a swimming pool library offers reflections on the things worth diving into.
Hello! I'm the novelist, artist publisher and swimmer Xander Beattie.
My newsletter is about slowing down and savouring immersions in my favourite things — including printed matter, the creative process, nature (esp. water!), and cafe culture.
The title of this newsletter is lovingly borrowed from The Swimming-Pool Library, Alan Hollinghurst’s glorious debut novel (which by sheer, fabulous happenstance was first published in 1988, the year I was born). I can’t think of a phrase that more aptly evokes my love of swimming, reading, writing, libraries and (of course) exquisitely written gay novels.
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I started out my media career in London as an assistant to MONOCLE’s editor-in-chief, Tyler Brûlé, and later served as the magazine’s Southern Africa correspondent for several years. Running the gamut of politics, culture, the environment and travel, my other bylines have included the BBC, Mail & Guardian and Business Day. I’ve written widely for the press, corporate clients and non-profits, though fiction is my first (and most enduring!) love.
I live with my husband, two cats and hundreds of books in a remote offgrid cabin in Northern California.
A bit more about me:
- My poetry has been published by &Change, Ons Klyntji, The Bloom, Spectra Poets and Noyo Review. My short fiction has appeared in two anthologies: The Ghost-Eater and Other Stories (Umuzi) and Adults Only (Mercury)
- I recently launched a publisher called PRONK. Its first title is a limited-run artist edition of my novel, The President
- From 2013 to 2019, I edited the literary journal AERODROME, publishing book reviews, extracts, interviews and original creative writing
- I was the founding editor of Climate Action California’s online magazine, The Condor, from late 2023 until 2025
- I recently received a postgraduate diploma in sustainable development (cum laude) from the University of Stellenbosch
- Somewhat ironically for a transit aficionado, I live a half-hour drive from the nearest bus stop
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Lest you feel short-changed and would actually like to see a (virtual) library full of swimming spots, visit my tumblr of the same name.