New Writings

New Writings is one of those literary collections that arrives looking modest and then quietly reveals it has invited half the serious people round for tea. Edited by Andrew O’Hagan and Colm Tóibín, this 2002 Pan Macmillan volume gathers contemporary writing under one roof, which is always brave, because writers rarely agree on anything except the importance of being read.

Here you get the pleasure of variety: different voices, different moods, different angles on life, art, memory, place, language, and all the usual human confusion. It is the literary equivalent of opening a well-curated drawer and finding essays, fiction, reflections, and sharp little pieces that refuse to sit neatly in one category. Some will charm, some will brood, and at least one will probably make you feel you should have paid more attention at university.

There is something very early-2000s about the whole enterprise: serious but not dusty, modern but not aggressively fashionable, confident that good writing still mattered before the internet finished teaching everyone to skim. It belongs to that fine tradition of anthologies that say, “Here is what writers are doing now,” while also quietly admitting that “now” becomes “then” surprisingly quickly.

This Pan Macmillan edition is in good condition, which is ideal for a book meant to be dipped into, argued with, abandoned briefly, and rediscovered on a rainy afternoon. It is not a single-author march from beginning to end, but a literary buffet — and, unlike most buffets, the small odd things may be the best bits.

Perfect for readers who like contemporary literature, essays, short pieces, anthologies, and the faint intellectual danger of not knowing exactly what sort of writing the next page will contain. New Writings is a civilised mixed bag, which is often the best kind.

Keep browsing: See more Fiction books Other books by Andrew OHagan and Colm Toibin