Joan by Jennie Rooney
Film Adaptation starring Judie Dench and Sophie Cookson -
Penny Vincenzi
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2018 in Books
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The Best Books of 2017
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Clare Alexander on Aitken Alexander Associates
The Guardian interviews Frank Tallis: ‘Fiction and psychology are both forms of detection’
The psychotherapist and fiction writer on the importance of sci-fi and Freud, and the connection between love and madness. Read the whole interview…
The Literary Sofa: Writers on Location – Elise Valmorbida
Elise Valmorbida on Veneto region of Italy where her novel The Madonna of the Mountains is set. Read ‘Foraging and fiction’ for the full…
The Literary Sofa Summer Reads 2018: THE MADONNA OF THE MOUNTAINS
THE MADONNA OF THE MOUNTAINS by Elise Valmorbida (Faber) Isabel Costello on why she chose it: A complex and intimate portrait of a woman’s life…
John Crace: ‘Patrick Melrose captures heroin addiction perfectly – it brought my memories flooding back.’
A new TV drama based on Edward St Aubyn’s books captures the untold truth of heroin addiction – the blood, dirty hits and banality….
Diana Evans on Meet the Author BBC iPlayer
Jim Naughtie talks with the award winning writer Diana Evans about her new book Ordinary People. Listen to the whole interview here.
Film review: Lean on Pete
This ambitious Homeric journey has the substance and emotional heft to be considered a masterpiece. Read more here.
The Guardian review on Patrick Melrose – a brilliant portrayal of addiction
Benedict Cumberbatch had long wanted to play Edward St Aubyn’s character – and David Nicholls’s adaptation shows the actor’s deep understanding of the…
Kayo Chingonyi Wins the Dylan Thomas Prize 2018 for debut poetry collection ‘Kumukanda’
A big congratulations to Kayo Chingonyi for winning the Dylan Thomas Prize 2018. As seen from The Bookseller: Zambian-born British poet Kayo Chingonyi has…
Yaba Badoe makes the Branford Boase Award shortlist for her novel: A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars
British-Ghanaian writer Yaba Badoe draws on storytelling roots nurtured well beyond Europe to tell an original and powerful story, mixing the horror of people-trafficking…
The Bookseller Novel of the Month for August- The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Jessie Greengrass makes the Women’s prize for fiction shortlist
We are so glad to announce that Jessie Greengrass’s debut novel SIGHT has made the shortlist for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist….
Willy Vlautin: ‘Sometimes reading about loneliness can make you feel less lonely’
For Willy Vlautin, a book tour is not just about books. Yes, his fifth novel, Don’t Skip Out on Me, the melancholy tale of a…
Ayòbámi Adébáyò on how having the sickle cell trait inspired her bestselling debut
Stay With Me has put her on the pages of Vogue and now the Wellcome prize shortlist. She talks about dating and growing up…
Rachel Malik is on the Walter Scott Prize shortlist for Historical Fiction
We are delighted to see that the 2018 Walter Scott Prize shortlist has now been announced. See the full list here including what the…
Elise Valmorbida: My Suitcase Stories
To kick off the blog tour for The Madonna of the Mountains – a richly evocative tale of love and survival in the…
Why Two Brains Are Better Than One by Phil Ball
A radical technique that makes mature cells act like stem cells is growing a mini brain from tissue I donated. One day it could…
Allegra Goodman is on the shortlist for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story
Six Americans, five of them women, have made it onto the shortlist for The Sunday Times EFG Short Story award, making it the first…
Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay With Me on Wellcome Prize Shortlist
Read the Guardian piece here.
Andrew Wilson: Would Agatha Christie have solved the Salisbury poisoning?
“In the absence of evidence, we definitely need Poirot in Salisbury!” tweeted the Russian embassy in London on Monday in response to allegations that…
Observer Interview with Diana Evans
Diana Evans’s new novel Ordinary People is a soulful portrait of family life as Obama came to power. She talks motherhood, her chair-buying habit and…
Bookseller Interview & Book of the Month for June – The Incurable Romantic by Frank Tallis
Jessie Greengrass is on the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist
We are thrilled to announce that Jessie Greengrass’s novel SIGHT is on the longlist for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Read more here.
