House Of Names by Colm Tóibín
The National, May 2017 As opening lines go, “I have been acquainted with the smell of death”, is about as intriguing as it gets. But then, in his latest novel, Irish author Colm Tóibín is […]
Ben East
Abdulrazak Gurnah on new novel Gravel Heart
The National, May 2017 It barely seems believable in our 21st-century, always-connected culture, but when Abdulrazak Gurnah’s mother died, the Zanzibar-born, Booker Prize-shortlisted author did not find it out for days. By the time someone was […]
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
The National, May 2017 It is, without question, the most eagerly awaited novel of the year. Paula Hawkins has been the very definition of a publishing sensation since her psychological drama The Girl on […]
Palestinian-English artist Rosalind Nashashibi among nominees for Turner Prize
At the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Palestinians are peering through a towering border gate. What they’re looking at isn’t initially clear in Rosalind Nashashibi’s short film Electrical Gaza, but then, the 43-year-old British […]
Muhsin Al-Ramli on The President’s Garden
The National, April 2017 It begins with a beheading. Then another, and another, until nine severed heads are found in a sleepy Iraqi village. It’s a shockingly vivid introduction to the violent, chaotic world of […]