Book review: The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
Though written for children, it’s clear from the wit and dark undertones that Geraldine McCaughrean wrote The Death Defying Pepper Roux with adults in mind too. It’s a wonderfully imaginative journey that requires you to leave you grown up scepticism at the door and accept that: “People see what they expect to see.”
Top US Script Consultant Julie Gray comes to the UK to teach her Warner Brothers screenwriters’ workshop
This March you have the chance to learn key screenwriting skills from Script Consultant Julie Gray. Julie describes her two-day workshops as “fun, participatory and designed to help aspiring screenwriters learn the tools necessary to not only test ideas for originality but also to outline effectively and write unforgettable characters.”
Book review: Secret Son by Laila Lalami
This sweet, soulful story set against the slums of Casablanca begins in the vein of so many coming of age fables, with a disenchanted youth yearning for more than his poverty dictates. But as Youseff soon discovers, as in any good fairytale his apparently dead father is alive, and better than that, he’s a rich and powerful man with a longing for a son.
DVD review: We Live in Public by Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winner Ondi Timoner
A cautionary tale of the effect of the technological age on the human mind, this documentary portrays the ‘public life’ of a man named Josh Harris - a man whose work demonstrates that existing in the modern world means existing ‘in public’, and whose vision has been proven both piercingly accurate and ahead of its time.
Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King
There are numerous books out there that tell us how to be a writer, but Stephen King’s On Writing appears to offer something different. King manages to utilise biography and humour in order to make On Writing more than just another text about writing. It is also a laugh-out-loud piece of entertainment.
Geraldine McCaughrean’s website blends marketing gloss with a few touches of magic
At the top of Geraldine McCaughrean’s homepage is the tag-line “The Award Winning Author - Writing for Children for over 25 years.” It’s a curious touch, and while it succinctly tells you why you should be interested, it makes me feel like Geraldine is a car company that a marketing executive is trying to convince me to trust in.
DVD review: Disgrace
Set against the dramatic backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa, Disgrace is a skilful adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, and explores themes of morality, desire and race. any of the scenes are difficult to watch, but there is a curious beauty to the film.
Book review: The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah
The Other Half Lives opens in a hotel room in London where Ruth is about to divulge a dark secret to her beloved Aidan. But it’s his revelation that plunges the couple into turmoil, when he confesses to having killed a woman whom Ruth is certain is still alive. Sophie Hannah draws us in gently, setting up enough conundrums to keep us intrigued.