Elise Valmorbida is a Woman of Liberty
Mary McCartney’s portraits of eight women were unveiled on International Women’s Day 2018. Award-winning and critically acclaimed author and independent film producer. She…
Watch the fantastic book trailer for Andrew Wilson’s series
Bestselling author Penny Vincenzi dies aged 78
The bestselling author Penny Vincenzi, whose novels have sold more than 7m copies worldwide, has died aged 78. Vincenzi published her first book, Old…
Ayòbámi Adébáyò Long listed for Wellcome Book Prize 2018
We are delighted to hear that Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s Stay With Me has been long listed for the Wellcome Book Prize 2018. From the Book…
Jessica Andrews on Class and Education for the Independent
My experience of being a young, working class woman is of being shamefully hungry. I desire so many things I am not supposed to…
Film Adaptation of Jennie Rooney’s RED JOAN by Trevor Nunn
Oscar-winner Judi Dench and rising talent Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service) will lead Red Joan for director Trevor Nunn. Lindsay Shapiro has penned the…
2018 in Books
The Guardian has chosen Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (Hamish Hamilton), Sebastian Faulks’ Paris Echo (Hutchinson) and Mohammed Hanif’s Red Birds…
Birkbeck scholarship announcement in The Bookseller
We are delighted to announce our upcoming Creative Writing Scholarship with Birkbeck University. From The Bookseller: Literary agency Aitken Alexander Associates is…
The best books of 2017 as featured in the press
Fiction THE STORY OF A BRIEF MARRIAGE by Anuk Arudpragasam – winner of the DSC Prize, Guardian STAY WITH ME by Ayobami Adebayo –…
Ayòbámi Adébáyò
We are delighted to announce that Sarah Jessica Parker has picked Ayobami Adebayo’s STAY WITH ME for the American Library Association’s Book Club Central…
Anuk Arudpragasam’s The Story of a Brief Marriage wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017
We are delighted to announce that Anuk Arudpragasam has won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 for his novel, The Story…
Clare Alexander – Looking to the Future
Caroline Moorehead on 2017 Baillie Gifford Longlist
We are delighted to announce that Caroline Moorehead’s A Bold and Dangerous Family: The Rossellis and the Fight Against Mussolini (Chatto & Windus) has been longlisted…
Elise Valmorbida’s The Madonna of the Mountains will be the first title in Faber & Liberty Partnership
Liberty Jacket for The Madonna of the Moutains Faber has announced a “unique” publishing partnership with Liberty London Fabrics. The collaboration will unite…
LEAN ON PETE film news
We are thrilled to announce that Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of Willy Vlautin’s novel Lean on Pete has premiered at Venice Film Festival in competition today (Sept 1)…
BESTSELLER: Douglas Murray’s The Strange DEATH OF EUROPE
Congratulations to Douglas Murray whose book THE STRANGE DEATH OF EUROPE has been on the bestseller list for four months!
Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger to star in Fiona Shaw’s TELL IT TO THE BEES
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…
RisingTideFallingStar by Philip Hoare review – a love of the ocean wave
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…
Paul Mason’s Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere live at The Young Vic
Filmed live at the Young Vic, Paul Mason’s stage adaptation of his book Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere- available on BBC iPlayer.
Julianne Pachico is longlisted for the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Long List
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.
Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill: check out rave reviews from the New York Times and the New Yorker
“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’s Golden Hill wins third major prize
Francis Spufford has been awarded the 2017 Desmond Elliott Prize for his “miraculously constructed” debut Golden Hill (Faber). Set in New York in…
Douglas Murray’s The Strange Death of Europe is number one on the Sunday Times Bestseller list
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 in conversation with Colin Barrett
Julianne Pachico and Colin Barrett debate line writing vs free writing, inherited literatures and how to give a reading on Granta.com.
bbc radio 4 book of the week: Leonora Carrington
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 is presented with the Franco-British Society Book Prize
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…
Sex and art by the Grand Canal: how Peggy Guggenheim took Venice
In the 1940s, the heiress fled New York and, with a makeshift gallery, became the star of Venice. But she was not the first…
Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill wins RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2017
“This is that rare thing – an ingenious novel that draws on profound research to evoke the spirit of another age, yet wears that…
Hogarth Press: Two Stories by Virginia Woolf and Mark Haddon
Hogarth is to mark its centenary with a birthday edition of its first publication, Two Stories, including newly commissioned work by Mark Haddon, to…
Julianne Pachico and Rebecca F John on the Hay 30
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…
Francis Spufford on RSL Ondaatje Prize and Desmond Elliott shortlists
Congratulations to Francis Spufford, whose first novel GOLDEN HILL is on the RSL Ondaatje Prize shortlist. The prize is awarded annually to a book…
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford is on the Folio Prize shortlist
We are delighted to announce that Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill is on the newly resurrected Folio Prize shortlist. The winner of the Rathbones…
Lyndal Roper is on Wolfson History Prize Shortlist and Elizabeth Longford Prize Shortlist
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…
Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay With Me makes 2017 Baileys Prize Shortlist
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…
The Other Mrs Walker by Mary Paulson-Ellis is a bestseller
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…
More Prizes: Walter Scott, Desmond Elliott, Authors’ Club
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…
James Tait Black Prize – UK’s oldest literary award
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…
Anuk Arudpragasam’s The Story of a Brief Marriage on 2017 Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist
We are delighted to announce that THE STORY OF A BRIEF MARRIAGE by Anuk Arudpragasam, published by Granta, is on the 2017 Dylan Thomas…
My ‘wild child’ cousin, the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington
Throughout her childhood, Joanna Moorhead never heard a good word from her family about her cousin. When she went to Mexico she found out…
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo is longlisted for the 2017 Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction
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 and THE JAM DOUGHNUT THAT RUINED MY LIFE by Mark Lowery
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…
Jo Baker and Francis Spufford longlisted for Walter Scott Prize
A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE by Jo Baker and GOLDEN HILL by Francis Spufford have been longlisted for the 2017 Walter Scott Prize for…
A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson
“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’s Unfinished Business
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…
Lu Spinney on communicating with brain damaged patients
A new scientific breakthrough has enabled patients with locked-in syndrome to communicate. Lu Spinney, whose son suffered catastrophic brain damage in a snowboarding…
Laird Hunt introduces his new novel THE EVENING ROAD
Watch a series of short interviews of Laird Hunt talking about his new novel THE EVENING ROAD
Francis Spufford Wins Costa First Novel Award for Golden Hill
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…
Max Porter wins Young Writer of the Year
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…
Ayobami Adebayo speaks about Stay with Me in the bookseller
Stay with Me is published in March 2017 by Canongate.
Golden Hill is Sunday Times Novel of the Year
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….
The Lucky Ones by Julianne Pachico
Click here to see the cover reveal and read an exclusive extract.
British Director Andrew Haigh in Post-Production with Lean on Pete
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…
BOB. Bestseller. Film star. Magazine editor.
