Maile Meloy on Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

Find out about new short story collection Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It from author Maile Meloy, and read one of the stories here on Bookhugger.

Read an extract from Louise Welsh’s Naming the Bones

Some secrets are best left buried…

More Than Words

Canongate stalwarts Dan Rhodes and Louise Welsh talk new novels, flat pack furniture and knob gags.

Read an extract of Peter Hessler’s Country Driving

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the long-time Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver’s license. For the next seven years he travelled the country, tracking how the automobile and the improved transport system were transforming China.

Sir John Lister Kaye on his definition of nature writing

Naturalist and conservationist Sir John Lister Kaye on what it means to him to be a nature writer.

From Russia With Love

What’s it like to have your novel turned into an Oscar-tipped blockbuster?

Jay Parini describes the experience of adapting his novel The Last Station into a screenplay, and about what happened after that…

Little Hands Clapping and a short film

Canongate is re-issuing Dan Rhodes’s Anthropology and Timoleon Vieta Come Home to coincide with the publication of Little Hands Clapping, the latest novel from the man described by the Guardian as ‘reliably odd but fabulous’.

The Lieutenant: author’s note

Kate Grenville penned an author’s note at the end of The Lieutenant, published in Feburary 2009.

The Candle Problem

‘The Candle Problem’ is a classic experiment created by the Austrian psychiatrist Karl Duncker in 1945.

We ask science writers Jonah Lehrer and Daniel Pink to explain what this exercise can teach us about creativity, motivation and decision making.

Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life

We present an excerpt from Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life, by Howard Sounes. The Pleasures of the Damned, a ‘best of the best’ collection of Bukowski’s poetry, is published this month.

What Canongate are excited about in 2010

A few of Canongate’s staff shared the books they’re excited about in 2010.

What Canongate’s authors are excited about for 2010

Canongate asked a few of their authors to share what they’re looking forward to reading next year – we hope this inspires you to check these books out in 2010!

Canongate’s fiction highlights of 2009

2009 has been an amazing year. It really kicked off with a bang with the Presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, and Canongate really has had a fun time publishing fiction we love. Before looking towards the publishing about to come, here are some highlights from our 2009 fiction list.

Simon Tofield – one man and his cat

Simon Tofield is an award-winning illustrator, animator and director at Tandem Films in London. He is the creator of the Internet phenomenon Simon’s Cat, the highest-rated animations ever on YouTube. Fresh from his BBC Breakfast appearance, Simon took some time to answer a few questions just for Bookhugger.

Paris Review Interviews vol. 4: an introduction by Salman Rushdie

Read the new introduction by Salman Rushdie to a volume which makes indispensable reading for all those interested in what makes our greatest writers tick.

Oliver Postgate’s Seeing Things: an extract

‘Oliver Postgate was, for my money, the greatest children’s storyteller of the last 100 years. Together, the team of Postgate and Peter Firmin were apparently incapable of creating anything less than timelessly wonderful whenever they sat down to work.’ Charlie Brooker

Canongate’s Digital Future

Canongate is embracing the fast moving and ever-changing digital age…

Scare yourself with Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters

Nominated for a 2009 World Fantasy Award, this weird, wicked, spooky and delicious book of tall tales will keep you up all night. Read one of the stories here on Bookhugger.

Beatrix Potter’s Perthshire

Beatrix Potter needs no introduction – her art and life have been extensively examined in books and film. Potter spent time in Perthshire with her family in 1892, where she met and befriended naturalist Charles McIntosh; The Tale of Peter Rabbit was written in Dunkeld the next year.

Dave Simpson talks about The Fall and the fallen…

Dave Simpson made it his mission to track down everyone who has ever played in Britain’s most berserk, brilliant group, The Fall. He uncovers a changing Britain, tales of madness and genius, and wreaks havoc on his personal life. Simon Parker asked him about it.

An interview with David Simon, by Nick Hornby

“My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: fuck the average reader.”

How Lanark grew – in Alasdair Gray’s own words

Lanark, subtitled A Life in Four Books, was the first novel of Scottish writer Alasdair Gray. Written over a period of almost thirty years, it combines realist and dystopian fantasy depictions of his home city of Glasgow. Here are his thoughts on the epic process of its creation.