A Google search will inform curious readers that the word ‘’bardo’’ references an old Tibetan legend: souls making the transition from death to Nirvana, or, if they are less fortunate, to begin again in a new body, must first pass through the bardo. Think of it as a stopping station between different states of existence Read More
How far would you go to belong? So runs the tagline to Emily Fridlund’s Booker shortlisted debut novel History of Wolves. It is suggestive of the latest pseudo-psychological thriller, but this does the book a disservice, belying a much subtler, somber work. The book is about a quiet desperation: yes, to belong; but also to Read More
Twice short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, Mohsin Hamid is an author who never disappoints. Born in Lahore, a place that has suffered bombings and terror attacks, Hamid has taken inspiration from one of his own personal crises and created his fourth short novel Exit West, where we join hopeful couple Saeed and Nadia on Read More
I feel the need to start this review by making a confession. Since its publication in 2016, Colson Whitehead’s latest novel, The Underground Railroad, has been crowned with some of the most prestigious literary awards: National Book Award for Fiction 2016, The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017, even, oddly enough, the Arthur C. Clarke Award Read More
Nicola Wiltshire Verdant Works 29th July- 29th October 2017 Nestled in a small makeshift studio, surrounded by the noise and bustle of a working factory, artist Nicola Wiltshire produced the series of paintings now on show at the Verdant Works. The paintings are a depiction of the people, places and activities hidden within the factory Read More
[…] and when I enter the black grey waves, bobbing and bouncing, this emptiness inside me is the buoyancy, it keeps me up. Turbulent, cleansing, and uplifting. Dani Gill’s debut collection, After Love, is the textual equivalent of open water, purifying as it immerses. Serving as a kind of therapeutic act, the poet uses the Read More
Of rain and rushing water, dense with coils of razor wire masquerading as weeds. The fish were machine guns with fins and barrels that ruddered through the swift current like mermaids’ tails, so you could not tell who they were really pointed at, and who would die when they were fired. Perhaps the quotation above Read More
life has become a postman each day dropping more envelopes of bad news through the letter box on which the name and address are never not yours. Bad News Good News Bad News is a contemporary poetry collection from Edward O’Dwyer all about contemporary living ‒ specifically, everything that’s wrong with it. O’Dwyer’s poetry focuses Read More
The film’s opening title scrawls the word “Mother’” across the screen, the “!” added as an afterthought. The script is handwritten, scrappy and artistic, the accompanying sound effect, sharp and abrasive. If such a perfect microcosm ever presented itself so early in another film, I can’t think of it. Aronofsky’s latest film addresses themes that Read More
Clive James’ name suffices as its own introduction; with Poetry Notebook the Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist excels again. Following his two most recent collections (Sentenced to Life and Injury Time) this was a moving, educating and stimulating read. James, as usual, writes with witty relish which both motivates and challenges in Read More