I review China Mieville’s new novella in the latest Literary Review. My three-word verdict: ‘confused and confusing’.

I wrote a response to Seymour Hersh’s recent piece on Syria in the London Review of Books.

I read out my short story ‘And Then’ from the latest issue of The Southern Review.

Thanks to Powells for featuring The Casualties on their Best of 2015 list, as picked by their booksellers – probably my favourite group of people to be liked by.

This week I wrote about China’s plans to end the one-child policy on the London Review of Books Blog.

I’ll be at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Sat 31 November.

As well as a solo event for The Casualties, I’ll also be taking part in what’s likely to be a great panel about 80 years of The Southern Review, a magazine I’m proud to contribute to. Here are a few of the stories I’ve written for them:

TSR_Winter2009_Holdstock

TSR_Autumn2011_Holdstock

I have a new story in the Autumn issue of The Southern Review.

I’m very excited about appearing at some great independent bookstores in the US and Canada over the next 6 weeks to promote my first novel, The Casualties. Thanks to all at Powerhouse in New York for a great launch for the book on September 3rd as well. I also want to thank Creative Scotland for helping fund the tour.

September 24- Box of Delights Bookshop, Wolfville, Nova Scotia

September 29 – Lunenburg Bound, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

October 5 – Powell’s bookstore, Portland, OR, with Marjorie Sandor

October 13 – Octopus Literary Salon, Oakland, CA

October 16 – Book Passage, San Fransisco with Matthew Siegel

October 20 – Sundance Books, Reno, Nevada

Oct 31 – Louisiana Book Festival, Baton Rouge

Thanks to Rian Thum for a very fair review in the Times Literary Supplement (9/11) of China’s Forgotten People in which he calls it ‘the most reliable journalistic account published in the past few decades’ and a ‘much-needed resource’.

My Edinburgh Book Festival event about The Casualties can now be listened to on the BBC Arts website (though possibly not for ever and ever. So if this link stops working, I apologise…)

is my favourite word in Steve Donoghue’s interesting review of The Casualties at Open Letters Monthly.

Thanks to Caroline Leavitt for doing a Q and A with me about The Casualties, which as usual made me realise all kinds of things about where the book came from. Shockingly, I even admit to having a broad streak of pessimism.

My possibly quixotic attempt to make you read William Vollmann’s incredible new book is now at the LA Review of Books.

Thanks to Writers Read for asking.

Thanks to Ian Johnson of the New York Times for the interview.

Ian Johnson writes for the NYT and NYRB on China – his work on urbanisation in China is especially well worth a look.

Thanks to Steve Nathans-Kelly for his review of The Casualties at Paste Magazine.

Thanks to Tom Miller, author of China’s Urban Billion, for his review of CFP in The Spectator

My fanciful attempt to channel the shade of Italo Calvino is in the new Dublin Review. It’s a piece that praises obscurity and the art of re-reading – and the idea for it was originally suggested by the novelist Rajorishi Chakraborti, who was my tutor on the University of Edinburgh Creative Writing course.

Available from the publisher (my preference) or Amazon (if you must).