{"id":1850784,"date":"2026-03-27T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850784"},"modified":"2026-03-27T14:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:02:00","slug":"this-new-novel-injects-queerness-into-irelands-hyper-masculine-ganglands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1850784","title":{"rendered":"This new novel injects queerness into Ireland\u2019s hyper-masculine ganglands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1054\/0-0-1054-702\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442682.png&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/life-culture\/article\/70003\/1\/all-them-dogs-djamel-white-irish-fiction-best-new-novels-2026\" data-article-id=\"70003\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.74\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot 2026-03-27 at 12.13.17\" class=\"img\" height=\"1416\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1054\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442682.png\" width=\"1054\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Conor Horgan<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T14:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - life-culture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>This new novel injects queerness into Ireland\u2019s <span class=\"nowrap\">hyper-masculine ganglands<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>We speak to Djamel White about his debut novel, All Them Dogs, a story of desire and survival in Dublin\u2019s <span class=\"nowrap\">criminal underworld<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T14:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-27T14:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"27 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"27\">27,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/nickclevine\">Nick C Levine<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With his debut novel, <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span>, Djamel White draws us into a world of threats and retribution, where gangsters with Turkey teeth and remodelled hairlines compete for money, status and power. When Tony Ward returns to Dublin after a spell lying low in England, he seeks protection from local mafioso Aengus Lavelle, who sets him to work with his top enforcer, the inscrutable Darren \u2018Flute\u2019 Walsh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Tony struggles to reconnect with his exhausted mother and resentful brother, who views him as a danger to the family\u2019s safety, his partnership with Flute gives him purpose. Not for the first time, Tony finds himself falling for a man with broad shoulders in all senses. \u201cI didn\u2019t set out to write a capital \u2018q\u2019 queer novel,\u201d White says, speaking on Zoom from his home in West Dublin, where <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span> is largely set. \u201cI guess this is a crime thriller, but it&#8217;s also a human story about a flawed person operating in an incredibly violent world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>White, who left school early before returning to education to complete a degree and MFA at University College Dublin, has pulled off a subtly disruptive masterstroke. He\u2019s injected a thrilling hit of illicit queerness into an ultra-masculine world where reputation is everything. Here, he discusses the interlocking themes that drive his novel to a frenetic conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"f7ead9aa-0a20-4487-a9ad-b41a00c99c93\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1843\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442683.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"All Them Dogs Cover\" class=\"img\" height=\"2835\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442683.jpg\" width=\"1843\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">John Murray Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You write about Dublin<span>\u2019<\/span>s criminal underworld so vividly in the novel. Is it a world you<span>\u2019<\/span>ve dipped into, or always been fascinated by?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White:<\/strong><span> I mean, Dublin is a small place, and the class lines are much more blurred in Ireland because, you know, we abolished the gentry [back in the day]. So unless you\u2019re from a very affluent background, that [gangland] world is always accessible to you \u2013 it\u2019s unavoidable in some ways. For me, it was always just kind of there. It wasn\u2019t until I was much older and started meeting people from different backgrounds \u2013 quite sheltered backgrounds, I would say \u2013 that I realised not everyone had an awareness of this world. I didn\u2019t have a particularly rough upbringing, but I grew up with a real awareness of what that world could be like. And I consider the characters in <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span>, for the most part, to be from a similar social background to me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The novel is written in the first person, from the perspective of Tony Ward, a prodigal son trying to reassert himself in this overtly violent world. How did the character take shape?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>In a lot of ways, he\u2019s the complete opposite to me, but I\u2019ve observed characters like him throughout my life. I\u2019m interested in power \u2013 what people do to take it, and the instances in which they lose it \u2013 particularly in masculine structures and settings. Growing up, there was always a kind of pecking order based on physicality. It was the biggest, strongest and most threatening [man] who was on top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There was also this underlying kind of ambient violence between men. The one that could hurt you the most was the one who everyone kind of revered. And though it never came to [violence], sometimes when these guys talked, there would be stories about what they\u2019d done to other people. And I guess there\u2019s three feelings at play in that situation: fear, envy and desire. Like, \u2018I\u2019m afraid of this guy, but he has everything I want, and I kind of want to be him.