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326437512

About Me

In the daytime I write books, which have been nominated and/or shortlisted for various prizes. The Glass House was published in 2004; Under the Mountain in 2008. I am currently writing my third novel, which has gone strangely sci-fi. I also write short stories, which have been published in anthologies & broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and poetry. In the nighttime, I take photographs. I live in Berlin.
Sunday Times: review: Under the Mountain
"It is Cooke's dual ability to pick apart beautifully the daytime details of cosy family life while also exploring much loftier themes of God, truth, memory and love that set her aside as a mature, intensely emotional and intelligent writer...Demanding, poetic and not afraid to argue her point."
Scottish Review of Books: review: Under the Mountain
"Sublime writing...Cooke is excellent on unspoken family tensions and her characters’ psychological motivations always ring true with a density that recalls Virginia Woolf. Of the younger generation of Scottish writers being published now, Cooke is one of the best."
To buy my books from outside the UK, go to www.bookdepository.co.uk who offer free worldwide delivery.
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My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Baudrillard.

My Blog

PRAGUE READING: September 7th

I will be reading from Under The Mountain and performing the short piece Protective Measures as part of the Alchemy series of readings in Prague. For more info on Alchemy, please go to:http://www.Alch...
Posted by on Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:26:00 GMT

AESTHETICA PROFILE

If you would like to read the profile of my work in the current issue of Aesthetica, please follow the link below. You can read part of it for free, or download the whole article for 89p.http://www.ae...
Posted by on Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:11:00 GMT

SUNDAY TIMES INTERVIEW

Talking about the house where I grew up...http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/pr operty/article6251437.eceAnd if you really want a laugh, here was me being voted the 6th most eligible ...
Posted by on Tue, 12 May 2009 11:33:00 GMT

SERBIAN SHORT STORY FESTIVAL

I will be reading at the Kikinda Short Story Festival in Serbia, June 24th-28th. Kikinda is a new festival whose aim is to draw together the best fresh work by young Eastern European writers. 2009 pro...
Posted by on Tue, 12 May 2009 11:17:00 GMT

BERLIN READING, 26TH MAY

Hi all. I will be reading from Under The Mountain on Tuesday 26th May in my very favourite Berlin venue, East of Eden international bookshop on Schreinerstrasse in Friedrichshain. The evening starts a...
Posted by on Tue, 12 May 2009 08:21:00 GMT

NEW POEM: RECEPTION ROOM

Harlequin man, Strassenlampencarve you into parts. Your cheek's lit sharp,bright-boned in the glow. One eye shines also.Your other half, in coal-mine shadows,watches your own performance in vital sile...
Posted by on Tue, 12 May 2009 08:14:00 GMT

review of UNDER THE MOUNTAIN in the SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS

"Cooke's second novel takes as its premise  a story-type made familiar by L. P. Hartley's The Go-Between and Ian McEwan's Atonement - a child who sees something he or she isn't supposed to see, and w...
Posted by on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:06:00 GMT

poem: FATE waits in a FORD FIESTA (wrote this one a year ago)

Coffee grains and glass, smashed-up isobars,scatter the pavement in accidental arcs.Constellations arch their backs abovethe dropping of the day from straining arms.The broken bags have blown like bir...
Posted by on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:51:00 GMT

poem: THE COLLECTOR

Underneath the cherry tree you lined up all the jars: lidless, under bony stars elbowing their goatish way between the tissue blooms. On the cold soft summer grass you let the night c...
Posted by on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:02:00 GMT

a new poem: ON THE WIRE

Up on the wire that spans the gorge,above the shirt sleeves in the wind,you stand, balanced against the world.Your soles are tough and old, but stillthe wire digs red into your skin.You ignore it, loo...
Posted by on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:59:00 GMT