Riveting and brilliant... After "Late City" I was looking forward to my second Robert Olen Butler - and "Perfume River" didn't disappoint. There were a number of things I liked about this book: The way Butler seamlessly weaves flashback into the present, much as we do when we are thinking back to our own lives. … Continue reading “Perfume River”
Category: Fiction
“The Book of Form and Emptiness”
I can see why Ruth Ozeki's "The Book of Form and Emptiness" made it to the Booker Prize shortlist. It's wonderful. Don't be put off by the c.550 pages of the paperback version as I nearly was; the novel rewards reading. And persistence isn't really needed as the story keeps up a good pace throughout. … Continue reading “The Book of Form and Emptiness”
“Snow Country”
I liked Sebastian Faulks' "Snow Country". That's the simple summary. It was all you would expect it to be: well-written, well-paced, interesting and complex characters and plot... However, now you expect there's a 'but' coming... But I thought the ending was far too neat and predictable. You could see what was coming from some way … Continue reading “Snow Country”
Does our writing need a regular service?
Driving home the other day, unbeknownst to me the front passenger-side suspension spring broke on my car. I only realised the extent of the damage once I'd got home, when I saw the virtual zero clearance between tyre and wheel arch. Without doubt something nasty could have happened during those last few miles home... The … Continue reading Does our writing need a regular service?
Podcast episodes
I have just reissued some of my earlier podcast episodes. You can find them here.
New Podcast Episodes
I have just reissued some of my earlier podcast episodes. You can find them here.
Swanwick Summer School, 2022
It seems appropriate to briefly reflect on my first experience of Swanwick Summer School, a week spent with like-minded and friendly folk immersed in all things writing. There's no point beating about the bush, the highlight of the week for me was reading my prize-winning short story Park'n'Ride at the prize winners' event - and … Continue reading Swanwick Summer School, 2022
“The Winter Soldier”
The two things which impressed me most about Daniel Mason's "The Winter Soldier" - in addition to the quality of the writing - were, firstly, the self-evident depth of research Mason had undertaken, and secondly the way he was able to keep the three or four possible endings in play until the last five or … Continue reading “The Winter Soldier”
No such thing as bad press?
My Swanwick Summer School short story competition first prize has been picked up by a local news outlet and they have written a piece on me. You can read it here. Note: although the article says most of the US attendees to my monthly virtual poetry events come from California, for the anthologies contributors come … Continue reading No such thing as bad press?
“Late City”
Robert Olen Butler's "Late City" is quite simply fantastic. It is a novel full of depth and feeling and passion; it is truly inventive, superbly written, fluid yet really well structured; and somewhat amazingly - given its subject - something of a page-turner. The ending made me cry. This is the first time I have … Continue reading “Late City”
Ian Gouge - Writer 