
With Richard Blair outside ‘Freedom’
This weekend I was delighted to visit Whiteway Colony in the Cotswolds, which was founded in 1898 as a Tolstoyan commune. I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Blair, son of George Orwell, who stayed at Whiteway as a child while his father was ill with tuberculosis. He was looked after by the great Lillian Wolfe, and Richard and I are pictured here outside the house in which he stayed. You can listen to the interview here.

With Richard Blair & Ian McEwan
Then I had a chance to discuss my research for a non-fiction project on European history, and some of the amazing people who have lived at or visited Whiteway, including Prince Kropotkin, Captain Jack White, Kleber Claux, and Gandhi. It’s a fascinating corner of the world, and it was a treat to get to speak in the historic Colony Hall.
The Guardian described the Cheltenham Poetry Festival as ‘a poetry party with a healthy dose of anarchy.’ I’m thrilled to be helping to launch this year’s festival, and I promise to bring some of that anarchy. I won’t, however, be bringing much in the way of poetry (although I did once write a poem about squash, which for some reason has yet to be widely anthologised). Instead, I’ll be telling a few supposedly funny stories and reading some supposedly funny bits from my novels. It will be a blast! You can see me AND my dear colleague Tyler Keevil for £6/£5 or £3 if you’re a student under 25. Value! The event’s from 7pm to 8pm at Smokey Joe’s on Thursday 4th May, and you can book your tickets here.
But, wait, it gets even better. Stick around! Because, after that, I’ll be introducing some of the insanely talented students who are studying Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire. They’ll be reading flash fictions full of laughs and tragedy, in the same venue, on the same night, from 8:30pm. Admittance to that event is free, but space is limited so you’re advised to reserve your place here.
And that’s just the first night of the 2017 Cheltenham Poetry Festival! It runs until May 15th, with an exciting and eclectic range of big stars and local talents. So be sure to check out the full list of events here.
Artmosphere is a brilliant new audio project initiated by the very talented duo of Alex Daintith and Mary Pipikakis. They’re talking to creative people from across the UK to find out what makes them tick. I was lucky enough to get a chance to discuss my work and writing process for episode one. We covered bad reviews, writers’ block, creative vices, and lots more. Have a listen!
I’m greatly looking forward to kicking off the Abergavenny Writing Fest on Thursday night. You can get tickets for the opening night to see a cracking line-up: poet’s poet Paul Henry; highly esteemed playwright Charles Way; sports commentator and former Welsh rugby union player Eddie Butler; Journalist Patrick Hannay; and me – it’s a bargain at £7.50, and you can get yer tickets here. It’s at the King’s Arms Hotel in Abergavenny, Wales, starting at 7pm on Thursday 21st. There are loads of other interesting events scheduled throughout the festival – it’s a really eclectic and inventive programme – so if you are based in the area, check out the full schedule here.
Cheltenham people, this Tuesday, come join me at Suffolk Anthology, our lovely new independent bookstore, for some laughs and writing advice. Situated in the leafy Suffolks/Montpellier area, Suffolk Anthology sells great books and great coffee. But if you’re still looking for a reason to visit, why not head up this Tuesday for my talk on the long process of writing my new novel, The Secret Baby Room, and everything I’ve learned along the way. The talk is at 7:30 on Tuesday 17th November at 17 Suffolk Parade. Tickets cost £3 (which covers a glass of wine or two) and can be reserved from the shop by phoning 01242 361 362 or emailing info@theanthology.co.uk. More information follows below. Hope to see you there!
In 2004, when he’d never have done anything as pretentious as call himself by his initials, D.D. Johnston realised it was his destiny to write. The fact he knew nothing about literature and had never demonstrated any facility with written language was unimportant; only in writing could he adequately express how alone he felt in this cruel world. He produced an eighteen-volume magnum opus of bad love poetry, a grand Künstlerroman, which he imagined was the 21st century’s answer to The Sorrows of Young Werther. But it wasn’t. It was crap.
Then, one day, he saw something that changed the direction of his literary oeuvre. He was living in Manchester, where, because he was unemployed and had no money, he used to wander the city. One day he saw a woman cradling a baby in a boarded up council housing block. Why would anyone take a baby into a boarded up council housing block that was primed for demolition?
So he began to work on the plot of a crime thriller, The Secret Baby Room, which was finally published in 2015. The struggle to complete and publish his novel was painful but life-changing – it lasted slightly longer than the Trojan War. Along the way he published two other novels: Peace, Love, & Petrol Bombs was a Sunday Herald book of the year in 2011 and has been translated into Spanish as Paz, amor y cócteles Molotov; The Deconstruction of Professor Thrub was a Morning Star book of the year in 2013 and was longlisted for the Goldsmith’s Prize. Today he is a Dr of literature, a senior lecturer in Creative Writing, and the founder of onlinewritingtips.com. Along the way he’s learned a thousand things about writing, and he’s now ready to share everything he wishes he’d known in 2004, so that nobody need ever again take a decade to finish a book.
The secret Baby Room has been in the world for almost two months now, so here’s a wee round up of its reception. First off, here’s a piece I wrote for Northern Soul describing the book’s origins, and here’s an article on the book and my life in Cheltenham that was published in the weekend supplement of the Gloucestershire Echo. There’s also my interview with BBC Manchester, complete with amusing technical problems.
As regards the reviews, Crime Culture kicked things off, writing: “As her own life falls apart, Claire risks everything in her quest. It’s an investigation that leads her not only towards the dark knowledge of past crimes but towards an understanding of the damaged lives of those around her. Johnston offers us a wonderfully gripping read, but also a compassionate and moving story of people struggling to survive at the margins of a rapidly changing city.”
Writing for Northern Soul, Brian Lavery was generous in his praise: “In this fine novel, Johnston is an examiner and a questioner, rather than a polemicist. The result is a mix of thriller, satire, and cultural examination, seamlessly contained in a thumping good story with a great denouement.”
The Morning Star liked it so so but felt “it just doesn’t quite manage to convince as a complete offering.” Reviewer Paul Simon wrote: Johnston is too adept a storyteller to fall into agitprop-style prose and he almost incidentally reveals a fragmenting society dominated by despair and exploitation yet also the resourcefulness and courage of working-class citizens who survive where others would surely crack.”
Reviewing for Crime Review, Linda Wilson enjoyed it somewhat reluctantly, admitting that “I found myself almost as caught up with Claire’s obsession as she was.”
Meanwhile, Tory Crime writer N.J. Cooper really disliked it; writing for Book Oxygen, she even described one of the characters as “a fake-tanned slapper.” Ouch!
I’d also draw your attention towards this review by Martin Randall, which is particularly eloquent and thoughtful. It’s also very generous to the book, but Martin is a friend and colleague so he kind of had to be!
On Saturday I had a brilliant time reading from my new novel, The Secret Baby Room, in bright London sunshine at the Barbican Press summer party. It was lovely to renew acquaintances and make new friends, so thanks to everyone who was there. Among the many great people I met was Hana Sklenkova, whose translation of Martin Vopenka’s The Fifth Dimension is out this Autumn. I managed to snag a copy and so far it’s brilliant – a novel that will blow your mind.
The Secret Baby Room has less to teach you about physics and the universe, but it does know a thing or two about solitude, and it certainly has a mystery at its core. It’s out tomorrow, July 2nd, and I’ll be marking the launch by discussing the book and its setting with Mike Sweeney on BBC Radio Manchester. So, friends in the North West, listen in about 10am!
And if you like what you hear, remember you can get the book from Amazon and Waterstones, or – if you still have such a thing – you can order it via your local bookstore.