Fiction
New Cemetery by Simon Armitage is published in hardback by Faber & Faber
Poet laureate Simon Armitage turns his gaze to a small but resonant subject in New Cemetery: the building of a cemetery at the top of his road. Written during the pandemic and after his father’s sudden death, the collection trades his usual large-scale compositions for intimate, finely tuned tercets, whose fragile three-line-structure is emblematic of a moth’s two wings and body – a motif that flitters throughout the book. The moth becomes both symbol and warning, embodying human mortality and environmental decline: gone, he notes, are the days when car windscreens were “smeared with a gluey porridge of splattered bugs.” Nature and humanity are entangled in oak leaves “veined with meaning” and a “storm-snapped beech” is cast as a limb. There are flashes of humour – a shaving-mirror existential crisis – alongside jolts of sadness, such as when the poet notices a headstone marked: “Born asleep”. Intimate, unfussy and idiosyncratically wry, New Cemetery captures Armitage at his most human, as he traces the everyday textures of loss and renewal in a way that lingers long after the final stanza.
A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín is published in hardback by Picador
This taut, bleak tale was first published in a selection of short fiction, Mothers and Sons, in 2006, but has merited its own standalone edition. Atmospheric, spare and just a little disturbing, A Long Winter by Brooklyn author Colm Tóibín, sees Miguel working his family farm in the Pyrenees, but it’s no idyll. His brother sets off for national service, and then his mother, following an argument about her drinking, walks out into clear skies that herald the season’s first, landscape-obliterating snowfall. Weaving in the tenderest outlines of a love story – Miguel and his father need the help of a young man from the village, neither of them being adept at cooking – it’s not without joy, but each page does weigh heavily on you. Filled with dread and an oppressive, stifling silence, it’s also vividly imagined.
Old Songs: Stories of Love and Death from Traditional Ballads by Amy Jeffs and Gwen Burns is published in hardback by riverrun
Art historian Amy Jeffs, author of Storyland, which was a huge hit, pieces together tales that were once told in ballad form in Britain. Derived from 10 songs that once would have been much-shared around the fire, she builds on them, crocheting in snippets of history and context amongst the murderous, vengeful and lovestruck narratives. In Alison Gross; or, Worm and his sister, a man is transformed into a worm after rejecting the advances of a witch, in a muted exploration of power and indifference, while in The Demon Lover, a woman is punished for wanting more than motherhood. The stories absorb you instantly – it’s no wonder they’ve survived for centuries in various forms – even if the historical musings are a little drier. The book is also spliced with Gwen Burns’ illustrations, which are dark and twisty, strangely alluring, yet macabre – she does haunted, witty eyes particularly well. A treat for those captivated by the medieval, grisly and historic.
Non-fiction
How To Art by Kate Bryan and David Shrigley is published in hardback by Hutchinson Heinemann
How To Art is a cry from the heart, a call to arms, from Sky Arts Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year judge, Kate Bryan. She wants everyone to bring more art into their lives, whether that’s looking at it in museums or galleries, reading about it, having it in our homes or making it for pleasure, or to sell. She’s got useful advice on where you can experience art and has very strong feelings that people shouldn’t feel intimidated by the art world. She talks about how a Beyonce video can make you look at the Mona Lisa in a new way, offers tips on going to galleries with a baby or toddler, and most fascinating, shares insights into how the commercial art world operates and the mysteries of artwork pricing. For budding buyers, there are tips on affordable outlets, framing and hanging. Plus advice for artists trying to earn an income, with a reminder that Van Gogh allegedly sold just one picture in his lifetime. She wants us to develop our own tastes and be free of the idea of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ art, rather, it’s about art you like and art you don’t. She advocates for a culture free from value judgements. Read it, enjoy and be liberated.
Children’s book of the week
My First Halloween Cookbook: Spooky recipes for young cooks by David Atherton, illustrated by Jess Rose is published in hardback by Walker Books
Like the sound of pond pudding (inspired by frogspawn)? Petrified pancakes (they look like a face, screaming)? Or witches’ fingers breadsticks (almonds mimic pointed nails)? The Great British Bake Off 2019 winner David Atherton’s new halloween cookbook is packed with slightly gross and gruesome sounding bakes like this, as well as meringue eyeballs and even a black cat litter tray (it’s actually a puffed rice cereal tray bake!). Every page will have little ones cackling away happily, before getting stuck in with a wooden spoon and mixing bowl. The instructions are suitably straightforward, with Jess Rose’s step-by-step illustrations being beautiful, yet easy to follow – they make creating your own decorations feel very doable (no perfect photos to try and match). Whip up a couple of these recipes and you’ll be the talk of the street come trick-or-treat.
English