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…
Mark Haddon on the Radio
Listen to Mark Haddon read The Kill and 288a Main Road
World War I at Home with Philip Hoare
Royal Victoria Hospital Shocking stories of the World War I Hampshire hospital doctors who faked footage on cures for shellshock. Author Philip Hoare examines…
Gillon Aitken
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’s Victoria, Based on A.N. Wilson’s Book, Sold in over 150 Countries
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 to play Alexander McQueen in biopic
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 on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek
Rory Stewart OBE is MP for Penrith and The Border and Minister of State at the Department for International Development (DFID). After a period…
‘He Had His Reasons’: Colin Barrett’s essay on the Hawe family tragedy for Granta.com
On Sunday evening, 28 August 2016, in their home near the small rural town of Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan, Alan Hawe put a…
The Decay of Politics by Philip O Ceallaigh
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…
Danielle McLaughlin revisits ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ for The Paris Review Daily
In the summer of 1986, I finished secondary school, and that autumn I enrolled in a secretarial course in Cork City. It was a…
An interview with Rowan Hisayo Buchanan on writing ‘Harmless Like You’
The harm we cause one another – casually, accidentally, deliberately, unknowingly – haunts Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s mind. Her debut novel, Harmless Like You, which…
On the road again: Sara Taylor on remaking the US road novel
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…
Once a Bookseller, Always a Bookseller: Max Porter on seeing his book on the shelves
For many years I was a bookseller. Once a bookseller, always a bookseller. Now I work as an editor, and I’ve written a…
Gordon Burn Prize – Aitken Alexander author’s Harry Parker and Jeremy Gavron on the shortlist
The Gordon Burn Prize is a partnership between the Gordon Burn Trust, New Writing North, Durham Book Festival and Faber & Faber. The winning…
The Meaning of Cricket by Jon Hotten, ‘the Montaigne of sports-writers’, reviewed by Tom Holland (The Spectator)
One day, many seasons ago, Jon Hotten was on the field when a bowler took all ten wickets. In his memories, the afternoon has…
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan: In Between Stations (Guernica Magazine)
Between Norwich and Colchester my phone sleeps signalless in my lap. In this half of the journey, I notice the way the light swoops…
LYNDAL ROPER RECEIVES THE GERDA HENKEL PRIZE IN RECOGNITION OF HER OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF EARLY MODERN HISTORY
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…
The 9th Life of Louis Drax Trailer
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…
Ghosts, raves and the soul of John Lennon: Tom Gatti interviews Kevin Barry, winner of the 2015 Goldsmiths Prize, in the New Statesman
Walking to school in the 1970s, Kevin Barry would step over gutters running red with blood. This was a decade before Limerick earned…
‘Kirsten is the wicked, mischievous twin’, a new story by Eimear Ryan
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…
Emma Sky joins thousands in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the life of Jo Cox
Today, thousands of friends and family of Jo Cox gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate her life. I had never met Jo but she…
Julia Gregson on Muhammad Ali
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…
Five Aitken Alexander Authors Up for the Edinburgh Festival First Book Award
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…
Alan Moore celebrates Chris Petit’s The Psalm Killer – a nerve-shredding Irish noir
In film and writing, noir – not a colour but a vital absence of the same – is nonetheless a necessary hue. The stark…
Read the new story ‘Pure Gold’ by John Patrick McHugh
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…
Beyond the High Blue Air by Lu Spinney: Human tragedy in the age of medical absurdity
Review by Cathy Rentzenbrink
Stuart Evers’s Your Father Sends his Love shortlisted for Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2016
Organisers of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2016 have unveiled the shortlist for the annual award which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary….
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford – Review
New York in the 18th century is brought brilliantly to life in Francis Spufford’s debut novel
Max Porter wins International Dylan Thomas Prize for ‘Grief is the Thing with Feathers’
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…
Anhedonia, Here I Come – new short story by Colin Barrett from The New Yorker
Bobby Tallis possessed the drainpipe physique, knee-length mackintosh, and winsomely dissolute demeanor of a poet, or so he believed, as he pursued a…
Wim Wenders’s ‘Submergence’ Starring Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy sold to 30+ Territories
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….
Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ Producers Developing Jonathan Lee’s High Dive
Pulse Films and Addictive Pictures have acquired the film rights to the Margaret Thatcher assassination thriller
THE LONEY named Book of the Year and Debut Fiction of the Year at the British Book Awards
In the shrewdly competitive world of publishing and publicity, the story behind a novel is often as important as the story between its…
Brix Smith Start: ‘Mark E Smith? He’s complicated’
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…
Dangerous Fictions
The writer Mohammed Hanif probes for truth in Pakistan.
