A pleasure to write my first piece for Literary Review; thanks to Leo Robson for asking me. I wish I’d liked the titles under review—two novelistic riffs on Shakespeare—a little better.

literaryreview.co.uk/double-trouble…

“The Body In The Mobile Library is mischievous, often raunchy and always teetering on perversity.” - Thanks to Tommy Gilhooly of @lit_review for this lovely review!

The May issue of Literary Review is out now: literaryreview.co.uk

Antony Spawforth on forgotten Cleopatras
Daisy on ancient poetry
Dennis Duncan on jigsaws
Rhodri Lewis on Shakespearian fiction
Georgina Adam on art world fraud

and much, much more

We're happy to partner with the 2024 Hubert Butler Essay Prize, which is now accepting entries, with a top prize of €1,500 and a distinguished range of judges:

hubertbutleressayprize.com

“You defang hierarchies not by denying them but by multiplying them.” - From my ⁦Literary Review⁩ review of Darrin McMahon’s superb study of equality literaryreview.co.uk/why-some-are-m…

‘I have to change’, Miles Davis once said. ‘It’s like a curse.’

Richard Williams tells the story of how Davis made jazz cool.
literaryreview.co.uk/in-their-own-s…

The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson - review by Terry Eagleton literaryreview.co.uk/supermarket-of… via Literary Review

for the new(ish) April issue of Literary Review I commissioned a number of pieces, including Deborah Levy on Bowie, Rosa Lyster on creative non-fiction, Jon Savage on Pulp, mike harrison on Oyamada, Richard Williams on Kind of Blue, Chris Power on HGarner
literaryreview.co.uk/current-issue/…

Interview with Iris Murdoch by John Haffenden literaryreview.co.uk/john-haffenden… via Literary Review

I love Helen Garner and this, by Chris Power in Literary Review, is excellent.

Yesterday was Fredric Jameson's 90th birthday.

This month's Archive newsletter includes Terry Eagleton on The Political Unconscious, and other pieces from our April 1983 issue.
literaryreview.co.uk/supermarket-of…

‘In matters of the heart, cats are at the heart of the matter.’

So says Oliver Soden on the explosion of cat mania in the early twentieth century.
literaryreview.co.uk/pussies-galore…

A recent inquiry found that British security services had effectively licensed the IRA assassin known as Stakeknife to commit multiple murders.

Malachi O'Doherty picks apart the murky world of spying and counterespionage in Northern Ireland.
literaryreview.co.uk/belfast-confid…

‘Creative non-fiction, I am so sick of this bullshit’, says Michael Anderson, an editor of the New York Times Book Review.

Rosa Lyster returns to its genesis.
literaryreview.co.uk/two-sides-to-t…

Close companions and confidantes, Tudor ladies-in-waiting had a unique perspective on courtly life.

Suzannah Lipscomb finds out what they saw.
literaryreview.co.uk/on-her-majesty…

Where on earth did Ziggy Stardust get his red mullet?

Deborah Levy on the Beckenham hairstylist who helped create the Starman.
literaryreview.co.uk/lady-stardust

103 cars were destroyed in the making of The Blues Brothers.

Charlie Campbell asks how it was made at all.
literaryreview.co.uk/god-drugs-music

The April issue of Literary Review is out now: literaryreview.co.uk

Richard Williams on Miles Davis
Deborah Levy on David Bowie
Jon Savage on Pulp
*Mark Blacklock* on doomsday lit
miranda seymour on Byron

and much, much more

Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.

tiffany jenkins is not so sure:

literaryreview.co.uk/the-smartphone…

India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.

@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:

literaryreview.co.uk/new-delhi-conf…