April 15, 2021 Circles and Squares: The Lives and Loves of the Hampstead Modernists by Caroline Maclean Review by Karen Langley The early part of the 20th century was a period when modern art was flourishing. New ways of living were…
December 17, 2020 Spotlight on Publishers: Renard Press Questions by Karen Langley 2020 has in many ways been the year of independent publishers; print books have been fighting back against the march…
December 10, 2020 Revolutionary Women from Gallic Books Reviewed by Karen Langley French literature doesn’t lack a wide range of great women writers; the names which spring most readily to mind are…
November 19, 2020 A Sound Mind by Paul Morley Reviewed by Karen Langley Paul Morley made his name as a music critic for the New Musical Express back in the halcyon punk days…
October 22, 2020 One Billion Years to the End of the World by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Translated by Antonina W. Bouis Reviewed by Karen Langley Science fiction writing often gets a bad press; dismissed as lightweight genre writing, mocked for…
September 10, 2020 Non-Combatants and Others by Rose Macaulay Reviewed by Karen Langley Rose Macaulay is mainly known for her 1956 novel The Towers of Trebizond; yet she was an astonishingly prolific writer,…
August 6, 2020 The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison Review by Karen Langley M. John Harrison has been described as one of the UK’s best-kept secrets, a hidden jewel in the literary crown…
June 30, 2020 Chitambo by Hagar Olsson Translated by Sarah Death Reviewed by Karen Langley When we think of Nordic fiction nowadays, we’re probably inevitably aware of the preponderance of Scandi-crime;…
June 30, 2020 Crisis by Karin Boye Translated by Amanda Doxtater Reviewed by Karen Langley When we think of Nordic fiction nowadays, we’re probably inevitably aware of the preponderance of Scandi-crime;…
June 23, 2020 I Remember by Georges Perec Introduced, Translated, Annotated, Edited and Indexed by Philip Terry and David Bellos Reviewed by Karen Langley Regular readers of Shiny New Books may recall…
April 30, 2020 Puzzles, constraints and cryptograms: An Oulipo beginner’s primer By Karen Langley Although you may never have heard the name of the literary group Oulipo, there’s a good chance you might actually have…
March 24, 2020 Fandango and Other Stories by Alexander Grin Translated by Bryan Karetnyk Reviewed by Karen Langley Recent years have seen a wave of wonderful new translations of ‘lost’ Russian authors of the…
February 27, 2020 Square Haunting by Francesca Wade Review by Karen Langley “Square Haunting” was published to much fanfare and acclaim recently; a book which looks at the lives of five notable…
February 20, 2020 Kallocain by Karin Boye Translated by David McDuff Review by Karen Langley Our modern world often seems to be getting very close to a dystopian nightmare, and most…
February 6, 2020 Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin by Clive James Review by Karen Langley My love of the poetry of Philip Larkin is no secret; I’ve written about him numerous times on my own…
January 23, 2020 Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw Lem Translated by Louis Iribarne Review by Karen Langley Polish writer Stanislaw Lem was a prolific author of science fiction works, the most well known…
November 5, 2019 The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz Translated by Anna Zaranko Review by Harriet It could be argued that Anglophone readers are living in a golden age of translated literature; all…
September 19, 2019 The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim Introduced by Juliane Römhild, with notes by Kate Macdonald Review by Karen Langley Elizabeth von Arnim is probably best known nowadays for her novel The…
September 12, 2019 Machines in the Head: Selected Short Writing by Anna Kavan Review by Karen Langley There was quite a resurgence of interest in Anna Kavan’s writing last year with the release of not one, but…
August 1, 2019 Necropolis by Vladislav Khodasevich Translated by Sarah Vitali Review by Karen Langley, The Russian Library series from Columbia University Press has thrown up some marvellous treasures of literature…
July 9, 2019 Red Circle Authors: An unusual and innovative venture By Karen Langley Japanese literature has a long and rich heritage stretching from early works like The Pillow Book (990s) and The Tale of…
July 9, 2019 Tragedy, Farce and the Future: the Red Circle Minis Review by Karen Langley As I’ve explained in my Bookbuzz feature, the Red Circle Minis are three slim volumes of original writing published by…
July 2, 2019 Selfies by Sylvie Weil Translated by Ros Schwartz Review by Karen Langley The selfie might seem to be a very modern phenomenon; the sight of people constantly stretching…
June 25, 2019 Barcelona Tales, ed Helen Constantine Translated by Peter Bush Review by Karen Langley If you’re an armchair traveller like I am, the “City Tales” collection of books from Oxford…
June 25, 2019 Lisbon Tales, ed. Helen Constantine Translated by Amanda Hopkinson Review by Karen Langley If you’re an armchair traveller like I am, the “City Tales” collection of books from Oxford…