\u2019 And with this story, I was like, \u2018What if we push the desire element a little further?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you think there&#8217;s a performative aspect to the aggressive masculinity exhibited by Tony and other characters in the novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>I think \u2018performative\u2019 is an interesting word because it implies a direct intention. Whereas with Tony, it&#8217;s maybe more instinctive \u2013 he can\u2019t back down from anything because he\u2019s backed himself into a corner. He\u2019s never going to surrender, because if he surrenders to himself, the mask would slip and he would disintegrate completely. And I think the same can be said for all the characters in the book, even if we don\u2019t get their backstories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>[Tony]\u2019s never going to surrender, because if he surrenders to himself, the mask would slip and he would disintegrate completely<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>What drives Tony? He seems completely impulsive, with very little capacity for self-criticism.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Absolutely. And what he probably won\u2019t admit to himself is that he wants to be accepted and connect with people. You know, his view of the world is based on the environment he came up in. The hyper-masculine hegemony of his immediate surroundings makes him think that the way to get that [acceptance] is to adhere to these hyper-masculine ideals. But of course, there\u2019s a foil to that in that he\u2019s a queer person, and that\u2019s where things get complicated for him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony never puts a label on his sexuality \u2013 and actually, no one puts a label on anyone&#8217;s sexuality in the novel. Do you think Tony perceives himself as <span>\u2018<\/span>queer<span>\u2019<\/span>, or does he view his attraction to other men as just another secret to keep hidden?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Yeah, I think it\u2019s the latter. I don&#8217;t think he\u2019s engaged in queer culture in any kind of broad sense. It\u2019s established early on [in the novel] that he was taken in by a mentor, and there was some sort of imbalanced relationship there that allowed Tony to come to terms with [being attracted to men], in whatever twisted way he has come to terms with it. I think he\u2019s doing his best not to allow his sexuality to undermine this vision of himself that he\u2019s established in his mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And you know, I\u2019m writing a very closely locked-in, first-person narrative, so there\u2019s not really room for me to explore that [dilemma] in any great detail, because that kind of introspection wouldn\u2019t be true to his character. I also think it goes without saying that in the spaces that Tony occupies, his sexuality has to be kept hidden. I think it would almost have felt too obvious or pastiche to bring it up in any kind of overt way. I think we all know what would happen to Tony if people found out about him and Flute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Besides their constant physical proximity, what do you think draws Tony and Flute together?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Emotional security, I think. When Tony starts working with Flute, he knows there are people out there who want retribution [for his past actions], so the only place he feels safe is when he\u2019s in the car with Flute. He knows that Flute will always defend him when they\u2019re on a job. And going back to what we were saying about envy and desire, I think Tony quickly accepts, internally at least, that Flute is one step above him in this hegemonic world, which adds to his appeal. And obviously, we shouldn\u2019t disregard the fact that Flute is [physically] an attractive man. Tony is definitely drawn to that!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span> There&#8217;s a great irony to that [&#8230;] in this hyper-masculine world, there seems to be an excessive amount of grooming involved. You can see that in the wider culture today, to a much greater extent, with things like looksmaxxing<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>There<span>\u2019<\/span>s a lovely moment of vulnerability in Flute<span>\u2019<\/span>s flat when he puts on a Dusty Springfield record, which feels like an incongruous choice from a character trying to conceal his own sexuality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong>Well, I have to have my moments of levity! It\u2019s a moment of vulnerability for Tony, too, because he thinks he recognises the song and tries to put himself on Flute\u2019s level by saying: \u2018Ah, it\u2019s Cypress Hill.\u2019 Whereas it\u2019s actually \u2018Son of a Preacher Man\u2019, the Dusty Springfield song that Cypress Hill sample [on \u2018Hits from the Bong\u2019]. So Tony kind of embarrasses himself, which unlevels the playing field immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I love the way Tony describes people<span>\u2019<\/span>s appearances, especially when they<span>\u2019<\/span>ve obviously had <span>\u2018<\/span>work done<span>\u2019<\/span>, like veneers or a hair transplant. In the world he<span>\u2019<\/span>s navigating, does cosmetic surgery serve a dual purpose \u2013 is it armour as well as a status symbol?