The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon
Curious Incident author Mark Haddon has turned to short stories – the results are gripping
Down the Rabbit Hole: Kevin Barry Interview on Literary Friction
Kevin Barry joins Octavia and Carrie on this months’ edition of Literary Friction.
Wim Wenders starts ‘Submergence’ shoot in Berlin with James McAvoy & Alicia Vikander
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.
BAFTA Nominations for The C Word
Sheridan Smith and The C Word receive BAFTA nominations.
Willy Vlautin: ‘I had a picture of Steinbeck and a picture of the Jam’
The American musician and novelist on breaking up his acclaimed band Richmond Fontaine, and how Raymond Carver’s stories opened his eyes.
Mark Haddon: ‘I’ve read too many beige short stories in my life’
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 Unravelling by Emma Sky shortlisted for the 2016 Orwell prize for the best political writing
The shortlist for the 2016 Orwell prize for the best political writing, announced on Thursday evening, is dominated by the Middle East, from a…
Hiding in plain sight – why I spent a lifetime chasing Prince by Matt Thorne
Following the death of the enigmatic pop idol, Matt Thorne explains his lifelong devotion to Prince.
Take two chapters, daily – how to prescribe fiction
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 interview on Literary Friction
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
A Writer’s Room: Mark Haddon
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 Wins Pen Hessell Tiltman Prize 2016
Nicholas Stargardt’s The German War wins PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize 2016 History prize awarded to ‘elegant and eloquent’ account of ordinary people who…
Caitríona Palmer on why she conducted a 16-year ‘affair’ with her mother
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.
London, city of pleasure: Rowan Moore’s Slow Burn City
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…
Sara Baume on understanding America, one pattern at a time
KITCHEN TILES, WHITEGATE, MAY 2015 The notebook is hand and hard-bound. The cover marbled light and dark blue with a bold red…
Sara Baume talks dogs, art and Spill Simmer Falter Wither
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…
Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State
A new work of verbatim documentary theatre by Gillian Slovo
Two Aitken Alexander authors picked for Waterstones’ books to read this month
Read more about The Other Mrs Walker by Mary Paulson-Ellis, and Anatomy Of A Soldier by Harry Parker here
The Magus BBC Radio 4, Sunday 20th March
First ever radio adaptation of John Fowles’ groundbreaking and hugely influential novel
Room Service
An assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher inspires a masterly novel
What it’s like to bring up an ill daughter while being forgotten by your own mother?
Helen Stevenson, is the author of ‘Love Like Salt’, which is a family memoir about her daughter Clara having Cystic Fibrosis
How Phil Lynott Became Rock’s Most Notorious Hellraiser
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….
It is with great sadness that we report Louise Rennison has died
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
Rob Magnuson Smith longlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award
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’
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…
CLEAR THE FIELD FOR THE BEST BRITISH WAR NOVEL IN YEARS
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…
Film adaptation of Willy Vlautin’s Lean on Pete will shoot this summer
Lean on Pete will be adapted and directed by Andrew Haigh whose last film, 45 Years, starred Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling.
The Button Box by Lynn Knight – The Guardian review
Do you have a happy relationship with your clothes?
The Curious Incident of Rose the Broadway Rat
Was it Tulip what done it?
The Real-life Jumpin’ Jack Flash: How David Litvinoff Shook The 60s
He inspired Mick Jagger, fought with Lucian Freud and shared lovers with Ronnie Kray. But David Litvinoff’s taste for danger would take…
Harry Parker featured in the Observer’s New Faces of Fiction 2016
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…
‘amazing’ .. ‘thrilling’ .. ‘stunning’ .. ‘brilliant’ – Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney wins Costa First Novel Award
“A suspense novel which is at the forefront of a new wave of British Gothic fiction has won the Costa First Novel Award. The…
Three Aitken Alexander Authors Nominated for the Penderyn Music Book Prize
The longlist for the second Penderyn Music Book Prize has just been announced and three Aitken Alexander authors have been nominated: David…
Mohammed Hanif’s article in the New York Times about his worries for Muslims today
(photo copyright Catherina Hess) KARACHI, Pakistan — I worry about Muslims. Islam teaches me to care about all human beings, and animals too, but…
Extravagant praise for Kevin Barry’s new novel ‘Beatlebone’
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…
The film adaptation of Submergence by Jonathan Ledgard to be directed by Wim Wenders
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…
Dark waters: faith and death in The Loney by Andrew Hurley
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.
