(Beginning with most recent publication.)
24 October 2025 (published in print 25 October) – ‘Is it better to let ideas fumble on the long route or set them in stone?’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
26 September 2025 (published in print 27 September) – ‘Difficult decisions you have to face when the books pile up’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
29 August 2025 (published in print 30 August) – ‘Don’t touch that dial: Talking about books on the radio’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
25 July 2025 (published in print 26 July) – ‘On true stories: If reality is a show, then we want our narrator to win’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
4 July 2025 (published in print 5 July) – ‘Why you should sketch your cats before attempting to paint tigers’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
6 June 2025 (published in print 7 June) – ‘When the journey of a writer hits a wall, it’s the perfect time to reflect’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
9 May 2025 (published in print 10 May) – ‘Opening a world to books that beg to be unearthed’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
18 April 2025 (published in print 19 April) – ‘Hitting “no changes” when, in truth, almost everything has changed’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
25 March 2025 (published in print 29 March) – My review of Sam Wetherell’s Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain for the Financial Times (paywalled).
28 February 2025 (published in print 1 March) – ‘A story is a deal but a book is not an aubergine’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
22 February 2025 – My review of Joe Tucker’s The Secret Painter for the Irish Times (paywalled).
24 January 2025 (published in print 25 January) – ‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hurl: writing a first draft is never easy’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
3 January 2025 (published in print 4 January) – ‘How one long day in hospital brought perspective on connection’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
22 November 2024 (published in print 23 November) – ‘In the gold rush of writing, choose your shovel wisely’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
28 October 2024 (published in print 2 November) – ‘Why it’s a good idea for writers to jot down all their random thoughts’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
28 September 2024 – My review of Jeff Young’s Wild Twin for the Irish Times (paywalled).
27 September 2024 (published in print 28 September) – ‘An interview is intimate and both parties must open up’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
30 August 2024 (published in print 31 August) – ‘Are my lunchtime walks to the shop part of the writing process?’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
16 August 2024 (published in print 17 August) – ‘Dreams and the stories we tell’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
28 June 2024 (published in print 29 June) – ‘Can we trust the voices placed in our heads by the author?’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
31 May 2024 (published in print 1 June) – ‘Independent message fades within art’s stifling corporate structures’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
8 March 2024 (published in print 9 March) – ‘Don’t believe everything that you hear about reading (and writing)’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
26 January 2024 (published in print 27 January) – ‘Snapshots of moments that will never come around again’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
5 January 2024 (published in print 6 January) – ‘Some things I’ve noticed about writers noticing things’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
28 October 2023 – ‘On abandoned projects’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
1 September 2023 (published in print 2 September) – ‘What shoes should a writer choose?’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
11 August 2023 (published in print 12 August) – ‘Putting things in place’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
9 June 2023 (published in print 10 June) – ‘Is this an essay?’, a column for the Irish Examiner.
18 October 2022 – My review of Adrian Duncan’s Little Republics for the Irish Times.
12 August 2022 – My review of Georges Perec’s Lieux for the Times Literary Supplement.
22 October 2021 – My review of Orlando Gough’s Coming and Going for the Times Literary Supplement.
7 May 2021 (published in print 1 May) – My review of Hanif Abdurraqib’s A Little Devil In America for the Irish Times.
11 April 2021 (published in print 10 April) – My review of Craig Taylor’s New Yorkers for the Irish Times.
6 March 2021 – My review of John Colapinto’s This Is The Voice for the Irish Independent.
3 October 2020 – My interview with music journalist Paul Morley about his classical music book A Sound Mind for the Irish Times.
29 February 2020 – My piece on Kraftwerk’s legacy in Düsseldorf for the Irish Times.
27 February 2020 (published in print 29 February) – My review of Uwe Schütte’s Kraftwerk: Future Music From Germany for the Guardian.
12 February 2020 (published in print on 8 February) – My review of Sam Wasson’s The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood for the Irish Times. [subscription required]
25 November 2019 – My review of Amelia Gentleman’s The Windrush Betrayal and Colin Grant’s Homecoming for the Irish Times. [subscription required]
17 November 2019 – My piece for Guardian Travel about Glasgow’s musical history.
17 November 2019 – My top ten places in the UK where musical history was made, for Guardian Travel.
1 November 2019 – My review of Edward Platt’s The Great Flood for the Guardian.
2 March 2019 – My review of Evan Ratliff’s The Mastermind for the Irish Times.
2 February 2019 – My piece on British pop, Brexit and The Good, The Bad and The Queen’s Merrie Land album for the Irish Times.
15 November 2017 – My piece for Guardian Cities on what’s happening to Britain’s Civic Centres in an era of extreme austerity.
19 October 2017 – My review of Gisli Palsson’s The Man Who Stole Himself for the London Review of Books.
11 July 2017 – My piece on the decline of Manchester’s estate pubs for Guardian Cities.
10 March 2017 (published in print on 11 March) – My review of Brenna Hassett’s Built on Bones for the Guardian.
7 February 2017 – My piece on the disappearing remnants of Newcastle’s modernist city, for Guardian Cities.
22 December 2016 – My review of Mark Greif’s essay collection Against Everything for the Guardian.
21 December 2016 – My profile of Andy Martin, Sunderland photographer, for Guardian Cities.
5 November 2016 – My review of Rachel Lichtenstein’s Estuary for the Irish Times.
2 September 2016 – ‘Travels with William‘, my review of A.J. Lees’s Mentored by a Madman, for the Dublin Review of Books.
16 June 2016 – My piece on how Bloomsday is celebrated globally, for the Lit Hub.
2 June 2016 – My diary for the London Review of Books, on a golf course that went on fire.
20 April 2016 (published in print on 23rd April) – My review of Lee Siegel’s biography Groucho Marx for the Guardian.
9 February 2016 – My review of Robert Caro’s classic biography The Power Broker for the Irish Times.
7 February 2016 – My review of Douglas Murphy’s Last Futures for the Sunday Business Post. (Paywalled)
21 January 2016 – I interviewed rock writer Nik Cohn in the Irish Times about his reissued classic Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: Pop From The Beginning.
12 January 2016 – I contributed my thoughts on David Bowie to the Irish Times as part of this collection of tributes to the late, great rock star.
16 December 2015 – I wrote this piece about ad man and collector of New York sounds Tony Schwartz for JSTOR Daily. (Includes Spotify playlist of his work.)
9 May 2015 – My review of Matthew Beaumont’s Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London for the Irish Times.
14 April 2015 – Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ is a seriously weird song. I wrote about it for the Irish Times.
Karl Whitney 