I am the author of three novels: Curvy Lovebox (1997); Crumple Zone (2000); and Hooky Gear (2001).
Together they form a loose trilogy of urban tales that map out the underbelly of contemporary London using an experimental mixture of genre and voice.
With my debut novel, Curvy Lovebox, I became the first white writer to be published by the Black publishing house, The X Press. The second, Crumple Zone, is narrated by a young female teacher whose brother goes missing. The third, Hooky Gear, is told by J, a burglar whose life is falling apart, and gained a nomination for the Granta magazine’s list of 20 ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ in 2003.
The books have been widely praised for their ‘brilliantly literary’ first-person voices, their mixture of realism and humour, and their fine chronicling of urban sub-culture.
My fourth novel, La Femme d’un Homme Qui, was published in 2011 in France, in French, by Quidam, and was widely praised. One reviewer called it ‘a masterpiece’, another described it as ‘Alice in Wonderland on Lithium’.
I have contributed to the British Council short story anthologies, New Writing 12 (2003) and New Writing 14 (2006), as well as to The X Press’s Westside Storeys (2003), and an essay for the Wiener Library’s Holocaust memorial book, Storeys of Memory (2001).
I was born to Hungarian Jewish refugee parents who came to Britain in 1956. Scattered Ghosts, a 200-year family history through war, Holocaust and Revolution, will be published later this year.
In addition, I have written radio plays – The Concierge and Karate Men Don’t Talk won awards at the London Radio Playwrights’ Festivals 1993 and 1994 - and wide-ranging journalism for newspapers and magazines, including a long-running series about London for The Times, reviews and features for Time Out, and a walk for the Time Out Book of London Walks Volume 2 (2001).
I regularly teach journalism and creative writing, have toured with the British Council, and have participated in many spoken word and live literature events.
Bibliography
Curvy Lovebox The X Press, 1997
Crumple Zone Sceptre, 2000
Hooky Gear Sceptre, 2001
Storeys of Memory (contributor) Wiener Library, 2001
Time Out Book of London Walks Volume 2 (contributor) Penguin, 2001
New Writing 12 (contributor) British Council/Picador, 2003
Westside Storeys (contributor) The X Press, 2003
New Writing 14 (contributor) British Council/Granta, 2006
La Femme d’un Homme Qui Quidam, 2011
Scattered Ghosts I.B Tauris, 2013