Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing)

I am busy recording a new podcast (finally!) with my good friend, Nicholas Graham (author of the highly-acclaimed The Judas Case), this afternoon. It’s a special Christmas one and so we’ve got guys in to spruce us up and make us look less shoddy than we usually do. Well – make me less shoddy. Nick is always immaculate!

It does remind me though that Nick has written a couple of excellent posts well worth reading and I’d like to share them and suggest you click the links to have a look.

The first post is a review of Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge, which is interesting by itself, but Nick goes on to consider wider issues including what it means to be ‘a man’ in Cumbria in light of the ‘epidemic of suicide’ that our county suffers from.

Nick and I have slightly opposing views of Stewart. I’m no fan of Conservative MPs, former or otherwise, but I have been delighted and touched by the kindness (and, of course, expertise) of Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell’s excellent podcast series, The Rest Is Politics. The podcasts have given me a much greater respect for Stewart and not a little affection for him as a human being. Nick is yet to be convinced, I feel.

The second post is Nick’s thoughts about artificial intelligence and the future of being a writer. Again, absolutely fascinating and, again, Nick and I don’t entirely agree. Indeed, I present my counter to this post on my other site, which you’re more than welcome to have a read of as well – should you so desire. Despite some disagreement, Nick’s arguments are erudite and (almost) convincing and I suspect you’ll be more in agreement with his semi-pessimistic, semi-realistic stance that stresses the importance of being human when it comes to art, than my more optimistic view of AI that also stresses that we are less unique than we might wish to feel.

Do take a look at Nick’s posts (mine being very optional). He is worth a follow. I hope too that you’ll join us for our special podcast when we release it -hopefully before Christmas Day itself, but I have no idea how long post-production matters take!

Social Entrepreneur, educationalist, bestselling author and journalist, D K Powell is the author of the bestselling collection of literary short stories “The Old Man on the Beach“. His first book, ‘Sonali’ is a photo-memoir journal of life in Bangladesh and has been highly praised by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide. Students learning the Bengali language have also valued the English/Bengali translations on every page. His third book is ‘Try not to Laugh’ and is a guide to memorising, revising and passing exams for students.

Both ‘The Old Man on the Beach’ and ‘Sonali’ are available on Amazon for kindle and paperback. Published by Shopno Sriti Media. The novel,’The Pukur’, was published by Histria Books in 2022.

D K Powell is available to speak at events (see his TEDx talk here) and can be contacted at dkpowell.contact@gmail.com. Alternatively, he is available for one-to-one mentoring and runs a course on the psychology of writing. Listen to his life story in interview with the BBC here.

Ken writes for a number of publications around the world. Past reviewer for Paste magazine, The Doughnut, E2D and United Airways and Lancashire Life magazine. Currently reviews for Northern Arts Review. His reviews have been read more than 7.9 million times.

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