THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST

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The latest novel Published by Darkspur Press

“A stunning novel crackling with historical insight.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

“In Burke’s historical novel, a gossip columnist harboring a dangerous family secret struggles to counter pervasive propaganda in Nazi-era Germany…..the work as a whole is dramatically absorbing and truly eye-opening ... Burke manages, with impressive literary artistry, to shed some light on a historical conundrum: How did such unabashed savagery spring from such a famously refined national culture? 

UNDER FIRE:
JOURNALISTS IN COMBAT

Winner of the Peabody Award and shortlisted for the Academy Awards, Martyn Burke's latest film UNDER FIRE: Journalist In Combat, takes the viewer into the psychological cost of covering wars. Having been through wars himself, Burke lets the latest wave of combat reporters tell of the invisible toll that war takes as jarring footage of what they experienced plays on the screen.

OTHER NOVELS

Published by Tyrus

Carl Hiaasen, New York Times best selling author of  "Razor Girl", "Bad Monkey" and many others. “Music for Love or War is slash-and-burn funny, but also unexpectedly touching and wise.

THE SHELLING OF
BEVERLY HILLS

Published by Houghton Mifflin

“One of the most entertaining and hilarious novels of the year”
. . . UPI
“A wonder of intense cinematic storytelling . . . ”
— The Wall Street Journal.

THE TRUTH ABOUT
THE NIGHT

Published by Bantam

“Burke has created a vast, unruly quintessentially American landscape. Prepare to get carried away . .“
— Washington Post

LAUGHING WAR

Published by Harper Collins

“Martyn Burke offers a master class in timing and subtlety....the answers come, pulling us into the character's dilemmas, making us care, keeping us turning the ages . . . With so much drama,
—Toronto Globe and Mail

TIARA

Published by 1st Books

Excerpt of the sequel to Ivory Joe, a novella.

Published by Doubleday

“One of the best fictional Vietnam scenes yet published“ — Washington Post
“A savagely funny remarkable book.“
— Toronto Sun
“The Catch-22 of Southeast Asia“
— Publishers Weekly

Published by Bantam

“Burke has created a vast, unruly quintessentially American landscape. Prepare to get carried away . .“
— Washington Post

©2026 Martyn Burke, All Rights Reserved.

THE COMMISSAR’S REPORT

MUSIC FOR LOVE OR WAR

IVORY JOE

Martyn Burke works in a multitude of worlds, moving between novels, films, and documentaries.

Black and white portrait of an older man with disheveled hair, wearing a button-down shirt, in front of a bookshelf filled with books.

He has published six highly acclaimed novels; he has won the Peabody Award and the International Press Academy Auteur Award. He has also been nominated for Emmys and Writers Guild awards. He often researches his novels by making documentaries which have included the Academy Award-short listed Under Fire: Journalists in Combat and as well as other topics ranging from traveling carnivals to war and terrorism.

Black and white photo of a crowd of people gathered outdoors, with a man in the foreground carrying a camera and a woman with a coat and headphones talking to another person. Some people are talking, others are standing around. The scene appears to be from a past era, possibly the 1960s or 1970s.
Two men in military uniforms standing outdoors in a wooded area, one holding a rifle and the other with a camera around his neck.
Vintage military press card from Vietnam war era with a black-and-white portrait of a man named Martin Burke, issued by Toronto Telegram agency. The card is brown, aged, with printed and handwritten text, and features military insignias at the top.
Book page with black and white photo of a man, Cyrillic text, and a maple leaf graphic.
Military fighter jet flying in the sky with a trail of vapor behind it, turned at an angle with a partly cloudy sky background.
A group of men, most wearing traditional Middle Eastern or Central Asian clothing and turbans, gathered around a small outdoor fire with a cooking pot on it, on a rocky hillside.
Black and white photo of two men standing outside, one reading a paper, with an ornamental fence and trees in the background.