Adam Marek: Q and A
An extended version of Adam’s interview has now been filed under the tab Q&A tab at the top of the page.
Our Blogs
How do we keep the fires burning?
I am three months into my MA and I find myself experimenting with ways in which my critical research can set up little fires under my creative practice, so that my creative juices (or impulses) don’t cool, congeal and sit in a fatty layer around the edges of my brain.
We Recommend – Collected Stories by Hanif Kureishi
Containing eight new stories, this collected edition of Kureishi’s short stories is essential reading for any serious fans of modern British fiction.
We Recommend – Alexander MacLeod
‘I’m obviously thrilled and surprised and almost stupefied that this little book made it through everything to get on the Giller List,’ explains Alexander MacLeod by email…
On Being Rejected, by Jane Hayward
What is a writer? The immediate definition which springs to my mind is that a writer is someone who is used to being rejected. The only people who are constantly...
Author Profile – Haruki Murakami
Murakami’s parents were strict, but allowed him freedom to go hiking and explore his environment. He was permitted to buy books on credit at the local bookstore, so long as they never included magazines or comics. He began to write for his school paper and fell in love with American detective novels…
Author Profile – Anne Enright
According to AS Byatt, ‘A good short story is always working towards its end.’ A comment I kept in mind when re-reading the stories of Anne Enright.
Reviewing Short Stories, by Pauline Masurel
I don’t regard myself as an academic, a journalist or a non-fiction writer. So reviews may seem a curious form for me to write. But I would argue that there is also something creative about concocting a coherent book review. It’s a statement that is, necessarily, partial and entirely personal and is also an exercise in constructing a ‘voice’ and a point of view for getting across your message.
Joined Up Writing, by Mike Smith
Beyond that leap, the next scene is entirely different. The characters have vanished. We find ourselves in the transept of a church, and by placing it ‘in Gardiner Street’ an exterior reference, we seem distanced from it. Here the narrator is omniscient, third person, and detached.
The Procrastination Hurdle, by Elaine Wilson
If I was doing an MA in Procrastination, I would no doubt earn a Distinction. I’m easily distracted, lazy, bit of a flake and quite often prefer a night smoozing at some poetry reading or book launch, rather than sitting at home and actually getting some work done. It’s the age old story of someone who likes to call themselves a writer, but puts off the writing until it can no longer be avoided.