Mazes in The London Magazine

When I had just left Oxford, I spent, as many new graduates do, many weeks sending out things to magazines. I still have the list: it encompasses a whole page of A4 in my journal. Some of them I sent CVs, begging for work experience or internships; others I sent bad short stories and worse poetry. One of the ones I dreamed about publishing in was The London Magazine. From the first great age of magazines, and founded in 1783, this was the place where Thomas de Quincey wrote about opium-eating; Shelley, Hazlitt and Keats all contributed; later on it was a home for Eliot, Auden and Waugh, and later still William Boyd, Nadine Gordimer and Derek Walcott. Beautifully produced (I was told by Jeremy Lewis that it was done from a shed in the editor's garden), and full of interesting things that were not pegged to the general round of public relations and trends, it seemed one of the pinnacles of literary life. So I am absolutely delighted to have a piece in the June/July issue, on mazes, which is also a review of Charlotte Higgins and Henry Eliot's books on the subject. There's plenty of lovely things in the mag, too, including a poem by Frieda Hughes, short stories and essays. Their website is here.

June Children's Book Round up for Literary Review 2019

My latest children's book round up for the June issue of Literary Review.

Books reviewed:

Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black

By Marcus and Julian Sedgwick

Walker Books 320pp £12.99

The Good Thieves

By Katherine Rundell

Bloomsbury 336pp £12.99 

The Time Travel Diaries

By Caroline Lawrence

Piccadilly Press 272pp £6.99

Diver’s Daughter

By Patrice Lawrence

Scholastic 176pp £6.99 

The Closest Thing to Flying

By Gill Lewis

Oxford University Press 240pp £6.99 

The Unexpected Find

By Toby Ibbotson

Scholastic 400pp £6.99

The Descenders

By Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Doubleday 528pp £14.99

 

The Porpoise by Mark Haddon: review

Mark Haddon's latest book reworks the story of Pericles, Prince of Tyre. I've reviewed The Porpoise here for The Independent.

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes: Review

My review of Natalie Haynes' latest book, A Thousand Ships, which is a retelling of the Trojan War from female perspectives, is in this week's Spectator.

Tolkien & Christianity

I've written about the new biopic of J R R Tolkien, Tolkien, for The Independent. Read it here.

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan: review

I've reviewed Ian McEwan's latest novel, Machines Like Me, for The Independent. Read it here.

Memories of the Future by Siri Hustvedt: review

My review of Siri Hustvedt's Memories of the Future is in The Independent. You can read it here. A while ago I reviewed her novel, The Summer Without Men, here.