SPIKE MAGAZINE

Reviewed by Declan Tan The Tequila Tales anthology (edited by Millie Johanna Heur and Roy Anthony Shabla) is an eclectic mixture of genre, style and content that unites a well-published group of writers on the single and divisive subject of, yes, tequila.

Sidestepping the industry circus and downplaying his own achievements, Urban Waite isn’t your typical thriller writer, and his debut, The Terror of Living, isn’t your typical crime novel, as Dan Coxon finds out. Portrait by Sean Hunter Crossing into

Gerald Locklin has, in his lengthy career, alternately been called a “people’s writer”, a “stand-up poet” (co-credited for coining the term) and, by his friend and contemporary, Charles Bukowski: “one of the great undiscovered talents of our

Carrying the torch passed on by Bukowski and Hubert Selby Jr, for many Dan Fante is America’s most vital writer. Interview by Declan Tan Dan Fante is one of the last surviving writers of his generation that could be called a “maverick”. Having spent

An authentic literary sensibility in pop music is rare but according to Ben Granger The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy has more than enough to share Pop music and literature are two separate miracles, the silent shout and the screamed secret, two wonders

“Guernica is an award-winning magazine of art and ideas. In its short time online, it has grown from one of the web’s best-kept secrets to one of its most acclaimed new magazines.” 01 Guernica: Launched in 2004 by New York-based writers Joel Whitney

A review by Dolly Delightly I have a penchant for esoteric Russian literature of the kind that’s mostly found in frowsy second-hand bookshops which, I am unashamed to say, I frequent with steadfast regularity. About a week ago, during one such visit,

Perhaps Josef K will get to testify in the ongoing wrangle over Kafka’s manuscripts in an Israeli court. The Czech author instructed his friend Max Brod to destroy his papers, instead two-thirds eventually made its way to the Bodleian Library via Kafka’s

Peepal Tree Press is dedicated to expanding the Caribbean library and keeping it in print. Spike interviews its founder Jeremy Poynting Working out of the Burley area of Leeds, Peepal Tree Press has been a vital hub of independent publishing for just

The Australian government believes in supporting the arts as the annual Prime Minister’s Literary Awards demonstrates Where: Canberra, Australia What: Australia’s richest literary prize, the winning book in each category receives a tax-free award

Los Angeles author and filmmaker Vanessa Libertad Garcia writes about the subcultural life that informs her writing The Voting Booth After Dark: Despicable, Embarrassing, Repulsive delves into the unique subculture of a specific, and frequently overlooked,

Russell Mardell, author of Silent Bombs Falling On Green Grass, offers a personal introduction to the Italian writer I have to thank the writer Stephen Volk for introducing me to the wonderful short stories of Dino Buzzati. Such was the eagerness with

An interview with Prague’s publisher of essential Eastern and Central European writing Prague’s Twisted Spoon Press produce some of the most beautiful books currently in print. Founded in 1992, by Howard Sidenberg, Kevin Blahut and Lukas Tomin, the

Jason Weaver revisits Don DeLillo’s premillennial opus of paranoia and baseball. The title of Don DeLillo’s 1997 novel Underworld alludes both to living under the canopy of the bomb and to a world beneath us, more specifically a hell. DeLillo

Ben Granger Borges is that rare writer, one who can truly change your outlook forever. To read Labyrinths or Ficciones is to experience the universe anew, to find a poetry in mathematics, a mysticism in reason. In tales like “Funes the Memorious”,

Pedro Blas Gonzalez Paradise Lost – John Milton See all books by John Milton at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com John Milton’s Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. This initial edition was comprised of ten books. This is an epic story

Dan Coxon The Pesthouse – Jim Crace See all books by Jim Crace at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Maybe it’s natural, in the early years of a new millennium, for our writers and artists to turn their thoughts toward what the future could hold.

Ben Granger Monsignor Quixote – Graham Greene See all books by Graham Greene at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Whenever there was a chance to have a shot at Catholicism in his writing, George Orwell could always be relied on to take aim and

Fugitive Pieces Jeremy Padewsa Dan Coxon Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels See all books by Anne Michaels at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com Transferring literary bestsellers to the big screen is never an easy business. Firstly, there’s the

Antony Johnston Cobralingus – Jeff Noon See all books by Jeff Noon at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com START > INLET Welcome to the review of Jeff Noon’s latest book, Cobralingus. DRUG: HYPERBOLIN > ENHANCE Jeff Noon’s latest

Stephen Mitchelmore Ravelstein – Saul Bellow See all books by Saul Bellow at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com "I stood back from myself and looked into Amy’s face. No one else on all this earth had such features. This was the most

Nathan Cain Last Words – William Burroughs See all books by William Burroughs at Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com The works of William Seward Burroughs have always, even among those who think themselves the hippest of the hip, been considered