Archives

Creative writing is not, as some suppose, an arcane art over which only the select few are ever granted mastery, or to which there is access via a magic key, a secret skill available only to the [...]

The usual suspects are talking up The Power of the Dog as a likely Oscar winner, and Benedict Cumberbatch an Oscar favourite for his role as the cowboy Phil Burbank. For Jane Campion, whose The [...]

“The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always best left out.” This was Irwin Shaw’s advice to young writers, and I think of […]

Idly in search of ideas that might amuse and instruct you, I found myself watching one of the interminable Mission Impossible movies, in which the utterly and impossibly intrepid Ethan […]

“Hey Audrey.” Jane appeared in her office doorway. “It’s Friday. Shouldn’t we reward ourselves with a drink?” “Great idea. Giles at 6?” “Perfect. I’ll see you then.” I keep discovering […]

John Banville is the author of fifteen critically acclaimed novels one of which –  The Sea – won the Man Booker prize in 2005. Until he turned to writing novels […]