The Literary Sofa
Guest Authors
Guest Author – Lynn Bushell on being an artist writing about artists
We all have subjects we’re particuarly drawn to and in the almost 11 years I’ve been running this blog, novels about art and artists, real or fictional, are consistently among those I’ve enthused about the most. Sure, I love galleries and exhibitions and the beauty, stimulation and inspiration art gives me but I’ll also admit … Continue reading
Guest Author – Jon Ransom on Three Unspoken Words
Today I’m hosting the first guest post of 2022 and it’s a huge pleasure to welcome fellow Muswell Press author Jon Ransom whose debut novel The Whale Tattoo joins their superb LGBTQ list this week. I discovered Jon’s writing last autumn when we both had work included in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology. His … Continue reading
Guest Author – Isabel Rogers on Writing about Music
This week I am more than usually thrilled to welcome poet, wit and newly hatched novelist Isabel Rogers back to the Literary Sofa. Last week’s moving piece by Catherine Simpson on Writing about Mental Health was a wonderful start to the series of guest posts by authors of titles from my First Sofa Spotlight of … Continue reading
Guest Author – Annemarie Neary on Fictional Orphans
This wasn’t supposed to be the final blog post before the summer break but it is (see Postscript for my excuse), and I can’t think of a better way to round up the season’s coverage of new fiction than to welcome Annemarie Neary back to the Sofa. Annemarie first joined me last year with a … 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
Guest Post – True Diversity in Fiction – a Provocation from Nikesh Shukla
Many posts have sparked lively debate on the Literary Sofa, but today is the first time I have knowingly provided a platform for a ‘provocation’ ! Although it’s not our topic, Nikesh Shukla’s second novel Meatspace is out in paperback today: it too is provocative, thoughtful and very funny; an entertaining but uncomfortable read for … Continue reading
Guest Author – Alex Christofi on Writing the Shard
Since starting the Literary Sofa blog in 2011, I read far more new fiction than I used to. And despite the endless stream of fantastic novels which find their way to me, I often get the feeling there are established notions of ‘what works’ in fiction or ‘what the reader wants/expects’ – notions I personally like … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Kerry Hudson on Siberia
It is a huge pleasure to have Kerry Hudson join me on the Literary Sofa today. She burst onto the scene in 2012 with her debut Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, which won the Scottish First Book Award and was nominated for five more. She was recently named … Continue reading
Guest Author – Carys Bray on Writing about Mormonism
The reasons we read fiction and what we get out of it are numerous and complex. Two things which crop up over and over when discussing books are a need to try to make sense of our own lives, especially the difficult parts, and the opportunity fiction gives to experience other lives which may be … Continue reading
Guest Author – Jonathan Gibbs on setting his Debut Novel in the Art World
It’s no surprise that certain subjects and professions lend themselves to fiction better than others. I attended a talk by a top literary agent a few years ago in which she dismissed accountancy and dentistry as a complete non-starter (in the latter case, Joshua Ferris has just proven her wrong); whilst some readers are fascinated … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 