‘It unlocks you from the inside’: staging Véronique Olmi’s remarkable infanticide novel
For years, no British publisher would touch Veronique Olmi's novel about a woman who kills her children. But now it is taking on a life of its ownA play adapted from a French novella about a woman who kills her children is set to become the n...
Kate Williams joins the queens of historical fiction
Kate Williams – historian, Timewatch presenter and now novelist – is pushing to restore women to their rightful place in historyCould historian Kate Williams be the next Doctor Who? She can build her own Tardis, after all. Sitting in the Edwardian ...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: National treasures
A National Treasure must be aged, stoical and talented, but not too cutting-edge. They must reassure and delight. They must not be Margaret ThatcherJane Austen or Jane Asher? Diana, Princess of Wales or Diana Athill? JK Rowling or PD James? Mary S...
‘I knew it was disturbing’
Sapphire's first book became the Oscar-winning film Precious but, she says, her new novel is so dark that Hollywood is unlikely to callSapphire never flinches from the truth. When her debut novel Push came out 15 years ago, readers were enthralled and ...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: Prizes
So, awards season is upon us – how will women fare?I want the Nobel peace prize. I know world peace is a bit of a stretch when I can barely feed and clothe myself but it would give me a "king of the world" feeling, like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic
Bidisha’s thought for the day: I hate novels
Every time I finish the latest Big Important Issue novel, I find myself craving books about real lives in the real worldNovels. Don't you hate them? I do. Every time I finish the Big Important Issue Novel of the Month I lurch to the non-fiction shelves...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: Joanna Trollope
The critics may sniff at her, but I say a great big home-counties "huzzah!" for Joanna TrollopeJoanna Trollope is no trollop. I'm sure nobody has ever made this joke before. With prose like that I have little chance of winning the Orange prize … whos...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: Women’s fiction
My summer is going to be full of fantastic fiction written by women, from Mavis Cheek to Kimberly Cutter"The sun shone out of a clear blue sky and bestowed its gentle rays upon the well-kept exteriors of Lufferton Boney." I do not know why this is funn...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: authors’ portraits
In author's book jacket photos, it's best to appear bland, solipsistic and smug – not a huge stretch for some novelistsHead lowered, hand on chin, eyes soulful, mouth gravely unsmiling or mincingly suggestive of incipient Great Thoughts in ...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: Bookshops
My favourite bookshop, where I spent many happy hours plonked on the floor among a pile of books, is no more. How can I replace this happy place?Everyone has their happy place. For some, it's their childhood home. For me it was the fantasy and science ...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: My fanstasy literature festival
I've been musing on what would constitute my perfect literary festival. Beryl Bainbridge, Miss Jean Brodie and Bertie Wooster would all need to be involvedThank heavens for the Royal Society of Literature. I was privileged to participate in an Iris Mur...
Bidisha’s thought for the day: Queens