There’s a difficult question you immediately have to answer if you want to review a pantomime: is it fair to apply serious criticism to something that is, for all intents and purposes, ‘just a bit of fun?’ This is, after all, not a ‘serious play’ by any stretch of the imagination – it’s a parody Read More
If light fails, follow darkness in my eyes she says, unfolds the map engraved on her, marks him with a cross and draws him in. (“The Woodman’s Tale”) Just as the recently-deceased Nicolas Roeg’s film Insignificance plays lightly with several kinds of significance, only the foolhardy would draw easy assumptions from Incidentals’ title. The name Read More
In her latest novel, Kirsty Gunn takes a brave and original approach. Conscious of the language she uses, capable of creating memorable metaphors and telling parts of the story through characters’ distinctive dialogues, the author makes a bet. She believes that she can almost entirely remove plot from the book and make it worthwhile for Read More
Because the world is so faithless, I go my way in mourning. (Pieter Bruegel) Paintings ask viewers to do many things, like how to see them in their time. No names help color Bruegel’s staring scene, make sense of bending people with blunt faces and harsh clothes. Bruegel’s Adoration does not adore the child Read More
Evelyn Schlag’s All Under One Roof captivates the reader using conversational prose, and a pattern of discovery in the innocent encounter of the places and the experiences that the speaker of the poem grows through. Translated by Kareen Leeder with a fine touch, the collection draws from her two German-language collections – Language of a Read More
Poetics in Geraldine Clarkson’s work insist on our attention long before we have even embarked on our journey of understanding. Her latest chapbook is no exception. The collection opens with a reference to the “lovely” and “elegant” River Leam in Clarkson’s home in the Midlands, from where she wanders in time and place, but the Read More
As Where to Find Me opens, sweethearts bicycle along the Seine, write poetry on bus tickets, gaze on Jean Paul-Sartre at the café, dance to live Jazz. Alba Arikha’s Paris is redolent of golden sunshine, rich scents, and richer sounds. Soon, like an old photograph beset with creeping mould, the picture darkens. Their religions part Read More
The story so far… Spring 2014: Twenty-year-old Agnes Bee has received notification that her husband, Dougie, has started divorce proceedings. (They married because Agnes was pregnant, but the baby died late in the pregnancy.) Agnes is chronically depressed. She wants to change her life but doesn’t know where to begin. Her best friend, Kath suggests they Read More
Francis buzzes the front door. The two of you wait outside for a while. He buzzes again. You lift the shopping bag that dangles from your wrist and switch hands. Letting it hang against your thigh, you can feel the condensation from the cold beers inside it. You’re about to pull out your phone Read More
Ascension Legend has it that the success of Led Zepplin’s Stairway To Heaven was an accident. It proved the perfect length of time to enjoy a cigarette, and DJs apparently took full advantage; the song became part of late night sacraments. Twists of life are perpetual; spinning us like blindfolded ballerinas into the next Read More