Press

Riotous story of the power and potential of working-class solidarity

21st January 2018 Reviews

A review by the Morning Star. THIS novel by Sharon Duggal of life in early-1980s working-class Birmingham during the time of inner-city rioting is defined by the greater and lesser griefs of the Agarwal family. Through their voices, the wonderful cussedness of a people and a community that will not be destroyed either by itself or by others speaks loud and clear. The tone of loss is set early on, with father Mukesh Agarwal supping in a pub as theRead More

Brew and Books Blog

21st January 2018 Reviews

From Brew and Books Blog. About – The Handsworth Times Mukesh Agarwal sits alone in the Black Eagle pub, unaware that a riot is brewing or that Billy, his youngest son, is still out on his bike …A mile away in the family home in Church Street, Anila, one of the three Agarwal girls, is reading Smash Hits and listening to Radio One as she sprawls across the bottom bunk, oblivious to the monumental tragedy that is about to hitRead More

The Morning Star Interview

21st January 2018 Other

From The Morning Star. SHARON DUGGAL tells Farhana Shaikh what impelled her to write her first novel, set during the 1981 Handsworth riots The Handsworth Times is your first novel. How did you go about writing it? I’d like to say I have a routine and a set process for writing but it would be a big fib. I am quite unorganised and a bit sporadic as a writer but I do always carry a notebook, jot down ideas asRead More

Poets Pages

21st January 2018 Other

From Poets Pages.

My Journey as a Writer – Spread The Word

21st January 2018 Other

From Spread The Word. It’s not easy trying to fit in writing when our lives are taken up with other things but, if the urge is strong, it will find a way through whoever you are and whatever your circumstances. This was certainly my experience. I have always written – from scribbled secret poems in teenage notebooks to completing an MPhil in Creative Writing at Sussex University in 2014. Now, in the autumn of 2016, my debut novel, The Handsworth Times has been publishedRead More

Mslexia Magazine Issue 72 interview

21st January 2018 Other

From Mslexia Magazine Issue 72. Twice Sharon Duggal has thought: ‘It’s now or never’. And twice she has acted on it. Each time it has paid off and impelled the author to write: first, ten years ago, a short story shortlisted for the Penguin Decibel Prize; and this year with her début novel The Handsworth Times, which has just been published to rave reviews.Set in 1981, the novel revolves around Mukesh Agarwal and his family in the Birmingham suburb ofRead More

The Birmingham launch of The Handsworth Times

21st January 2018 Other

A  short video of the event, made by Shuut.co.uk.

Brum Radio Books

20th January 2018 Other

Award-winning writer, Catherine O’Flynn reviews The Handsworth Times plus interview with Sharon at the end of the show.

Sharon Duggal on The Write Songs

20th January 2018 Other

Sharon discusses the music that features in and/or inspired The Handsworth Times.

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