Mat Osman: ‘I wanted to write about a dirty, dangerous, working-class London’

The Suede bassist and author on writing without a safety net, terrifying himself for his next novel and which of the Thursday Murder Club books – by his brother Richard – he likes bestMat Osman is, along with Brett Anderson, a founding and current member of the band Suede, and the author of two novels. The Ruins, published in 2020, is a modern murder mystery about estranged brothers. His latest, The Ghost Theatre, is set in Elizabethan London and tells the tale of the Blackfriars Boys, a real life Elizabethan theatre troupe made up of children who were often snatched from the streets to act in popular plays of the day. They are joined by Shay, a young female “Aviscultan”; a worshipper of the birds that she communes with as she scales the city’s rooftops on the run from her enemies. The book has been widely praised and the Guardian picked it as one of its novels of 2023. Osman is the older brother of TV presenter and fellow novelist Richard Osman and lives in north-west London..It isn’t the kind of book you imagine a musician would write…I really hope that’s true. My first novel was about a musician, about brothers and stuff and it drew from [my] experience. [With The Ghost Theatre] I was really aware that I wanted to write something without a safety net, where I had to make it all up. Because I want to be a writer, not a musician who has written a book. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-03-23 18:00:26 UTC ]
News tagged with: #safety net #brother richard #brett anderson #current member #band suede #ghost theatre #elizabethan london #blackfriars boys #popular plays #widely praised #guardian picked #older brother #tv presenter #north-west london #first novel

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Mat Osman: ‘I wanted to write about a dirty, dangerous, working-class London’'


New Foyles bookshop to become biggest in London

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 09:20 Foyles flagship bookshop will stock more books on the ground floor and provide easier access for customers when it moves down the road to a site almost twice its current size. The bookseller announced its plan to move down the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #foyles bookshop #ground floor #current size #bookseller announced #foyle family


Westfield London to hold Gruffalo event for Red Nose Day

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 14:00 Macmillan Children’s Books is to hold a Gruffalo fundraising event tomorrow for Red Nose Day. As a supporting partner of this year’s Comic Relief, the popular children’s book character will be hosting the fundraiser in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Condé Nast to open London newsagent

Luxury magazine publisher Condé Nast is launching a London newsagent, which will sell more than 110 of its magazines from around the world. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Want more women writers in magazines? Get more female editors.

As Meghan O'Rourke reported here last week, VIDA, an organization for women writers, has released a tally of male and female bylines for the 2010 run of 14 high-end, literary-oriented magazines. Despite a couple of relatively bright spots (the New York Times Book Review surprisingly being one),... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bright spots


Eric Carle to write first book in four years for Puffin

Written By: Charlotte Williams Puffin is to publish a new picture book by The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, his first in four years. The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse will be published in October 2011, in a global, simultaneous publication with Philomel, a Penguin Young Readers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #picture book #eric carle #simultaneous publication #motoko inoue


Library ebook lending works for all, DBW told

Written By: Philip Jones The system of lending one ebook per library user works for authors, agents, booksellers and librarians, a session at Digital Book World discussing the sector heard yesterday. At the session, entitled 'Where Do Libraries Fit Into the Ecosystem?', publishers were... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries fit #dbw told #philip jones #digital content


Adam Haslett on Stanley Fish's How To Write a Sentence.

In 1919, the young E.B. White, future New Yorker writer and author of Charlotte's Web, took a class at Cornell University with a drill sergeant of an English professor named William Strunk Jr. Strunk assigned his self-published manual on composition titled "The Elements of Style," a 43-page list... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #combined work