It is not hard to see why Tendai Huchu’s The Hairdresser of Harare was one of The Observer’s top ten African books of 2012. Huchu immediately draws his reader in with his snappy, darkly humourous writing style, reminiscent of others in the newer generation of African writers such as Zakes Mda. Huchu has also chosen Read More
In The Book of Bells and Candles, Norman Jope adapts the Golem myth and places it in a modern setting. The poet expects a great deal from his readers; not only are they to follow the over-arching story, but he inserts references from several different European cultures into that ancient Jewish folklore. So, this is Read More
Karen Solie, who won the Canadian Griffin Prize with her third collection Pigeon, is very much a poet of unrest. Many of her poems refer to locations associated with travel, such as roadside motels. The Living Option: Selected Poems, conveys said restlessness much like a best-of album of a musical artist. One might say that Read More
Following the enormous and in many ways unexpected success of Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf in 1999, it may come as little surprise that Faber have begun to ask a selection of Britain’s other leading poets to produce modern versions of some of the equally important mainstays of the early period canon. Ten years on Read More
This, Tamara Kamenszain’s eighth poetry volume, was first published in 2010 as part of the “Sur Translation Program”. The Echo of My Mother responds to the loss of her mother, first to Alzheimer’s disease and then ultimately to death coming to terms with the silences and dislocation caused by that loss, and finally reassembling her Read More
Days of Future Past is a much needed game changer for the X-Men franchise. After director Bryan Singer’s departure from the pre-production of X3 (2006), the series seemed to lose its way somewhat until it was revitalised by Matthew Vaughn’s prequel film, X-Men: First Class in 2011. Future Past is a better film than First Read More
Christopher Reid is part of an exclusive club of English poets in as much as he is genuinely funny. Though by no means a ‘comic’ poet – that tag hardly does justice to his extraordinary depth and range, nor to the poignancy of his subject matter — Reid is very adept at staring into the Read More
There has been no shortage of praise for Rupert Thomson’s latest work of historical fiction, Secrecy; the Independent called it “fabulously atmospheric” while the Financial Times lauded the novel for its “superb depiction of a pre-Enlightenment world, shimmering with superstitions, repression and incomprehension”. Set in a meticulously realised 17th century Florence, Secrecy follows “Zummo”, a Read More
In recent interviews, Donna Tartt has spoken eloquently about the immersive and addictive magic of good stories, strong characters and plot, and of her desire to work these qualities into her own writing. While such aims might describe a popular novel consumed at great speed only to be tossed aside equally quickly, Tartt’sThe Goldfinch is altogether Read More
The past few months have seen a surge in high-profile persons, including Nobel Prize-winning economists, calling to end the global ‘War on Drugs’, especially in the US. With marijuana decriminalisation laws and promises to curb high incarceration numbers, it is easy to forget the daily savagery that exists in neighbouring Mexico. Heli is a tragic Read More