Isabel Costello

LATEST ARTICLES ( 428 )

• Guest Author – Sofka Zinovieff on Writing a Taboo Relationship

  

  [NOTE: This post discusses the portrayal of child sexual abuse in fiction.]When I was organising Sofa visits from authors featured in this year’s Summer Reads... Read more

  Posted on 18 July 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Catherine McNamara on Writing About Sex and Desire

  

  Back to my Summer Reads and I’m declaring this week’s post a Special Edition, partly because it’s a change from the normal format but mostly because I am so... Read more

  Posted on 09 July 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Word for Freedom – Short Stories of Women’s Suffrage

  

  There’s a pause in my Summer Reads programme this week – the planned guest post is postponed until late July, but something very exciting has popped up in its... Read more

  Posted on 04 July 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Clare Atkins on Darwin, Australia

  

  It’s always exciting when a guest post hits my inbox. The writers are here because I love their work, and the pieces invariably give a telling and enticing... Read more

  Posted on 27 June 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Kerry Hadley-Pryce on the Black Country

  

  A record number of Summer Reads authors are joining me on the Sofa this year and most are welcome additions to the popular Writers on Location series. Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Emily Critchley on Writing a Crossover Novel

  

  After a wonderful reception for last week’s piece on the Veneto by Elise Valmorbida, I’m delighted to welcome Emily Critchley, the second author from my Summer... Read more

  Posted on 13 June 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Elise Valmorbida on the Veneto, Italy

  

  Of the many selections I’ve put together, I don’t think any have received such an enthusiastic response as my Summer Reads 2018 – many thanks for your... Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Summer Reads 2018

  

  I’m delighted to be bringing you my Summer Reads 2018. I’ve been hard to impress recently but the outcome is a selection of compelling and powerful titles... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Books *and* Box Sets, Not Either/Or

  

  Literary culture (as in: everything to do with books) is under threat. Libraries are closing, media coverage is shrinking, book prizes and literacy initiatives... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Louise Walters on Writing in a Young Person’s Voice

  

  This week is a first and a third! I’m really delighted to welcome Louise Walters as the first author ever to appear on the Literary Sofa three times (links to... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Michael Dean on Fictionalising the Life of a Famous Artist

  

  As readers most of us have fictional themes or settings we especially enjoy. The art world is undoubtedly one of mine, just as visiting exhibitions and gallerie... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Week in Marseille

  

  I’ve recently returned from a glorious week in Marseille staying with my lifelong friend G, the younger daughter of my French godmother (my own French story is... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Ruth Figgest on Writing About Mothers and Daughters

  

  This week I am delighted to be hosting a debut novelist with an exceptional track record: Ruth Figgest, who was born in Oxford and grew up in the USA, has been... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Book Review – A Secret Sisterhood by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney

  

  Last year this book caught my eye for several reasons, not least the beautiful cover which also graces the new paperback edition I finally got around to reading. Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Writers on Location – Alicia Drake on Paris as a Longterm Ex-pat

  

  Hosting today’s guest author and featuring her debut novel, another of my Spring Sofa Spotlight titles, feels like a special occasion and not only because... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Guest Author – Claire Dyer on Research and Imagination

  

  Last week’s Spring Sofa Spotlight met with great enthusiasm and lots of my favourite feedback: that people discovered books they may not otherwise have heard... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Sofa Spotlight – Spring 2018

  

  Spring is in the air, I’ve been reading (as always) and it’s time for my latest selection of recommended new releases. Narrowing it down is never easy – I’ve... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Quick Reads 2018

  

  This is a quick post about the launch of Quick Reads 2018 from The Reading Agency, a selection of six short books (only £1! Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• 2018 Reading Round-up #1 – Two Books About Vietnam and America

  

  This was just going to be a review of two superb books I read on holiday in Vietnam, both set partly in that country and partly in the United States. Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Two Weeks in Vietnam

  

  Last week was a brilliant start to 2018 with lots of interest in my piece on time management – I’m delighted readers found it helpful. Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2018 BOOKS, CULTURE