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Yeah, and I think there&#8217;s a great irony to that, because in this hyper-masculine world, there seems to be an excessive amount of grooming involved. You can see that in the wider culture today, to a much greater extent, with things like looksmaxxing, that I won\u2019t get into here! But in Tony\u2019s world, it\u2019s part of the armour and part of the image that needs to be portrayed. If you\u2019re walking around Ireland \u2013 a country that has 90 per cent cloud coverage most of the time \u2013 with a golden brown tan and shiny new teeth, that\u2019s a signifier of wealth and success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I found it interesting that amid all this pimped-up machismo, Flute<span>\u2019<\/span>s mum Melissa might be the toughest character of the lot.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>That was about balance, and about giving Flute his own foil \u2013 the fact he\u2019s a mammy\u2019s boy. He\u2019s in the driver\u2019s seat for so much of the novel until Tony sees a chink in his armour, which is Melissa. I think it\u2019s so much more interesting for his foil to be a woman, because it pushes against what might be expected in a story like this. And that\u2019s something I\u2019m always trying to do in my writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Despite the terrible things that Tony does, you manage to keep us rooting for him. Was it a process of trial and error to make him at least moderately sympathetic?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>I\u2019m glad you said that. I kind of just had to close my eyes and fucking hope that would be the case. I think the key thing was that I was sympathetic towards him, and I hope there\u2019s some kind of shared human nature among readers that makes people latch on to that. Like, I wasn\u2019t writing a character who I thought of as \u2018gruesome\u2019 in any way. It\u2019s kind of hard to argue Tony\u2019s case, but that&#8217;s what makes him so interesting to me. When we\u2019re reading him, we\u2019re so close to him as we see every chink in his armour and every [difficult] relationship he goes through. I think if he was written in the third person, or if the book had multiple narrators, he might be easier to hate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachette.co.uk\/titles\/djamel-white\/all-them-dogs\/9781399824460\/\">All Them Dogs<\/a><em>is out now.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo by Alena Zakirova\/Getty Images\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/31-66-899-598\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442310.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">In defence of Chappell Roan<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69808\/1\/polly-barton-what-am-i-a-deer-novel-book-interview-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"polly profile picture colour\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/207-594-2562-1704\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440047.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">This new novel unpacks the highs and lows of limerence<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69943\/1\/trans-drivers-kansas-1700-licenses-invalidated-us-america-trump\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"One Battle After Another\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/203-0-809-538\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442062.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">\u2018I\u2019m not giving up my rights\u2019: Why Kansas is coming for trans drivers<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69942\/1\/how-to-cultivate-your-own-taste-books-film-fashion-taste-tiktok-culture\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1*STjXczVDRHPAcenwWt3zLg\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/317-0-1630-1084\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442030.jpeg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">How to cultivate your own taste<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With his debut novel, <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span>, Djamel White draws us into a world of threats and retribution, where gangsters with Turkey teeth and remodelled hairlines compete for money, status and power. When Tony Ward returns to Dublin after a spell lying low in England, he seeks protection from local mafioso Aengus Lavelle, who sets him to work with his top enforcer, the inscrutable Darren \u2018Flute\u2019 Walsh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Tony struggles to reconnect with his exhausted mother and resentful brother, who views him as a danger to the family\u2019s safety, his partnership with Flute gives him purpose. Not for the first time, Tony finds himself falling for a man with broad shoulders in all senses. \u201cI didn\u2019t set out to write a capital \u2018q\u2019 queer novel,\u201d White says, speaking on Zoom from his home in West Dublin, where <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span> is largely set. \u201cI guess this is a crime thriller, but it&#8217;s also a human story about a flawed person operating in an incredibly violent world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>White, who left school early before returning to education to complete a degree and MFA at University College Dublin, has pulled off a subtly disruptive masterstroke. He\u2019s injected a thrilling hit of illicit queerness into an ultra-masculine world where reputation is everything. Here, he discusses the interlocking themes that drive his novel to a frenetic conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"f7ead9aa-0a20-4487-a9ad-b41a00c99c93\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1843\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442683.