Tessa Farmer's In Fairy Land exhibition at the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities deeply satisfies the part of me that has always wanted to see a Bacchanalian fairy feast on the back of a giant spider crab. When you first walk into the exhibition, it's kind of hard to spot. It's hidden amongst the hundreds of oddities (from a stuffed mermaid to … [Read more...]
The Beijing Bookworm Festival in bullet points
I just got back from the most amazing trip to the Beijing Bookworm Festival. Thanks so much to the Bookworm and to the British Council for taking me over there, along with awesome short story writers Zoe Gilbert and Rachel Tresize. What a treat. Here's my report of the week's highlights, in bullet points. Meet Zoe and Rachel at Heathrow. Mutual … [Read more...]
Is my son talking to the dead?
My 10-year-old son came home from school today with this Ouija board. He made it himself during lunch break. My thought process went something like this: • That's so cool! I'm so proud! My kid's an original! • Love that his Ouija board has a space bar, some basic punctuation and a back button #ipadgenerationouija • Flashback to my own … [Read more...]
Short stories Aloud event in Oxford
I'm very excited about next Tuesday, 25 November, when I'll be at the Short Stories Aloud event in Oxford alongside comedian and author Mark Watson. Actors will read our stories, and then we'll do a Q&A with the audience. Apparently Short Stories Aloud has a prize for the best questions, so I'm looking forward to answering unusual stuff. It's … [Read more...]
I have a new short story on BBC Radio 4 this Friday…
I have a new short story on BBC Radio 4 at 15:45 this Friday. It’s called The Bullet Racers and was commissioned by Jeremy Osborne of Sweet Talk productions for the 3-part short story series Short Rides in Fast Machines – which also features new stories by Toby Litt (28 Nov) and Tania Hershman (5 Dec). You can listen live here, and it'll be on the … [Read more...]
A research trip and baby turtles
I just got home from a research trip to Turkey. I was at a little town I've visited three or four times before, but always with my holiday head on. This was my first trip there with my writing head on. I've used the town as a starting point for the setting of my current writing project, and there were a few places I'd written about that didn't feel … [Read more...]
Would you like me to mentor you?
**Please note, the deadline for apprenticeship applications has now passed and the mentees have been chosen, but WordFactory will be looking for two new apprentices next year** I'm going to be mentoring one short story writer over six months as part of the WordFactory apprenticeship scheme. We'll meet or chat on the phone/over email every … [Read more...]
What we can tell about Haruki Murakami’s new novel from its girth
On 12 August, Haruki Murakami's new novel: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage comes out in the UK. What will it be like? Impatient to get my hands on a copy, I've made predictions about the book in the same way that sports commentators make predictions about games – I've done a statistical analysis of Murakami's novels to date … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 14
- Next Page »