I'm sorry, but I just didn't get it. An admirer of Julian Barnes - I've read a large proportion of his work - I'm afraid "Elizabeth Finch" just didn't work for me. Most of the time I wasn't sure it was a novel at all. It seemed like an excuse to write an essay about … Continue reading “Elizabeth Finch”
Category: Reading
New Podcast Episode: “Smoking in the Park”
I have just posted a reading of my short story "Smoking in the Park". The story is included in a new collection - An Irregular Piece of Sky - which should see the light of day at some point in 2023.
“Armada”
It felt strange coming back to Brian Patten so many years after The Irrelevant Song and Vanishing Trick, but I found a copy of Armada in an Oxfam shop and simply couldn't resist. Why would you? In the main I was struck by a familiarity of tone, a kind of lazy meandering towards a conclusion … Continue reading “Armada”
“Case Study”
Having read Graeme Macrae Burnet's His Bloody Project, I was looking forward to Case Study - but unfortunately I was disappointed with what I found. I hadn't expected quite so much humour. Clearly not all of this is down to Burnet. I find humour in novels difficult, partly because I struggle to 'laugh out loud' … Continue reading “Case Study”
“When It Happened” – new podcast episode
I have just published a new episode on my Walking Thru Fire podcast. "When It Happened" is taken from my short story collection, Secrets & Wisdom. The story represents something of an unusual departure for me. Almost sci-fi, it posits the possibility of a new and better future driven by - well, who can say? … Continue reading “When It Happened” – new podcast episode
I’m being interviewed: the video!
About three weeks ago I was interviewed in Harrogate Library as part of their 'Books and Beverages' series. The interview covered both my writing and publishing exploits. The recording of the event is now available on YouTube and can be accessed via this link or here.. Settle down with a cup of coffee and a … Continue reading I’m being interviewed: the video!
“England Made Me”
Perhaps Graham Greene isn't 'modern' in the sense of the literary term when applied to that seismic movement of the early twentieth century; even so, I was stuck by how fluid and 'anti-traditional' some of the writing is in "England Made Me". It is not one of his most 'popular' novels, I suspect - though … Continue reading “England Made Me”
“The Waiting Room” – a short story
I have just posted a reading of "The Waiting Room" to my Walking Thru' Fire podcast; you can find it here. This is the initial story in my Degrees of Separation collection, and concerns a chance meeting at a remote branch-line railway station one cold January. More information on the collection can be found here.
I’m being interviewed: post-interview update
I was interviewed today in Harrogate Library as part of their 'Books and Beverages' series. The interview covered both my writing and publishing exploits. I think it went really well. Unfortunately the event was not streamed as expected (e.g. the Facebook stream kept dropping out) but there is a recording of the event. I will … Continue reading I’m being interviewed: post-interview update
I’m being interviewed tomorrow!
Just a reminder that tomorrow, Friday 25th November (@13:30 UK-time) I am being interviewed in Harrogate Library as part of their 'Books and Beverages' series. The interview will cover both my writing and publishing exploits. I'm looking forward to it hugely! Although this is an in-person event, it is also being filmed and streamed, and … Continue reading I’m being interviewed tomorrow!
Ian Gouge - Writer 