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.65\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"All Them Dogs Cover\" class=\"img\" height=\"2835\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442683.jpg\" width=\"1843\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">John Murray Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You write about Dublin<span>\u2019<\/span>s criminal underworld so vividly in the novel. Is it a world you<span>\u2019<\/span>ve dipped into, or always been fascinated by?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White:<\/strong><span> I mean, Dublin is a small place, and the class lines are much more blurred in Ireland because, you know, we abolished the gentry [back in the day]. So unless you\u2019re from a very affluent background, that [gangland] world is always accessible to you \u2013 it\u2019s unavoidable in some ways. For me, it was always just kind of there. It wasn\u2019t until I was much older and started meeting people from different backgrounds \u2013 quite sheltered backgrounds, I would say \u2013 that I realised not everyone had an awareness of this world. I didn\u2019t have a particularly rough upbringing, but I grew up with a real awareness of what that world could be like. And I consider the characters in <\/span><em><span>All Them Dogs<\/span><\/em><span>, for the most part, to be from a similar social background to me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The novel is written in the first person, from the perspective of Tony Ward, a prodigal son trying to reassert himself in this overtly violent world. How did the character take shape?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>In a lot of ways, he\u2019s the complete opposite to me, but I\u2019ve observed characters like him throughout my life. I\u2019m interested in power \u2013 what people do to take it, and the instances in which they lose it \u2013 particularly in masculine structures and settings. Growing up, there was always a kind of pecking order based on physicality. It was the biggest, strongest and most threatening [man] who was on top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There was also this underlying kind of ambient violence between men. The one that could hurt you the most was the one who everyone kind of revered. And though it never came to [violence], sometimes when these guys talked, there would be stories about what they\u2019d done to other people. And I guess there\u2019s three feelings at play in that situation: fear, envy and desire. Like, \u2018I\u2019m afraid of this guy, but he has everything I want, and I kind of want to be him.\u2019 And with this story, I was like, \u2018What if we push the desire element a little further?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you think there&#8217;s a performative aspect to the aggressive masculinity exhibited by Tony and other characters in the novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>I think \u2018performative\u2019 is an interesting word because it implies a direct intention. Whereas with Tony, it&#8217;s maybe more instinctive \u2013 he can\u2019t back down from anything because he\u2019s backed himself into a corner. He\u2019s never going to surrender, because if he surrenders to himself, the mask would slip and he would disintegrate completely. And I think the same can be said for all the characters in the book, even if we don\u2019t get their backstories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>[Tony]\u2019s never going to surrender, because if he surrenders to himself, the mask would slip and he would disintegrate completely<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>What drives Tony? He seems completely impulsive, with very little capacity for self-criticism.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Absolutely. And what he probably won\u2019t admit to himself is that he wants to be accepted and connect with people. You know, his view of the world is based on the environment he came up in. The hyper-masculine hegemony of his immediate surroundings makes him think that the way to get that [acceptance] is to adhere to these hyper-masculine ideals. But of course, there\u2019s a foil to that in that he\u2019s a queer person, and that\u2019s where things get complicated for him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony never puts a label on his sexuality \u2013 and actually, no one puts a label on anyone&#8217;s sexuality in the novel. Do you think Tony perceives himself as <span>\u2018<\/span>queer<span>\u2019<\/span>, or does he view his attraction to other men as just another secret to keep hidden?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Yeah, I think it\u2019s the latter. I don&#8217;t think he\u2019s engaged in queer culture in any kind of broad sense. It\u2019s established early on [in the novel] that he was taken in by a mentor, and there was some sort of imbalanced relationship there that allowed Tony to come to terms with [being attracted to men], in whatever twisted way he has come to terms with it. I think he\u2019s doing his best not to allow his sexuality to undermine this vision of himself that he\u2019s established in his mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And you know, I\u2019m writing a very closely locked-in, first-person narrative, so there\u2019s not really room for me to explore that [dilemma] in any great detail, because that kind of introspection wouldn\u2019t be true to his character. I also think it goes without saying that in the spaces that Tony occupies, his sexuality has to be kept hidden. I think it would almost have felt too obvious or pastiche to bring it up in any kind of overt way. I think we all know what would happen to Tony if people found out about him and Flute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Besides their constant physical proximity, what do you think draws Tony and Flute together?