Luke Brown’s latest novel Theft begins with a tension that won’t let up. Paul’s mother has just died. His sister has gone missing. He’s done something terrible. And it’s also the run-up to the EU referendum. We are hurtling headlong towards some awful reveal. Knowing the Brexit result offers little reassurance. Except this novel is Read More
Donegal Tarantella is Irish poet Moya Cannon’s sixth collection of poetry. In proper Cannon style, this assemblage of poetry incorporates a raw, lyrical cadence in the appreciation of landscape and history to deliver a melody of words finely tuned for the page. Cannon’s poetry is a slow burn of rich imagery and poetic diction, creating Read More
Sextus Propertius (ca. 50 BCE – 15 BCE) may not be the most famous Roman poet of the Augustan age, but possibly unjustly so. Patrick Worsnip has now translated Propertius’ elegiac poems for the modern reader, reinterpreting the 2007 Oxford Classical Text as swift, easy-to-read verse poetry. No prior knowledge of Latin literature is Read More
How came separation to chisel, to cherish, to chafe? (‘Some Questions’) There’s always that danger in knowing a writer’s backstory, being aware of historical contexts, or as here, when we live through extreme times and cannot help but use that lens as we read. Over-reading and filtering poems through the reader’s experiences are rightly Read More
Archeology or Archaeology /ˌɑːkɪˈɒlədʒi/ noun. the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites, and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains. . . . The wind blows and whittles away at the earth. Invisible tendrils leave behind dust to settle and coat the forgotten layer upon layer in powdery particles. Read More
When someone loves only one piece of literature throughout their lifetime, should that devotion be admired or pitied? Acclaimed Irish writer Mary Costello’s second novel, The River Capture, offers a deeply philosophical contemplation of humanity rendered through the mind of a James Joyce obsessive. It is also an ambitious act of dedication to Joyce’s Ulysses, Read More
Oh, shut up! Oonu can’t work widout talk! Thank God the man at the Embassy say that she would hear from them in another month or so. Hazel D. Campbell’s collected short stories opens in a cramped office with a young woman frustrated at her older colleagues’ gossip, daydreaming about her imminent move to America. Read More
Alexandra Ford’s debut novel, What Remains at the End? is a fearless attempt to convey the atrocities suffered by Danube Swabians in 1940s Yugoslavia at the hands of Tito’s Partisan regime. Many of this German-speaking ethnic minority fled, seeking refuge as far as America; of those who stayed, tens of thousands died, either perishing in Read More
Patrick Kehoe used to live in Spain, but this poetry collection has more to offer than beautiful descriptions of its cities. In three sections, he explores his experiences of the past and the meaning of memory. Some of the poems praise the golden Spanish cities and lament the absence of shade; others, such as ‘The Read More
Sigmund Freud coined the phrase ‘afterwardness’ to describe the belated understanding that occurs with the passage of time. It is the ripening of past events by age and experience – a form of alchemy. The concept has inspired the title of a new book of poetry by Iranian born, British poet Mimi Khalvati. Her collection Read More