The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry review – a wild western
Tragedy and farce collide in this dazzling tale of lovers on the run in Montana
Book of the day
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry review – fast and loose on the frontiers of America
The Irish novelist turns his hand to the western in an atmospheric tale of romantic runaways from a 1890s US mining town that has an epic feel despite its brevity
On my radar
On my radar: Kevin Barry’s cultural highlights
The Irish writer on Limerick’s hip-hop scene, the ghostly magic of the hawthorn, and escaping to the Italian Alps on YouTube
January 2024
2024 culture preview
Fiction to look out for in 2024
The first great lockdown novel, new tales from David Nicholls, Sarah Perry and Percival Everett, and Rachel Kushner’s contender for the Booker… next year promises to be special
April 2023
Top 10s
Top 10 first lines in fiction
The first words of a story have to do a lot of work in snaring the reader. Novelist Liz Nugent considers some of her favourites
August 2021
Take risks and tell the truth: how to write a great short story
This month's best paperbacks
This month’s best paperbacks: preppers, Hari Kunzru, a history of celebrity and more
July 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 stories about bored teenagers
Writers from Alice Munro to JD Salinger capture the restless ennui and dangerous passions of the do-nothing years before adulthood sets in
December 2020
This Christmas, read a story aloud - you'll be surprised by the joy it brings
With many of us set to spend Christmas on Zoom or the phone, author Sarah Hall shares why dark and daring tales are perfect to read to others - and 10 great stories to try
November 2020
The Art of the Glimpse edited by Sinead Gleeson review – 100 Irish short stories
A gloriously varied collection that gives voice to the forgotten and overlooked as well as the famous and familiar
October 2020
That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry review – wild, witty stories
The west of Ireland teems with canny characters and vivid language in the author’s third collection
April 2020
Lockdown culture
Novelists pick books to inspire, uplift, and offer escape
Top 10s
Top 10 Irish gothic novels
July 2019
Not the Booker prize
Not the Booker longlist: vote now to decide the 2019 shortlist
Not read them yet? A cheat's guide to the 2019 Booker prize longlist
June 2019
Books interview
Kevin Barry: ‘I want to get that thread of menace’
Book of the day
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry review – darkly comic voyage into the abyss
January 2019
2019 in books: what you'll be reading this year
The Goldfinch takes flight in cinemas, Robert Macfarlane goes underground and Margaret Atwood continues The Handmaid’s Tale … what to look forward to in the world of books
November 2017
Nicola Barker wins Goldsmiths prize for her novel H(a)ppy
Barker beats novels by Will Self and Jon McGregor to take home the £10,000 literary prize for her narrative-bending vision of a dystopian future
September 2017
Top 10s
Top 10 contemporary short stories
Ahead of 2017’s National short story prize, Jon McGregor reluctantly chooses ‘swoony’ work from recent years showing some of the ways to write them well
