‘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…
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Once a Bookseller, Always a Bookseller
Max Porter on seeing Grief is a Thing With Feathers on the bookshop shelves -
Pain shape-shifts down the generations
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan on writing 'Harmless Like You' -
An interview with Kevin Barry
A chaotic journey from 'stoner entrepreneur' to Ireland's most unpredictable novelist -
THE LONEY: Book of the Year at the British Book Awards
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The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon
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Brix Smith Start: ‘Mark E Smith? He’s complicated’
The Rise, the Fall and the Rise by Brix Smith Start - Observer News Review -
Dangerous Fictions
The New Yorker on Mohammed Hanif -
Matt Thorne on Prince
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?
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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