Category Archives: Uncategorized

Available in All Good Charity Shops

Some of you may know, and others may have heard, that the publisher of my fiction, Freight Books, has gone into liquidation. I’m not going to go into the whys and hows here. There are plenty of articles online that go through the salient points, some objectively, some accurately, many just recirculating gossip or grindingContinue reading “Available in All Good Charity Shops”

The Only Gaijin in the Village: Happy When it Rains

Hi there, a few updates for you: The Only Gaijin in the Village Chapter 9: Happy When it Rains is live now on Gaijinpot, as it the next in my series on Great Japanese Writers: Hiromi Kawakami. My latest for Japan  Times was a review of Ikigai which, well, isn’t great. Art, as always, is by the greatContinue reading “The Only Gaijin in the Village: Happy When it Rains”

Ishiguro, Dylan and Other Stories

I’ve been pretty bad at updating this page recently. Partly it’s just time constraints, partly being between projects and not having anything concrete to report. However, before the list becomes too unwieldy, here’s a few articles and reviews that have appeared over the last few weeks. Something more concrete when it sets. On Kazuo IshiguroContinue reading “Ishiguro, Dylan and Other Stories”

The Only Gaijin in the Village Chapter 5

Has it really been a month since I last posted? I’ve been neck deep in grading at work but the semester is almost over and I’ve got 7 weeks of novel writing planned, I can’t wait. I’ll also be off to Korea and exploring the narrow road to the deep north (Tohoku) as well asContinue reading “The Only Gaijin in the Village Chapter 5”

The Only Gaijin in the Village 4

Busy, busy, busy, hence not posting here in a while, for which much apologies. My summer holidays are fast approaching bringing a chance to work on my novel, do some touring around Japan for fun and research (Tohoku, I’m talking to you) and generally get some sleep. In the meantime, here’s a quick round upContinue reading “The Only Gaijin in the Village 4”

The Only Gaijin in the Village Chapter 3

A few updates. I have two articles in this Sunday’s Japan Times, one of Kenneth Rexroth’s 100 Poems from the Japanese and the other on Marc Peter Keane’s Japanese Garden Notes. Also the third chapter of “The Only Gaijin in the Village” is up on Gaijinpot right now. Justine Wong has done another wonderful illustration for it. Enjoy.

Feeling Minnesota: Chris Cornell RIP

I can’t even being to process this. Soundgarden were there from the start, when my brain consciously began engaging with music. There was Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam and… anyone who knows me knows I’m still in that bubble. Chris Cornell is dead. At 52. Dead. My feed is full ofContinue reading “Feeling Minnesota: Chris Cornell RIP”