‘In the Act of Falling’ by Danielle McLaughlin
Read the full story and Q & A with the author published in the New Yorker
How John Peel Created our Musical World
David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Roxy Music, New Order … all owe their emergence in large part to one DJ. From psychedelia…
Two Aitken Alexander Authors on Kirkus Fiction Shortlist
Hanya Yanagihara and Susan Barker announced as finalists for this $50,000 prize
Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Announced
Kevin Barry’s Beatlebone and Richard Beard’s Acts of The Assassins are nominated for the 2015 Prize
Samuel Johnson Longlist Announced
The list of twelve includes two Aitken Alexander authors, Emma Sky and Samanth Subramanian
Aitken Alexander author Mark Haddon shortlisted for BBC National Short Story Award
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
Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize
The 2015 winner will be announced on Tuesday 13th October in London’s Guildhall
Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms by Paul Willetts
New book trailer for Paul Willetts’ non-fiction espionage thriller directed by Guy Myhill
Thant Myint-U wins the Fukuoka Prize
This is Japan’s most important cultural prize for his work as an historian, for his work on cultural preservation and his peace work
Hanya Yanagihara longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015
When the Man Booker prize rules changed last year to allow any novel written in English to compete, there were fears that British…
Paul Mason: The End of Capitalism Has Begun
Without us noticing, we are entering the postcapitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of…
Tom Hoyle wins Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2015 for Thirteen
Thirteen boys, all born at the stroke of midnight on millennium night, as the world moved from the 20th to the 21st century….
La Traviata; Love Death and Divas
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
The activist and the murderer
Justine van der Leun on the unlikely partnership between the apartheid regime’s most infamous killer and the woman searching for his victims’ remains.
How Indie Rock Changed the World
Deborah Cohen on Kim Gordon, geeks and guitars
Watch Emma Sky’s interview on Newsnight
Emma Sky discusses her experiences as a top political advisor to the US in Iraq
Alexander Watson wins Wolfson History Prize
Ring of Steel ‘gave ground-breaking insight into an extensively-covered historical period’
The Subversive Brilliance of A Little Life
Jon Michaud reviews Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel for the New Yorker
Two Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize
Sam Delaney’s Mad Men and Bad Men and Ben Lerner’s 10:04 longlisted for their fresh, fearless approach to writing
The C Word on BBC ONE
Sheridan Smith talked to The Guardian this week about her emotional journey making BBC drama The C Word.
