The author of Original Sins, an account of addiction and shame, on his book’s impact on his evangelical parents, reading the Patrick Melrose series while waiting for drug dealers, and how looking middle class saved him from arrestMatt Rowland Hill, 38, is the author of Original Sins, about growing up as the son of a baptist minister before falling into a decade-long addiction to heroin while studying at Oxford. Out in paperback, it was longlisted for last year’s Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction while being praised by Geoff Dyer for its “novelistic virtues of vivid scene-making, fully realised characterisation and psychological subtlety”. Hill and I sat in a park near his home in east London.I might have read this as a novel had it not been subtitled “a memoir”.The subtitle wasn’t my choice: I was open to it being published as fiction if my publisher had wanted that. I approached it like a novel, thinking about point of view and how I’d produce moments of irony and humour, which maybe liberated me to write with an emotional distance that paradoxically allowed me to be more honest. Nothing is fabricated. I did go to psychiatric units. I was a heroin addict for all that time. I used my imagination to make vivid the bits of dialogue or details about what we were wearing, although it’s surprising how detailed your recollections are once you dig in; what my father told my mother on that car ride to Guernsey – “If you died tonight, I’d dance on your grave” – was scored into... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-29 17:00:41 UTC ]
The Irish novelist and playwright on the positives of ageing, his struggles with depression and a golden age of Irish writingSebastian Barry, 68, is the author of 11 novels and 15 plays. Five of his books have been long- or shortlisted for the Booker prize, and his novels have won numerous... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-10 18:00:48 UTC ]
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The prize-winning poet and novelist on writing and book binding, his wariness of new technology and why literature is the ultimate immersive experienceJO Morgan has published book-length poems on subjects as diverse as the 10th-century battle of Maldon and a future Martian returning to his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 17:00:17 UTC ]
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The novelist on his new collection of journalism, why he regrets criticising Sally Rooney and how he’s never shaken off the influence of JG Ballard“I’ll see your eidolon next Tuesday,” writes Will Self, 61, when I email to arrange a video call to discuss his new collection of journalism, Why... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-11-26 18:00:32 UTC ]
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ITV’s political editor on coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, belatedly publishing his first novel, and why he longs for a lost EnglandITV’s political editor Robert Peston, 62, began his career as a print journalist and has broken a string of stories, including the Northern Rock bailout... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-07-02 17:00:50 UTC ]
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Faber has unveiled a mural in east London on the front of its new Sally Rooney pop-up shop, inspired by Manshen Lo's cover artwork for Beautiful World, Where Are You. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-09 10:52:07 UTC ]
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This excellent cradle-to-grave biography of a much loved novelist who goes in and out of fashion captures her alarming habits and tormented love affairsIn 1971 the author Barbara Pym was at her day job at the International African Institute when she noticed “Mr C” laboriously attacking his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-08 06:30:07 UTC ]
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Indie press Open Pen and Newham Bookshop are joining forces to host a fundraiser for the homeless in East London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-22 07:47:05 UTC ]
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The award-winning Pages Bookshop in east London is opening a sister shop, dedicated to titles by women and non-binary writers, in the former space of French-English bookshop Caravansérail. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Council wins ruling from press watchdog over claims in story also picked up by Daily MailThe Independent Press Standards Organisation has upheld a complaint against the Times over its coverage of the fostering placement of a young girl in east London.Notice of the ruling by Ipso was published on... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newham Bookshop in east London has been at the heart of its community for 40 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A striking publication was postered on the billboards of east London in March 2017, with Vintage roping in design students to help spread the message. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The University of East London is launching a new literary fiction prize for young adults, the CityLife Prize for Fiction for Young Writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libreria bookshop in East London is holding an all-night event to mark the launch of London’s Night Tube. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The people behind Camden Lock Books have opened a new independent bookshop in Hackney, east London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is publishing a book from a raw superfood confectionary company based in East London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A tech entrepreneur who was formerly an adviser to David Cameron, Rohan Silva, and his business partner Sam Aldenton are set to open a 830 sq ft “experiential” independent bookshop on Brick Lane in east London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pages of Hackney in East London will today hold what is being billed as London’s first ever... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 13/09/2011 - 16:07 W H Smith said it is delighted to have a new branch in Westfield Stratford City as the £1.45bn complex opened its doors for the first time to customers today (13th September). The branch is based on the lower ground floor of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:09 Hardie Grant UK has acquired a DIY nail art book by Sharmadean Reid, founder of fashionable nail salon WAH Nails in Dalston, east London. Commissioning editor Kate Pollard bought world rights directly from Reid. The book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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