Julian Lees (Sandstone Press, 2013); pbk £8.99 Before even beginning to read Julian Lee’s novel The House of the Trembling Leaves, the title provides poignant imagery with its suggested opposition: the sturdiness of a house to the fragility of leaves. This contrast between strong and weak is one that recurs in this poetic novel which Read More
Elizabeth Reeder (Kohl Publishing, 2012); pbk. £8.99. Elizabeth Reeder’s second novel, Fremont, follows hot on the heels of her well-received debut, Ramshackle. Fremont has the same assuredness and lightness of touch, strong characterisation, and beautiful poetic prose as the earlier novel. It also takes the reader to a different state, in many different ways. Fremont Read More
(USA, 2012) 7 -13 June; DCA. Peter “Ginger” Baker is a London-born, red haired pioneer of percussion, often cited as the most influential drummer of the 1960s. Setting the tempo for bands such as Cream and Blind Faith, and infusing jazz, rock and African rhythms, has won Baker a long list of admirers of his Read More
Maria Jastrzębska (Waterloo Press, 2013);pbk: £10.00. It is well known that our senses create our most vivid recollections: familiar smells, images and objects bring back memories just as if they are present in the here and now. In At The Library of Memories, Maria Jastrzębska takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of her personal Read More
Leslie Bell (Mica Press,2012), Pbk, £8.00 Leslie Bell has lived in Britain, Europe and America and has worked in a wide and unrelated spectrum of jobs ranging from building work to systems programming to autism support. In light of his background, it is not surprising that Bell’s first collection of poetry is entitled Archipelagos. Written Read More
Guy Ware (Comma Press, 2012); pbk, £7.95. Identity is the prevalent theme in Guy Ware’s debut collection of short stories, You Have 24 Hours to Love Us.Various characters struggle with the urge and pressure to re-define themselves according to either society’s notions of identity or their own. Throughout his collection, Ware examines how individuals define Read More
We imagine we know where the danger lies with Johanna Basford, considering ourselves already overly familiar with her work. Not yet thirty and but a short jump beyond her Degree Show, just yards down the road from the DCA, we might believe ourselves too cosy in her lacy company. We know what she does. Therein Read More
Kona Macphee (Bloodaxe Books, 2013); pbk, £8.95. Kona Macphee’s What Long Miles forms a genuinely intriguing collection. Her approach to poetry is most accurately described as experimental. Macphee fluctuates between strict poetic forms and free verse, and aptly too, for her poems’ themes also range widely. This diversity initially appears to demonstrate her skilful shaping Read More
Pauline Stainer (Bloodaxe Books, 2013); pbk, £8.95. And when the sun lifts over bus lane and urban foxes a kind of giddiness overcomes me… These lines, from Pauline Stainer’s poem “Primrose Hill Druids”, evoke the dizzying sense of spiritual connection explored in her latest collection, Tiger Facing the Mist. Stainer is a gifted and prolific Read More
(USA, 2013) 17-30 May, DCA. For those expecting Star Trek Into Darkness to be a big screen action blockbuster, director J.J. Abrams does not disappoint. From the opening scenes until the credits roll, impressive visuals flash past at break-neck speed accompanied by a suitably grandiose soundtrack. While the performances match the visuals, an over-complicated plot Read More