War, death, and the act of witnessing – the world in Ilya Kaminsky's second collection is anything but silent.

Dimitra Xidous Criticism 2nd July 2019

Skilfully-drawn characters and complex emotional detail bump up against formal experimentation in Adrian Duncan's debut novel.

Seán Hewitt Criticism 18th June 2019

A self without a portrait; a portrait without a self: Kevin Breathnach’s innovative debut collection of essays hesitates between the two.

Andrew Gallix Criticism 27th May 2019

Yu Miri's subtle novel about a man who haunts a Tokyo park is a deft and insightful look at the character and contradictions of modern Japan.

Clara Kumagai Criticism 8th May 2019

Gerald Murnane's obsessive and idiosyncratic novels have, for almost fifty years, documented 'a literary mind calmly tracing its involutions towards their creative and spiritual source.'

Rob Doyle Criticism 24th April 2019

Rachael Allen's forceful debut collection pushes open the cracks in the structures which govern our lives, and interrogates the very mechanisms of marginalisation.

Helen Charman Criticism 9th April 2019

A posthumous collection of Lucia Berlin's unpublished stories constitutes a curious and exciting middle-ground between fiction and autobiography.

Orla McGinnity Criticism 26th March 2019

Annie Ernaux's memoir is a 'truly remarkable, deep-reaching reflection' that places the 'lonely, frightened, essential, determined journeys of individual women at the heart of literature.'

Evelyn Conlon Criticism 19th March 2019

Carla Maliandi's debut novel cloaks a story of emigration, persecution, and buried history in a surreal and slightly absurd atmosphere.

Catherine Gaffney Criticism 13th February 2019

Jenny Hval’s debut novel presents a nuanced account of a young woman’s sexual awakening during an academic exchange.

Lauren Sarazen Criticism 22nd January 2019

Alice Bolin's debut collection examines the American obsession with dead girls, looking for the truth about their killers, and their self-proclaimed saviours.

Roisin Kiberd Criticism 19th November 2018

Ottessa Moshfegh's follow-up to the Booker-nominated 'Eileen' is a hazy, witty, sometimes brutal examination of a New York friendship.

Nicole Flattery Criticism 17th October 2018

Eve Babitz's autobiographical novel, recently republished, captures that spirit of madcap irreverence and charts those years when youth feels indestructible.

Lauren Sarazen Criticism 12th September 2018

Melatu Uche Okorie's slim debut collection is one of the most pertinent books of modern Ireland.

Emma Flynn Criticism 14th August 2018

Leslie Jamison's memoir of overcoming addiction balances a desire for originality against the soothing, redemptive familiarity of the chorus.

Rebecca O'Dwyer Criticism 19th June 2018

This mammoth collection of Brian O'Nolan's correspondence, edited by Maebh Long, is crystal clear and precise in effect; ornate when it wants to be and vulgar at just the right moments.

Gavin Corbett Criticism 11th June 2018

Two characters discuss the ins-and-outs of David Hayden's debut collection of stories, a book full of other books.

Wendy Erskine Criticism 1st May 2018

Lyrical emotional insight is matched by artfulness of execution in William Wall's first poetry collection for seven years

David Toms Criticism 21st March 2018

Tina Pisco's diverse set of short stories blends taut realism with a magical sensibility.

Mia Gallagher Criticism 7th February 2018

Mathias Enard's masterful novel traces myriad lines of life from both Orient and Occident in an attempt to 'write outside the self'.

John Holten Criticism 9th January 2018

Brian Dillon's journey through the 'unstable multiplicity' of the essay form is maddening and exquisite in equal measure.

Rebecca O'Dwyer Criticism 4th October 2017

Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh's first bilingual collection reveals a voice that is attentive to nature, to the world, to those moments in which we find ourselves, and one which is sprightly with a hint of devilment.

Alan Titley Criticism 19th September 2017

Teju Cole's first book-length meditation on photography explores how his dream-like, jetlagged images are connected by tangents to the universal in all human cultures.

Gavin Corbett Criticism 12th September 2017

Olivia Sudjic's debut novel recognises online life as an active and creative culture. Like personal writing, its emotional highs and ominous shortcomings are tied up in an all-consuming act of self-fashioning.

Roisin Kiberd Criticism 23rd August 2017

We are in the midst of a raging culture war defined by cruelty, extremism and intolerance. Angela Nagle's new book is a timely and insightful report from the internet battlefield.

Rob Doyle Criticism 3rd August 2017

China Miéville’s portrayal of the Bolsheviks' rise to power is a captivating and inspirational description of the revolutionary moment, when everything is possible.

William Wall Criticism 13th July 2017

Is the deathless age of the machine upon us?

Rob Doyle Criticism 13th June 2017