The Literary Sofa
Guest Authors
My Year in Books 2018
It’s time to reveal my Books of 2018, a post I always relish writing, but this year it’s more complicated than usual. It’s been a strange reading year for me, frustrating in some ways and very rewarding in others. I’ve ‘only’ read 80 books, slightly down on my usual average, as was the proportion written … Continue reading
Guest Post – Ben Blackman on Taking nine months to read one novel
Enter my competition she said, you could win a lunch with me she said. Yet somehow it comes to the fact I (that’s italics too but it’s difficult to tell if you can see) have ended up in charge of the Literary Sofa this week while Isabel pretends to be hard at work on her … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Joy Rhoades on the New England Tableland, NSW, Australia
The first Australian Writers on Location post (Clare Atkins on Darwin) proved exceptionally popular back in the summer and I’m delighted to be returning to a very different part of this huge and beautiful country in the company of Joy Rhoades, author of The Woolgrower’s Companion. It’s a first novel which has achieved critical success, … Continue reading
Guest Author – Claire Fuller on Finding Inspiration in Place
I’d like to start by thanking everyone for the exceptional response to last week’s Literary Lunch competition, which prompted a deluge of retweets, entries and appreciation for the blog. Just as well I did keep going! And since the entries took the form of book recommendations and there were so many great ones – including … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Amanda Huggins on Japan
Welcome to the first guest post of the new season, a special one in several ways. It’s the first time Japan has featured in my Writers on Location series, and also the first time I’ve had the pleasure of hosting an award-winning travel writer. Amanda Huggins’ fiction and travel writing have been published in a … Continue reading
Writers on Location ̵ Philip Teir on Jakobstad, Finland
This week’s post concludes the coverage of my Summer Reads selection; a record number of authors (7/12) have joined me on the Literary Sofa and I’m very grateful to all of them for their fantastic pieces and all of you for your interest and positive feedback. One of the best things about running the blog … Continue reading
Guest Author – Sofka Zinovieff on Writing a Taboo Relationship
[NOTE: This post discusses the portrayal of child sexual abuse in fiction.] When I was organising Sofa visits from authors featured in this year’s Summer Reads selection, I thought what an exceptional line-up it was going to be and it’s great that it’s met with so much interest and enthusiasm – thank you to everyone … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Clare Atkins on Darwin, Australia
It’s always exciting when a guest post hits my inbox. The writers are here because I love their work, and the pieces invariably give a telling and enticing flavour of the writing and the book. How they choose to go about that is entirely their call; although the Writers on Location posts often do inspire … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Kerry Hadley-Pryce on the Black Country
A record number of Summer Reads authors are joining me on the Sofa this year and most are welcome additions to the popular Writers on Location series. This is especially true of today’s guest Kerry Hadley-Pryce, whose second novel Gamble is set in the Black Country, a part of the UK I have not encountered … Continue reading
Guest Author – Emily Critchley on Writing a crossover novel
After a wonderful reception for last week’s piece on the Veneto by Elise Valmorbida, I’m delighted to welcome Emily Critchley, the second author from my Summer Reads 2018 line-up, to discuss a subject of particular interest to me and I’m sure to many of you. Over the years I have enjoyed and featured many novels … Continue reading
My Novel – Now out in paperback
