Donna Mackay

Feb 24, 2023 | thebookerprizes.substack.com | Donna Mackay |Gazelle Mba |Beryl Bainbridge |Muriel Spark

By Donna Mackay-Smith and Gazelle MbaRead this article on our websiteAs the late, great Beryl Bainbridge once said, ‘Unless a writer is superb, I don’t think it’s enough just to go wuffling on.’ A distinctive feature of Bainbridge’s novels - five of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize - is that they were usually brief and to the point.

Feb 14, 2023 | thebookerprizes.substack.com | Donna Mackay |Gazelle Mba |A.S. Byatt |Ian McEwan

By Donna Mackay-Smith and Gazelle MbaRead this article on our websiteWithin the confines of literature, romance can get a bad rap. Yet scratch beneath the surface of some of the world’s most acclaimed novels and you’ll find that, more often than not, they have a love story at their heart. Writers have been using this universal connection to explore the human condition since they first put pen to paper. And it needn’t be all ‘happily ever after’.

Feb 7, 2023 | thebookerprizes.substack.com | Donna Mackay |Diane Cook |Margaret Atwood |David Mitchell

By Donna Mackay-SmithNuclear war, devastating pandemics, natural collapse and even zombie apocalypses; speculative fiction featuring the downfall of civilisation and the end of the world as we know it has long held a special place in many readers’ hearts. Post-apocalypse writing has been around for a couple of centuries, with Mary Shelley credited as writing one of the first examples, The Last Man, in 1826.

Jan 24, 2023 | thebookerprizes.substack.com | Donna Mackay |Joshua Ferris |Shehan Karunatilaka |Bernice Rubens

By Donna Mackay-SmithRead more features hereThe formidable ‘to-be-read’ pile. As book lovers, we’ve all got one. Some are towering: a guilty secret that grows larger by the day, side-eyeing you every time you cross its path. Others are small and efficient: a carefully considered, bare-bones collection, patiently waiting for their spines to be cracked.

Feb 3, 2019 | flightcentre.co.uk | Donna Mackay