Literature

Literary criticism & book chat.

Soul, man: borrowed Blackness in The Commitments

It don’t matter if you’re Black or white … or does it? Talking about race in The Commitments

Published: 15 March 2023
15 March 2023

A novel idea | What it’s like to read a book in email instalments

Would you read a book delivered in instalments right to your inbox? I did. Here’s how it went

Published: 13 November 2022
13 November 2022

Tender is the Flesh: the frailty and futility of being human

In Agusta Bazterrica’s dystopian novel animals are off the menu and eating people is the norm

Published: 24 July 2022 | Last updated: 27 February 2023
24 July 2022

Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings and the colour of survival

Making sense of Sayaka Murata's controversial, disturbing dystopic fiction

Published: 15 April 2022 | Last updated: 4 March 2023
15 April 2022

Ambiguity of existence: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? explained

Dissecting the real and fake in the book that inspired Blade Runner

Published: 27 February 2022 | Last updated: 21 March 2023
27 February 2022

The Masque of the Red Death: Poe, pandemics and the Covid connection

Poe’s gothic tale feels like a very modern horror

Published: 16 October 2021 | Last updated: 4 March 2023
16 October 2021