Contemporary British Novelists Archives

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Maggie Gee Novelist & Creative Writing Coach Interview

November 30, 2023 Ben F Comments Off

A leading English novelist, professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University, and one of the 20 writers on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983, Maggie Gee describes her childhood, early […]

Book Blast Promotes Top 5 Reads from Inkandescent

Inkandescent Publishing Top 5 Reads BookBlast Recommends

December 6, 2021 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

East London-based independent publisher Inkandescent “was ‘founded by outsiders for outsiders’ to celebrate original and diverse talent and to publish voices and stories the mainstream neglects – specifically those of the working class and financially […]

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Dreamtime Venetia Welby Review

September 7, 2021 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

BookBlast review of Dreamtime, Venetia Welby’s futuristic second novel which has an altogether different atmosphere and resonance to her first, Mother of Darkness, also set in London’s Soho. Both novels, however, feature central characters in […]

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The Settlement Ruth Kirby-Smith Review

May 26, 2021 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

BookBlast review of The Settlement by Ruth Kirby-Smith, set in Ireland in 1921 when trouble flares up after partition under British law by the Government of Ireland Act which created Northern Ireland. “He stood at […]

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Negative Capability A Diary of Surviving Michèle Roberts Review

May 21, 2020 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

Negative Capability: A Diary of Surviving gives the reader something really special. Michèle Roberts’ intimate, candid writing is underpinned by a dry humour, wry observations, and a poignant strain of melancholy perfect for our time. […]

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Madeleine Euan Cameron Review

August 18, 2019 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

BookBlast reviews Euan Cameron’s novel Madeleine. Madeleine is a perfectly-formed, psychologically acute first novel of love and war, shameful secrets and cowardly treachery. Euan Cameron’s prose sparkles with unsettling beauty and intelligence as he vividly […]

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Spotlight Jonathan Coe, Olivia Rosenthal, Claudia Durastanti French Literature Festival, pt 1

May 27, 2019 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

I was delighted to be invited along to some of the key talks held at this year’s French Literature Festival at the French Institute in South Kensington. ‘Beyond Words French Literature Festival’ has become ‘The […]

Maggie Gee Novelist & Creative Writing Coach Podcast

April 16, 2019 Georgia de Chamberet Comments Off

BookBlast® Podcast brings you Maggie Gee OBE FRSL, novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. She was born to working-class parents, and climbed into an uneasy place between classes. She won a […]