I have a new piece in the TLS.
The Book of Secrets
I wrote about Xinran’s latest book for The TLS.
Inland
I wrote about Gerald Murnane’s sui generis masterpiece for The TLS.
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/inland-gerald-murnane-book-review-nick-holdstock/
The Ascent of Stromboli
I have a new piece of non-fiction in the latest issue of The Dublin Review, a magazine I love writing for – one of the few quality homes for longform non-fiction.
You can order it here (and subs are cheap): https://thedublinreview.com/product/winter-2023-24/
New story in Exacting Clam
I have a new short story in the Winter issue of Exacting Clam.
The Dial
I wrote about The Dial magazine for The TLS
Nanjing Residency
I’m going back to China for the first time in a decade. I wonder if anything has changed?
The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers Guild
I wrote about Mathias Enard’s new novel for The TLS.
Waiting to be arrested at night
I wrote about Tahir Hamut Izgil’s memoir for the TLS.
High Caucasus
I wrote about Tom Parfitt’s North Caucasus travel book for Literary Review.
Tangier Tales
I wrote about Mohamed Choukri’s short stories for The TLS.
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/tales-of-tangier-mohamed-choukri-book-review-nick-holdstock/
Journeys Without Maps
I wrote about my apparently aimless wandering for the Royal Literary Fund.
The Turban and the Hat
A Book of Many Erections
I wrote about Wang Xiaobo’s novel for The TLS.
Paperback
The paperback of my second novel is now at liberty.
The Fawn
I wrote about The Fawn for the TLS.
The Rest is Slander
I wrote about the new Bernhard collection for the TLS.
Witness
I have a new story in Exacting Clam.
Too Much of Life
I wrote about Clarice Lispector’s newspaper columns for Literary Review.
The Backstreets
I wrote about Perhat Tursun’s novel for the TLS.
Sverige mini tour
Looking forward to reading in Sweden next week at the English Bookshop, at both its Stockholm and Uppsala branches, on the 18th and 20th respectively. I have good memories of doing an event there for The Casualties all the way back in… 2017.
SWH podcast
Thanks to Ali Braidwood for a stimulating and enjoyable conversation about Quarantine that you can listen to here.
First chapter
You can read the start of Quarantine here.
BBC Afternoon Show
You can hear me on the BBC Radio Scotland Afternoon Show talking about Quarantine.
Segment starts at 1.10.21.
Other epigraphs
One epigraph for a novel is plenty – and perhaps already too much – but in an attempt to have it both ways, here are some of the big-eyed darlings I had to drown for the new book. First is a quote from Walter Benjamin’s essay on Proust.
From Lispector’s Near to the Wild Heart (tr. Alison Entrekin)
And Goethe’s poem ‘Above the mountaintops’
The woman in the window
I wrote about staring out the window for the Royal Literary Fund.
Launch
I’ll be launching my new novel Quarantine at Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh on May 5th. Tickets available here.
The Silentiary
I reviewed Di Benedetto’s reissued novel for the TLS.
TLS triple
I reviewed three new books on Xinjiang in this week’s TLS.
Open
I have a new story at Lunate called ‘Open’.