‘Readers must be encouraged to read books, not merely to talk about books they have not read.’
A message from T. S. Eliot, from the February 1954 edition of The London Magazine.
Archive | Texts for Nothing: VI by Samuel Beckett
‘Words can be blotted and the mad thoughts they invent, all you have to do is say you said nothing and so say nothing again.’
Samuel Beckett in the August 1967 edition of The London Magazine.
Interview | Jon Day: ‘I hate the idea of going places.’
‘Great things to learn as a writer: how to meet a deadline, how to be edited, how not to be precious about your prose.’
Rose Brookfield interviews Jon Day.
The Best Books of 2024
This year, we asked our 2024 reviewers to select their favourite book of the year. Selections include Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst, Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo and A Question of Palestine by Edward Said, as well as collections of essays on French theory, re-issued aphorisms and photographic monographs.
Archive | Poem by John Betjeman
‘Is he too ill to know that he is dying? / And, if he does know, does he really care?’
A poem by John Betjeman, from the May 1957 issue of The London Magazine.
Podcast | Paul Stephenson
‘Bereavement, grief: it’s extremely self-indulgent.’
On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to poet and editor Paul Stephenson about poetic form, absurdity, grief and more.
Interview | Rose Electra Harris: Big Canvas, Bright Colours
‘One of the things that I get torn about is that I feel really lucky that I’m an artist, but often wonder if it’s quite a selfish thing to be doing.’
Zadie Loft speaks to Rose Electra Harris.
Review | All Is Not Well by Zadie Loft
‘In the first half, Helen’s pursuit of and infatuation for Bertram seems sweet, comical and harmless; by the second, her actions have been shown to be what they always were: sexual harassment and assault.’
Zadie Loft reviews All’s Well That Ends Well.
Fiction | I Just Died by Theo Macdonald
‘Sometimes he would sit on the sofa in his dressing gown and mumble something about the emotional labour of the commute.’
New fiction by Theo Macdonald.
Interview | Orlando Reade in Conversation by Marina Scholtz
‘I was told very early on by people in publishing that there is no market for literary criticism – none.’
Marina Scholtz speaks to Orlando Reade.
Poetry | Aphorisms on Poetry by Lee Seong-Bok
‘Because poetry must use language, which is inherently opaque and unstable, it has to be more precise than mathematics. For poets, there is no higher morality than precision.’
Lee Seong-Bok on poetry.
Review | Bolaño’s Exquisite Corpse by Tommy Gilhooly
‘The short stories in this collection cannot, therefore, be read as lesser examples of Bolaño’s novels.’
Tommy Gilhooly on The Collected Stories of Roberto Bolaño.
Essay | Evading Capture: On Writing Two Experimental Memoirs by Jen Calleja
‘There can be many different ‘correct’ translations of the same text: I think that we each have not only multiple stories we can tell about our lives, but many forms for them, too.’
Jen Calleja on writing experimental memoir.
Festive Gift Bundle
With our festive gift bundle, you or a friend receive our current issue, a bespoke TLM tote and a surprise vintage issue, as well as a print subscription that delivers our bi-monthly print magazine straight to your doorstep on the 1st of every month. Give the gift of literature this Christmas, and get the best of contemporary prose, poetry, essays…
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Podcast
On The London Magazine podcast, we speak to brilliant writers, poets and artists about their craft, inspiration and career so far. If ever you want to ask our guests a literary question, email info@thelondonmagazine.org to have it asked on the podcast.
Podcast | Paul Stephenson
‘Bereavement, grief: it’s extremely self-indulgent.’
On this episode of The London Magazine Podcast, we talk to poet and editor Paul Stephenson about poetic form, absurdity, grief and more.
Podcast | Joshua Jones
‘I don’t want to be a representative for a nation state.’
We chatted to Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires, about the benefits of multiple POVs and interconnected stories, how not to get sued when writing autofiction and his love of Chicago indie rock band, Joan of Arc.
Podcast | Claire Carroll
Claire Carroll writes experimental fiction about the intersection of nature, technology and desire. On the podcast, she talks about her new short story collection, The Unreliable Nature Writer.
Archive
The London Magazine has a publication history spanning almost three hundred years, and has featured work by some of the most prominent names in literature, from John Keats to Hilary Mantel. In this curated selection, we share our favourite pieces from the TLM archive.
Archive | A Message from T. S. Eliot
‘Readers must be encouraged to read books, not merely to talk about books they have not read.’
A message from T. S. Eliot, from the February 1954 edition of The London Magazine.
Archive | Texts for Nothing: VI by Samuel Beckett
‘Words can be blotted and the mad thoughts they invent, all you have to do is say you said nothing and so say nothing again.’
Samuel Beckett in the August 1967 edition of The London Magazine.
Archive | Poem by John Betjeman
‘Is he too ill to know that he is dying? / And, if he does know, does he really care?’
A poem by John Betjeman, from the May 1957 issue of The London Magazine.
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- With our premium print + digital subscription, our bi-monthly print magazine is automatically delivered straight to your doorstep on the 1st of every month. You will also receive unrestricted access to our digital archive, dating back to 2010. Join our community of literature lovers and get the best of contemporary prose, poetry, and reviews today.
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