Writing

Tales of Two Londons: Stories From A Fractured City, edited by Claire Armitstead, Arcadia Books, 2019, £9.99It’s Saturday morning in Hornsey and I make...

The art world is awash with self-taught painters these days, but the emergence of artist hana (styled in lower case) has taken many by surprise, not only because of her talent but because she has re-invented oil paint. Her paint is made from coconut shells, algae, seaweed, dried fruits and vegetables. All this has caught the eye of Noel Fielding, among others, who is endorsing her ground-breaking innovations. This week sees the opening of her first solo show [...]

So there’s a glamour model contest. All women can enter. To decide on a winner, the women must strip, pose sexually and suggestively on...

Ben Schott was best known for the hugely popular Schott’s Miscellany series until 2018, when he became a novelist. Described as his homage to the works of P. G. Wodehouse, Schott’s Jeeves and The King of Clubs was published with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate and received rapturous reviews. Schott keeps Bertie and Jeeves in their 1930s setting, but brings a faster pace, detailed endnotes, and a twist of espionage to satisfy the modern reader [...]

Human beings are naturally drawn to a good story and that’s regardless of the medium, whether that’s writing or film or something else. I think fiction can help readers see ways of living and thinking that differ from how they live and think, and, at the very least, this can make them more open to or understanding of difference. For me, a good story puts the reader in someone else’s shoes and taps into a reader’s own experiences and emotions in order to connect them [...]

Nancy Cadogan is a British figurative painter. She was named as one of the ‘Top 20 New British Art Talents’ by Tatler magazine, describing her as ‘the new Paula Rego’ in 2008. Since then, she has been featured as one of 93 women artists to exhibit at The Ned, London, for its permanent Vault 100 exhibition. Her solo shows, Mind Zero and Footnotes (for the British Art Fair), were presented at the Saatchi Gallery in London. [...]

 The little party wandered slowly along the rows of the hillside garden, pausing in the warm afternoon Northern California sun to examine one vegetable...

The walk from Waterloo station to The Imperial War Museum is one of London’s dreariest, second only to any perambulation taking in Lower Thames...

Partita, 1968When the tabla and double bass are really moving the raga in full swing I think of when I used to run for hours, for...

‘Remember Me’ was first set up by St Paul’s Cathedral in May 2020. The online memorial commemorates those who have lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and was put in place to support the bereft. The online platform received such a positive response that it was decided there would be a physical memorial at the Cathedral, so that visitors from everywhere, of all faiths and none, could attend to reflect and mourn at a place dedicated to remembering [...]

We stopped by the Southbank Centre to talk with Literature Programmer Bea Colley about the reopening of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell...

My Father was a boxer. He taught me how to box when I was nine. This commonality, and the need to impress him, informed a great deal. When Charles Bukowski at an event asked me to ‘take it outside’ over a girl, I said okay. I was 21 and shy. Everyone at the party kept telling him [...]

To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Hogarth Shakespeare has commissioned a series of novels from high-profile authors. The series was inaugurated by...

Xanthi Barker’s One Thing and Mazin Saleem’s The Prick are the second and third of the Open Pen Novelette series, coming after Shitstorm by...

Holland Park Opera: Tchaikovsky, Yevgeny Onegin and Verdi, FalstaffThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a very dull play indeed. We can be grateful for...

A bee is trapped behind the curtains––its silhouette circles the head of a printed flower. Edith pulls her arm free of the tightly tucked...

In the desolate wastelands between the sierra and the jungle, under an all-seeing, unforgiving sun, a single day unfolds as relentlessly as those that...

Memories. Some lie dormant for decades then suddenly spring awake, fresh as yesterday. I like to think the writer in me brought Kissuni back...

I had intended my interview with Kevin Breathnach to go smoothly and at first it appeared to be doing so. We had arranged a...

Out of the Woods, the first book by Luke Turner, begins with the breakdown of a five year relationship with his girlfriend, caused by...

Alongside a fruitful film career, it may come as a surprise that Jesse Eisenberg has time to publish a book of short stories, contribute...

Dear B.C., I write to you because accountancy is tiring my patience and I have developed some better schemes which will propel me to fame. It is melancholy to consider the bank statements and tax returns of common people while they hang in doubtful circumstances; and, only being trained to contend with positive numbers, I have not enjoyed examining the arrears, debts, and bankruptcies which now litter my desk, from which I can not extract my usual fees or [...]

CRAFT ISN’T A DIRTY WORD The art world has been divided since the beginning of the twentieth century. On the one side, the rejection of...

Briony WillisMedusa Through beautifully poetic movements and engaging drama, Jasmin Vardimon has created a unique choreographic voice that enables her to explore deeply controversial social...