When I was a creative writing student, I was encouraged to ‘write what you know’. But having grown up in a small rural town where the most exciting event was the bus turning up on time, I struggled to write anything that...
Read MoreWhen it comes to novels, there’s an art to research. The days and hours invested in the ephemera of other times and places in the hope of evading anachronism and burnishing verisimilitude, having nagged perhaps that they...
Read MoreOne of the great pleasures of this job is the occasional invitation to evenings such as this. I call it ‘informative imbibing’, wherein you take in as much information as you do drink. My advice is to carry a notebook and...
Read MoreFrom ITV big gob (and all-round cockwomble), Piers Morgan has suggested that papoose-wearing fathers look ’emasculated’. Cue a bunch of lovely fellas posting snaps cradling their bundles of joy in...
Read MoreIt’s a bit like Top Of The Pops. To be more specific, it’s a bit like Top Of The Pops in its hectic, post-punk heyday when new voices clamoured to be heard with the urgency and conviction of the silenced margins. You...
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