[5] In his 2017 book, Artefacts of Writing: Ideas of the State and Communities of Letters from Matthew Arnold to Xu Bing, [6] McDonald charts the intersections between fiction, cultural institutions and politics.

"He analyses the role of censors, writers, publishers and booksellers; and presents a number of case studies.

"[11] Writing in the Mail & Guardian De Waal observed, "He also gives a full and enlightening account of the historical and political context and details matters from the perspectives of authors and publishers.

[14][15] In his 1997 monograph, British Literary Culture and Publishing Practice, 1880–1914, [16] McDonald reframed theories of Pierre Bourdieu about the literary cycle as a microcosm in which writers, critics, publishers, printers, distributors and readers act according to certain laws, established structures and codified practices.

[17] He uses as case studies comparisons of Joseph Conrad, Arnold Bennett and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Clearing a space for multiple, marginal voices: the writers' activism of PEN," and "Bugger universality:" an exchange with Antjie Krog / Antjie Krog and Peter D. McDonald," In Sandra Mayer, Ruth Scobie, eds.

Pen International: An Illustrated History: Literature Knows No Frontiers, by Carles Torner, Jennifer Clement, Peter D. McDonald, Jan Martens, Ginevra Avalle, Rachel Potter, and Laetitia Zecchini, 2021.

McDonald, Peter D. Artefacts of Writing: Ideas of the State and Communities of Letters from Matthew Arnold to Xu Bing.

McDonald, Peter D. “The Ethics of Reading and the Question of the Novel: The Challenge of J. M. Coetzee’s Diary of a Bad Year.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction 43, no.

McDonald, Peter D. “Ideas of the Book and Histories of Literature: After Theory?” PMLA : Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 121, no.