The Literary Sofa
Writers on Location
Writers on Location – Lisa McInerney on Cork City
Following my ‘gratifyingly juicy’ (he said, and it really was) conversation with Rob Doyle last week I’m delighted to welcome Lisa McInerney, another bold and brilliant Irish writer, to the Literary Sofa today. Lisa’s debut novel The Glorious Heresies took the final spot on my Hot Picks 2016 and, as so often the case, I knew … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Nicholas Hogg on Tokyo
According to the latest edition of The Economist Pocket World in Figures, the UK heads the world ranking for new titles published, with 2,875 per million of population in 2013 (compared to 1,831 in Slovenia and Taiwan in joint second place, and 959 in the United States in 12th). I find all of this staggering … Continue reading
Writers on Location – André Alexis on Toronto
I am constantly finding new books to enthuse about (I know, it’s hard to keep up) but today’s Writers on Location visit to Toronto is a special cause for celebration – my guest André Alexis has just been awarded Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize for Fifteen Dogs. As a result, this surprising and original novel (published in the … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Anja de Jager on Amsterdam
I’ve recently returned from a very enjoyable, stimulating and exhausting week in New York and there will be no drop in the pace over the next few weeks. There’s some great stuff coming up on the Literary Sofa, including several genres you won’t often find here: in this case, crime, and next week, the psychological thriller (even … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Lucy Brydon on Shanghai
My trip to Malaysia last winter left me with a hankering to get to know the Far East better but even before that, reading Tash Aw’s Five Star Billionaire had ignited my interest in Shanghai, a place that sounds exhilarating and intimidating in equal measure. Today I’m thrilled to welcome debut author Lucy Brydon to share the … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Jason Hewitt on writing a Road Novel
To start the autumn season on the Literary Sofa, I am delighted to welcome Jason Hewitt as the first author to appear twice in my Writers on Location series. I have got to know Jason in real life since he wrote about Arctic Norway, one of the settings for his acclaimed debut The Dynamite Room, and I’m impressed … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Virginia Baily on Rome
The destination for today’s Writers on Location, Rome, is one of Europe’s most visited cities and high on many a travel wishlist. I have been there three times (although the most recent was fifteen years ago), and in a similar-but-different way to the story Ginny tells in today’s piece, it instantly became a significant place … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Christopher Bollen on Long Island
I’m sure you know the immense satisfaction that comes from thinking a book sounds right up your street and finding that is indeed the case. That happened to me with Christopher Bollen’s second novel Orient, a sophisticated murder mystery set on Long Island. It has everything I most enjoy about contemporary American fiction and is … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Jill Alexander Essbaum on Zürich
Hausfrau is the first novel by acclaimed American poet Jill Alexander Essbaum and I was fortunate enough to read it six months ago, knowing only that its UK publishers at Mantel were very excited about it. As anyone who runs a literary blog knows, it’s a publisher’s job to be excited about the titles they release – … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Eve Makis on Cyprus
These days e-mails and text messages frequently appear in novels but there’s nothing like an old-fashioned hand-written letter and I am drawn to books with any kind of epistolary connection. Things were literally looking good for The Spice Box Letters before I even started reading – it also has the most beautiful enticing cover. I’m … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 