sat 12/07/2025

book reviews and features

Jessica Duchen: Myra Hess - National Treasure review - well-told life of a pioneering musician

Bernard Hughes

Myra Hess was one of the most important figures in British cultural life in the mid-20th century: the pre-eminent...

Read more...

Shon Faye: Love in Exile review - the greatest feeling

India Lewis

As Valentine’s Day crests around us, and lonely hearts come out of their winter hibernation, what better time to publish writer and journalist Shon Faye’s second book Love in Exile? In...

Read more...

Philip Marsden: Under a Metal Sky review - rock and awe

Jon Turney

Working on materials was basic to human culture from the start: chipping at flint to make a hand-axe; fashioning bone or wood; drying hides. In time, people discovered that some materials,...

Read more...

Jacqueline Feldman: Precarious Lease review - living on the edge

India Lewis

Taking on some of the contingent, nebulous quality of its subject, Jacqueline Feldman’s Precarious Lease examines the beginning...

Read more...

Catherine Airey: Confessions review - the crossroads we bear

India Lewis

Anglo-Irish author Catherine Airey’s first novel, Confessions, is a puzzle, a game of family secrets...

Read more...

Best of 2024: Books

theartsdesk

Billie Holiday sings again, Olivia Laing tends to her garden, and Biran Klaas takes a chance: our reviewers discuss their favourite...

Read more...

William J. Mann: Bogie & Bacall review - beyond the screen

John Carvill

What is it about Humphrey Bogart? Why does he still spark interest, still feel relevant, so many decades after his death? It’s a complex question and may be impossible to satisfactorily answer,...

Read more...

Jeff Young: Wild Twin review - a box of tricks

India Lewis

The writer, performer, and lecturer Jeff Young’s latest, Wild Twin, tells – ostensibly – the story of his barefoot, Beat-imitative journey through northern Europe in the 1980s. However,...

Read more...

Interview: rising star Chloe Savage on the Arctic, outer space, and igniting children's wonder for the unknown

Rachel Halliburton

How old were you when you first had an image of the Arctic? When you first had that image, what was it that most resonated? Was it its remoteness, the endless snow and ice, the polar bears? Did it...

Read more...

Jon Fosse: Morning and Evening review - after thoughts

Jack Barron

Jon Fosse talks a lot about thinking. He also thinks – hard – about talking. His prolific and award-winning career in poetry, prose, and drama, might be said, in fact, to unfold a digressive...

Read more...

Pages

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

 

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Album: Wet Leg - moisturizer

War, pestilence, famine, death. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of them all. So what better time to visit the genuinely sunny uplands...

Nye, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen's full-blo...

The National Health Service was established 77 years ago this month. Resident doctors are about to strike for more pay, long waiting lists for...

Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern review - glimpses of anothe...

It took until the last room of her exhibition for me to gain any real understanding of the work of...

Album: Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl

Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening for Kitty Wells, aged 10...

theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beetho...

Anyone seeking local genius in an international festival should look no further than the annual Ravenna concerts from Riccardo Muti – Neapolitan...

Girl From The North Country, Old Vic review - Dylan's s...

Well, I wasn’t expecting a Dylanesque take on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" as an opening number and I was right. But The Zim,...

The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 2025 review - the ma...

The branch of the fast-food chain Hesburger in downtown Tallinn shopping centre Solaris is busy. Nothing unusual as it’s located by the entrance...

Insomnia, Channel 5 review - a chronicle of deaths foretold

A mixture of legal drama, medical mystery and psychological thriller with creepy supernatural overtones, Insomnia sometimes seems to be...

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters