John Self

John Self is a book critic and lead fiction reviewer for The Critic. He lives in Belfast and tweets at @John_Self

Here are three of our most praised writers with new offerings written during one or more lockdowns and that also take in the pandemic in their subject matter

The most anticipated book of the year, a Booker Prize nominee and a posthumous release: John Self on three new, big releases this month

John Self welcomes the reissue of three works by Brian Moore, one of Northern Ireland few novelists who can stand toe-to-toe with the contemporary greats

Three books that each offer a traditional holiday-reading pleasure

In this month’s fiction selection, John Self discovers novels that successfully use their style to enhance rather than simply describe the story

John Self on debut novels that provide an insight into publishing in Britain

A trio of novels that are connected by their surprising manner of finding their way to us

We need a system where books that publishers really love, where it’s not mere puff, get a special sticker on the front, says John Self

John Self says that while writing has always been seen as a vocation, the characters many authors care most about are the ones printed on their royalty statements

Fiction works on the understanding that none of it really happened; we agree to believe it anyway, says John Self