Lee Hazlewood: rock’s great recluse & my part in his return
Wyndham Wallace reveals how he coaxed the cult singer-songwriter back to the stage after 25 years in the wilderness
Alexander Watson wins Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize
Ring Of Steel awarded best book in the field of military history
BAILEYS Women’s Prize for Fiction announces 2015 longlist
Longlist features our very own Sara Taylor with her debut novel, The Shore, out 26th March
Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power
Amanda Vickery on the history of British women’s battle against the patriarchy and the long journey ahead
The Good War shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize
Jack Fairweather’s important book about Afghanistan has been picked as one of the World’s top books in global affairs
10:04 on Folio Prize Shortlist
Ben Lerner’s 10:04 one of the eight shortlisted titles
Catherine Aird Wins Diamond Dagger 2015
Crime Writer’s Association announces the new winner of this prestigious award
Mad Men and Bad Men
Sam Delaney On What Happened When British Politics Met Advertising
The Blue Whale in all its majesty
Philip Hoare celebrates Dippy’s usurpation in the Telegraph
India’s World Records
Samanth Subramanian looks at the fevered subculture of record setters for the New York Times
The Museum of Water
Angela Readman wins the Charles Causley Poetry Competition
Warnings from History
Srinath Perur on what we can learn from the collapse of ancient capitals for the Guardian
A Political Romance
Daisy Hay’s essay on how the marriage of Benjamin and Mary Anne Disraeli broke every rule in the book
Perfect Surprise
Wolf Larsen’s If I Be Wrong featured in Three Ireland advert
Round-up of the Round-ups
We look at who’s chosen which Aitken Alexander books as their picks for 2014
Merry Christmas from Bob
James Bowen and Street Cat Bob’s Christmas Message
The Dinosaurs on Other Planets
In case you missed it: Danielle McLaughlin’s story as published in The New Yorker
Colin Barrett’s prize-winning habit
Short story collection Young Skins awarded Guardian First Book Award
The Scatter Here Is Too Great
Bilal Tanweer wins Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and is shortlisted for DSC prize
La Ignorancia de Sangre
Film adaptation of Robert Wilson’s 4th Falcón novel released
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
Filming is underway on Liz Jensen’s much loved novel
Queen Victoria’s Letters
A Monarch Unveiled in a two part production for BBC4
The Spirit of Place
The Independent call Philip Marsden’s Rising Ground ‘superb’
Rees Longlisted for the William Hill Prize
The Three Degrees by Paul Rees up for Sports Book of the Year
A Broadway Triumph
The theatre adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens in New York to fantastic reviews
Abrahamson To Direct NEVERHOME
Lenny Abrahamson To Direct ‘Neverhome’ Adaptation Of Laird Hunt’s Civil War Novel
Pat Barker’s Regeneration
Adapted for the stage by Nicholas Wright and directed by Simon Godwin.
Return to Betjemanland
A.N. Wilson explores the life of his hero John Betjeman for BBC4
Crisis in the Middle East
An excerpt from The Jihadis Return by Patrick Cockburn
Reading not Writing
Moving to Berlin allowed Greg Baxter to discover the power of history well-told
Etgar Keret: the Granta Interview
The Israeli story writer and filmmaker discusses fact, fiction, and inspiration with Sophie Lewis
Mao’s Sarcophagus and Other Constructions
Michiko Kakutani Reviews Jack Livings’s The Dog for The New York Times
Hail Mary Softball
Tara Clancy on her ragtag Queens softball team and their ultimate desperation play
Switchback, 1994
A short story by Jack Livings from his new collection, The Dog
Every line of living has its hazards
From the Frank O’Connor Award winning collection Young Skins
Sex and Drugs and the First World War
For the centenary, Philip Hoare looks at the decadent side of the Great War
Israel’s Other War
Etgar Keret on the war against Israel’s “enemy within”
The Dream of Invisibility
Philip Ball discusses one of our most powerful fantasies
The Three Degrees
The Men Who Changed British Football Forever
The War Widows of Afghanistan
Zarghuna Kargar speaks to widows in Britain and Afghanistan connected by the same war
Behind the Cover
The beautiful illustrated cover of The Incarnations by Susan Barker
India in English
Samanth Subramanian on India’s complex relationship with the English language
Metallica
One of the most thrilling and unpredictable rock bands ever?
Inheritance
How Edward St. Aubyn made literature out of a poisoned legacy
Moira Young interview
My concern has always been to do right by Saba and her story
Alan Johnson
‘I thought I was writing something people would appreciate’
Prince
will we all finally fall 4 him?
The Story of Women and Art
by Amanda Vickery
Golazo!
Andreas Campomar Picks His Favourite Latin American Goals
Why We Look the Way We Look Now
Deborah Cohen looks at the enduring influence of 1930s fashion
What Drives Penny Vincenzi?
In this video Penny Vincenzi talks about her latest novel