Writing & Reviewing

I've written a few books. (This one here was the first, now I think out of print.)

I also occasionally write features or reviews for a range of publications.

Here are some recent reviews:

• The Hungry and the Fat, Timur Vermes (tr. Jamie Bulloch) - The Spectator, 22/02/20
• Bird Cottage, Eva Meijer (tr. Antoinette Fawcett) - Reviews by Writers, 02/12/19
  
• Fierce Bad Rabbits, Claire Pollard - Books for Keeps, November 2019
  
• This Is Not Propaganda, Peter Pomerantsev; & The Twittering Machine, Richard Seymour – The Spectator, 01/08/19
• Four Words for Friend, Marek Kohn – The Spectator, 09/03/19
• Mouthful of Birds, Samanta Schweblin (tr. Megan McDowell) – The Guardian, 10/02/19
• Among the Lost, Emiliano Monge (tr. Frank Wynne) – The Spectator, 10/01/19
• Daemon Voices, Philip Pullman – The Author, Winter 2018
• A Winter's Promise, Christelle Dabos (tr. Hildegarde Serle) – Riveting Reviews, 24/11/18
• Three books on language and writing, Moran/Greene/Pulleyn – The Spectator, 3/11/18
• The Shape of the Ruins, Juan Gabriel Vásquez (tr. Anne McLean) – Prospect, 15/05/18
• The Line Becomes a River, Francisco Cantú – The Spectator, 05/05/18
• Dog Town, Luize Pastore (tr. Žanete Vēvere Pasqualini) – Riveting Reviews, 16/4/18
• Packing My Library, Alberto Manguel – The Spectator, 14/04/18
• The Book of Tbilisi, ed. Becca Parkinson & Gvantsa Jobava – Riveting Reviews, 16/3/18
• We Are the End, Gonzalo C. Garcia – The Guardian, 27/12/17
• The Impostor, Javier Cercas (tr. Frank Wynne) – The Spectator, 1/11/17
• The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (tr. Peter Graves) – Scoop, Nov 2017
• You Should Have Left, Daniel Kehlmann (tr. Ross Benjamin) – The Spectator, 22/07/17
• The Novel of the Century, David Bellos – The Spectator, 18/02/17
• Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, Horatio Clare – Scoop, Nov 2016
• The Good Immigrant, ed. Nikesh Shukla – The Spectator, 22/09/16
• The Man Who Invented Fiction, William Egginton – The Guardian, 23/07/16
• Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction, Michael Levy & Farah Mendlesohn – The Spectator, 04/06/16
• East West Street, Philippe Sands – The Spectator, 21/05/16
• Quentin Blake: In the Theatre of the Imagination, Ghislaine Kenyon – The Spectator, 07/04/16
• Shakespeare in Swahililand, Edward Wilson-Lee – The Independent on Sunday, 13/03/16
• Diary of a Body, Daniel Pennac (tr. Alyson Waters) – The Guardian, 06/02/16
• The Silver Eye, Susan Brind Morrow – The Spectator, 06/02/16
• June, Gerbrand Bakker (tr. David Colmer) – The Guardian, 10/07/15
• The Weather Experiment, Peter Moore – The Spectator, 04/07/15
• The Festival of Insignificance, Milan Kundera (tr. Linda Asher) – The Spectator, 20/06/15
• Reading the World, Ann Morgan – The Spectator, 28/02/15
• The Vegetarian, Han Kang (tr. Deborah Smith) – The Guardian, 24/01/15
• Best European Fiction 2015, ed. West Camel – The Guardian, 23/12/14
• Lingo, Gaston Dorren – The Spectator, 15/11/14
• Swansong 1945, Walter Kempowski (tr. Shaun Whiteside) – The Independent on Sunday, 15/11/14
• The Strangest Family, Janice Hadlow – The Independent on Sunday, 25/10/14
• The Extrordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe, Romain Puértolas (tr. Sam Taylor) – The Independent on Sunday, 10/08/14
• The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, Joël Dicker (tr. Sam Taylor) – The Independent on Sunday, 11/05/14
• Gwynne's Latin, N.M. Gwynne – The Independent on Sunday, 20/04/14
• Dead Interviews, ed. Dan Crowe – The Independent on Sunday, 24/11/13
• Crow Blue, Adriana Lisboa (tr. Alison Entrekin) & Other Carnivals, ed. (& tr.) Ángel Gurria-Quintana – The Independent, 25/10/13
• The Parrots, Filippo Bologna (tr. Howard Curtis) – The Independent, 25/09/13
• All Dogs Are Blue, Rodrigo de Souza Leão (tr. Stefan Tobler & Zoë Perry) – The Independent on Sunday, 24/08/13
• Multiples, Adam Thirlwell et al. – The Guardian, 16/08/13
• The Taste of Apple Seeds, Katharina Hagena (tr. Jamie Bulloch) – The Independent, 27/02/13
• The Middlesteins, Jami Attenberg – The Independent on Sunday, 10/02/13
• The Last Quarter of the Moon, Chi Zijian (tr. Bruce Humes) – The Independent on Sunday, 03/02/13

                                                                                                                                                          (Older reviews will be added eventually.)

And a few interviews:

• Philip Ardagh, 2009
• Patrick Ness, 2010
• Daniel Pennac, 2010 (with Sam Holmes)
• Norton Juster, 2012
• Michael Morpurgo and Maggie Fergusson, 2012
• Patrick Ness, 2013
• Bernardo Atxaga and Margaret Jull Costa, 2015
• Michael Morpurgo, 2016

And a few children's books round-ups:

• Christmas 2015 round-up for 6-11s – The Independent on Sunday, 13/12/15
• Ten children's books about elsewhere – Books for Keeps, 07/15
• Ten children's books you should know and probably don't – The Guardian online, 30/04/15
• Eight YA novels that adults should read – The Guardian, 20/03/15
• Christmas 2014 round-up for 6-12s – The Independent on Sunday, 13/12/14
• Christmas 2013 round-up for 5-12s – The Independent on Sunday, 15/12/13
• Ten of the best children's books in the last three decades – Books for Keeps, 05/13
• Christmas 2012 round-up for 8-12s – The Independent on Sunday, 9/12/12
• Christmas 2011 round-up for 7-12s – The Independent on Sunday, 11/12/11
• Christmas 2009 round-up for teens – The Independent on Sunday, 13/12/09
• Summer 2009 round-up for under-12s – The Independent on Sunday, 12/07/09