At dawn on Sunday morning I drove down to Charleston, near Lewes in East Sussex, for the final day of the Small Wonder short story festival. The events were - as always - fascinating and diverse. Here are five things I learned there: 1 William Trevor used to be a serious sculptor. In a recorded interview with Small Wonder Artistic Director Diana … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2013
Why can’t real life be like the Cork Short Story Festival?
I've just got back from the Cork International Short Story Festival and I have Post Literary Festival Separation Anxiety (PLFSA). It's so hard to leave a festival sometimes. Especially one as spectacularly warm and generous as this. Of course I missed Naomi and the boys like crazy while I was away, but when you spend more than a night or two … [Read more...]
Will buildings grow on trees in 2070?
My scientist thinks they will. I say my scientist, because all of us writers attending the artificial life conference in Sicily got one. Mine was Professor Susan Stepney, a computer scientist at the University of York, and she's working on an incredible project to grow buildings from seed. Yes, buildings (that we live and work in), grown from … [Read more...]
The Mount Etna hat club
Earlier this week, I was stood on the edge of a volcano watching my publisher run down into it. This is not a metaphor. I was near the summit of Mount Etna with Ra Page from Comma Press and writers Robin Yassin-Kassab and Julian Gough. The walk up had been tough - a 45-degree slope of black volcanic marbles that rolled away beneath our feet. … [Read more...]
New interview with The Skinny
I recently spoke with Bram E Gieben from The Skinny about short stories, dystopias and parenthood. You can read the interview now, over at The Skinny. … [Read more...]