The front cover of James Byrne’s collection, entitled Blood/Sugar, is intriguing and inviting; its rear cover houses two highly supportive testimonials, one by Australian poet John Kinsella, and the other by renowned English poet, Penelope Shuttle, which attest to the perceived riches within. The first impression that Byrne’s work evokes is one of admiration for Read More
Anglo-Breton poet Claire Trévien’s collection The Shipwrecked House is a bewildering yet heart-wrenching composition of myth, life and loss. In returning to the sea as a central theme, the poet creates a seamless transition from her pamphlet Low-Tide Lottery to this, her newest work. At first, these seemingly disjointed poems appear to follow no coherent Read More
Overall, Tom Kelly’s collection titled I Know Their Footsteps is a difficult read – not because the poet uses highly allusive imagery or inflated language but because the poetry is intrinsically emotionally trying. In this seventh collection of Kelly’s (and the sixth of which to be published by Red Squirrel Press), there are poems concerned Read More
Nearly two hundred guests gathered for the grand opening of the annual Generator Members show last weekend. Each year this show grows bigger demonstrating what a vital part of Dundee’s art scene Generator is, attracting staff and student members from DJCAD, local colleges and also many established artists. This year 96 members chose to submit Read More
Seeing the soft cover of Locust and Marlin, it was difficult not to grab the thin book from the proffered selection. There’s something magical about the marlin disappearing in the waves while the heron stands quietly on the back in an image which stretches across both covers. Certainly, it’s a scene familiar to me, my Read More
“This is maybe the best first novel I’ve read since Fight Club… Raw, spare and goddamned poetic” This comparison by author Frank Bill, the topmost of four glowing reviews on the back cover, is what first attracted me to this title. Chuck Palahniuk’s seminal work is successful for three main reasons: its clever satirising of Read More
In her third novel, Bodies of Light, Sarah Moss explores the ideas of family, maternity and inheritance across three generations and beyond. In 19th Century Manchester, Elizabeth Moberley is a crusader for the poor, down trodden and exploited women of Victorian England. Her husband Alfred (a pre-Raphaelite painter and decorator of drawing rooms) has long Read More
Award-winning writer, poet, journalist and Arts correspondent Philip Miller turns his attention to fiction in his debut novel, the dark and multi-layered The Blue Horse, which is rich in mystery, intrigue and gripping characterisation. The narrative tools with which Miller is equipped allow him to construct an essentially straightforward plot, though one which is in Read More
Sylvia Plath: Drawings gives an insight into a world of the famed poet perhaps not known to many as a visual artist. Having suffered from depression for most her life,and having eventually committed suicide aged only 30, she is known best for her confessional poetry, her dark, harsh and even macabre themes. For anyone who Read More
Sandeep Parmar is one of the most exciting emerging voices in British poetry. As a scholar, she is known primarily for her work on the modernist poet Hope Mirrlees; as a poet forging her own voice, she is known for the 2012 collection The Stone Orchard, and now (and, one hopes, pre-eminently) she is to Read More