‘Tragic and comic and anxious and strange, Sail Away Land shows us the uneasy dreams of a society out of kilter. A resonant collection’
@thomasmcmullan.bsky.social on @benpester.bsky.social's forthcoming story collection (out in June).
On today's new Little Atoms podcast, @thomasmcmullan.bsky.social on his new novel Groundwater. Out now from @bloomsburybooks.bsky.social. listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or here:
shows.acast.com/b5fe8d16-751...
'If we are all indeed, to varying extents, parallel straight lines, then the couple at the centre of Thomas McMullan’s Groundwater might have been drawn with a ruler.'
Pablo Scheffer: A city couple moves to the country
Lovely review of Groundwater in the latest @thetls.bsky.social by Pablo Scheffer.
‘It is Thomas McMullan’s ability to cultivate this feeling - that all speech is some arbitrary, that all outcomes are somehow just a die’s role away - that gives this disquieting, suspenseful novel its strength.’
I’m so delighted with how this has turned out. Publishing in a few weeks!
Cheers Ruby!
Cover reveal :)
My second novel, Groundwater, will be published by @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social on 17 July. Pre-order a copy from @pagesofhackney.bsky.social here: www.pagesofhackney.co.uk/webshop/prod...
Happy to have a story in this
“With his authoritarian orders, the president—and his unelected South African Rasputin—have eliminated the fundamental tools of discussion and debate, namely words themselves.” @robspillman.bsky.social on self-censorship and why we shouldn’t obey in advance.
Thank you! And alas, lost gardens
My review of Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (@fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social) for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/f...
Empires My grandmother prophesied the end Of your empires, O fools! She was ironing. The radio was on. The earth trembled beneath our feet. One of your heroes was giving a speech. “Monster,” she called him. There were cheers and gun salutes for the monster. “I could kill him with my bare hands,” She announced to me. There was no need to. They were all Going to the devil any day now. “Don’t go blabbering about this to anyone,” She warned me. And pulled my ear to make sure I understood. - Charles Simic
This feels especially prescient today.
I reviewed (and enjoyed) Bruno Zhu’s show at Chisenhale Gallery for Frieze www.frieze.com/article/brun...
'Artists unable to fund their activities fall away, while those that come from family wealth, or other forms of privilege, remain. This is toxic for a culture that professes to be democratic. And it doesn’t need to be like this.' Q+A with @lunatejournal.bsky.social www.lunate.co.uk/features/tho...
What UK journals and magazines are publishing good new fiction by not-famous writers? Seems like a pretty bleak moment with no more White Review, Five Dials or Ambit. Any recommendations?
All websites should play a little jingle when you open them. Unskippable. Jaunty. Loud.
‘Personally, Zichen believed novels should be unstructured, without a defined centre. They should be full of riddles that didn’t need to be answered.’
Fiction by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang, free to read until the end of the year.
granta.com/speedwell/
Went to the opticians. Apparently one of my eyes is long-sighted and the other is short-sighted and neither of them tell the truth.
‘My year in books, then, was also 1895, 1962, 1995, and 1979.’ Helen Charman in @artreview.bsky.social
artreview.com/we-deserve-m...
You can get the Perec as a PDF here: iitcoa3rdyr.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
Change identity or win dream monster.
New, hi, to Bluesky.