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Emotional security, I think. When Tony starts working with Flute, he knows there are people out there who want retribution [for his past actions], so the only place he feels safe is when he\u2019s in the car with Flute. He knows that Flute will always defend him when they\u2019re on a job. And going back to what we were saying about envy and desire, I think Tony quickly accepts, internally at least, that Flute is one step above him in this hegemonic world, which adds to his appeal. And obviously, we shouldn\u2019t disregard the fact that Flute is [physically] an attractive man. Tony is definitely drawn to that!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span> There&#8217;s a great irony to that [&#8230;] in this hyper-masculine world, there seems to be an excessive amount of grooming involved. You can see that in the wider culture today, to a much greater extent, with things like looksmaxxing<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>There<span>\u2019<\/span>s a lovely moment of vulnerability in Flute<span>\u2019<\/span>s flat when he puts on a Dusty Springfield record, which feels like an incongruous choice from a character trying to conceal his own sexuality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong>Well, I have to have my moments of levity! It\u2019s a moment of vulnerability for Tony, too, because he thinks he recognises the song and tries to put himself on Flute\u2019s level by saying: \u2018Ah, it\u2019s Cypress Hill.\u2019 Whereas it\u2019s actually \u2018Son of a Preacher Man\u2019, the Dusty Springfield song that Cypress Hill sample [on \u2018Hits from the Bong\u2019]. So Tony kind of embarrasses himself, which unlevels the playing field immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I love the way Tony describes people<span>\u2019<\/span>s appearances, especially when they<span>\u2019<\/span>ve obviously had <span>\u2018<\/span>work done<span>\u2019<\/span>, like veneers or a hair transplant. In the world he<span>\u2019<\/span>s navigating, does cosmetic surgery serve a dual purpose \u2013 is it armour as well as a status symbol?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>Yeah, and I think there&#8217;s a great irony to that, because in this hyper-masculine world, there seems to be an excessive amount of grooming involved. You can see that in the wider culture today, to a much greater extent, with things like looksmaxxing, that I won\u2019t get into here! But in Tony\u2019s world, it\u2019s part of the armour and part of the image that needs to be portrayed. If you\u2019re walking around Ireland \u2013 a country that has 90 per cent cloud coverage most of the time \u2013 with a golden brown tan and shiny new teeth, that\u2019s a signifier of wealth and success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I found it interesting that amid all this pimped-up machismo, Flute<span>\u2019<\/span>s mum Melissa might be the toughest character of the lot.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>That was about balance, and about giving Flute his own foil \u2013 the fact he\u2019s a mammy\u2019s boy. He\u2019s in the driver\u2019s seat for so much of the novel until Tony sees a chink in his armour, which is Melissa. I think it\u2019s so much more interesting for his foil to be a woman, because it pushes against what might be expected in a story like this. And that\u2019s something I\u2019m always trying to do in my writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Despite the terrible things that Tony does, you manage to keep us rooting for him. Was it a process of trial and error to make him at least moderately sympathetic?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Djamel White: <\/strong><span>I\u2019m glad you said that. I kind of just had to close my eyes and fucking hope that would be the case. I think the key thing was that I was sympathetic towards him, and I hope there\u2019s some kind of shared human nature among readers that makes people latch on to that. Like, I wasn\u2019t writing a character who I thought of as \u2018gruesome\u2019 in any way. It\u2019s kind of hard to argue Tony\u2019s case, but that&#8217;s what makes him so interesting to me. When we\u2019re reading him, we\u2019re so close to him as we see every chink in his armour and every [difficult] relationship he goes through. I think if he was written in the third person, or if the book had multiple narrators, he might be easier to hate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachette.co.uk\/titles\/djamel-white\/all-them-dogs\/9781399824460\/\">All Them Dogs<\/a><em>is out now.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70003\/1\/all-them-dogs-djamel-white-irish-fiction-best-new-novels-2026&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1054\/0-0-1054-702\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442682.png&#8221;] Conor Horgan March\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 Life &amp; Culture \/ Q+A Life &amp; Culture \/ Q+A This new novel injects queerness into Ireland\u2019s hyper-masculine ganglands We speak to Djamel White about his debut novel, All Them Dogs, a story of desire and survival in Dublin\u2019s criminal underworld March\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 March\u00a0 27,\u00a0 2026 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1850784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}