Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil takes a thought provoking look at life for Arab families living in inner city London. Hosaini’s first feature film as writer and director was a labour of love as the film took six years to come to fruition. She began writing the script and envisioned shooting much of Read More
Men and Women Alone is the first of Argentinian poet Tamara Kamenszain’s collections to be translated into English. It marks yet another accomplishment in the diverse life of this poet. Her career ranges from the study of philosophy, working as a journalist, to the collection of numerous poetry prizes. Originally from Argentina, Kamenzain has published Read More
Q. What if this book doesn’t work? A. It will work Q. Is it guaranteed to work A. No This typically dysfunctional Q & A forms the introduction to artist David Shrigley’s first attempt at spinning his whimsical sentences and absurd drawings into a structured narrative. How Are You Feeling: at the Inside of the Read More
In his day job, Richard Watt writes journalistic prose for a Scottish daily newspaper. In his poetry, by contrast, we encounter a creative, dynamic wordsmith. His pamphlet, The Golem, contains nineteen poems. Some, such as “Bachelor” and “The Old Country” deal with personal regret, while others take on a broader outlook, exploring man’s relationship with Read More
Lakshmi Persaud’s fifth novel, Daughters of Empire,is a novel about making a home away from home. It centres around the lives of Amira and her family, Trinidadian Hindus, as they migrate from Trinidad to London. Amira and her daughters flourish as they impact upon and embrace the new culture around them. By contrast, Amira’s older Read More
Comics, Manga & Co. The New Culture Of German Comics showcases the work of two recent generations of artists from the flourishing world of German comics. At the event preview, Dr Chris Murray, programme convenor of the University of Dundee’s MLitt in Comic Studies introduced Anke Feuchtenberger who gave a talk to accompany the exhibition’s Read More
Cold Sea Stories is the latest fictional work from veteran Polish writer Paweł Huelle, and was translated into English from the original Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. As its title suggests, the book is a collection of thematically linked short stories set in the Baltic region: the “cold sea” of the title. Huelle draws upon historical Read More
Jennifer Lynch’s Chained is an impressively directed psychological thriller concerning the relationship between a murderer and rapist known as Bob (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his abductee Rabbit (Eamon Farren). Although the plot follows the conventions of the genre, the overall execution is excellent with thoughtfully arranged mise-en-scène and great performances from both leads. The opening sequence, Read More
A huge commercial success in America, young director Benh Zeitlin’s first feature film Beasts of the Southern Wild was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for drama at Sundance and the Caméra d’Or at Cannes. Adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar’s one-act play Juicy and Delicious, the film follows the story of Read More
Emerging from a multi-award-winning short from 2008, writer and director Richard Bates Jr.’s debut feature length film Excision is a work of brilliance. Ostensibly, the film is a high school comedy/drama which follows the story of eighteen-year old Pauline, played exquisitely by AnnaLynne McCord. Pauline is a bright, ambitious and sexually curious young woman who Read More