Man At Sea

iam Bell’s Man at Sea is a genre-defying delight that interrogates and reimagines the classic war novel. A domestic mystery set in Malta across the 1940s and 1960s, Man at Sea, follows the story of a former airman trying to reunite his old friend, Beth, with the son of her late wartime husband. The narrative is split between the airman, Stuart, and Beth’s stepson, with the former narrating the investigation alongside Beth during the 1960s. Beth’s Stepson acts as the second narrator, following his experience of the Siege of Malta through the 1940s. More than anything, this story is about the bonds people form through pain and fear and how complicated the love and relationships that arise from these shared experiences can be: ‘Could you not have left them a letter, huh? Just a word or two?’

1917

In 1917 Sam Mendes has created an astonishing work of cinematic art through the masterful combination of continuous, single-shot cinematography by Roger Deakins; concise, effective screenplay co-written with Krysty Wilson-Cairns; and haunting, dramatic score by Thomas Newman. Mendes’ direction in this film is intense. His use of long takes and clever editing bring the viewer Read More

Only More So

Millicent Borges Accardi’s fourth collection of poetry, Only More So, urges the reader to take a plunge “into frozen water” which abruptly rages into threatening currents. Accardi’s work has appeared in over fifty publications and she has received many literary fellowships, such as the NEA, Fulbright and the California Arts Council.  Throughout her work, the Read More

Insyriated (In Syria)

(Belgium, 2017)  24th – 28th September 2017, Belmont Filmhouse, Aberdeen Covering twenty-four hours in the lives of two families, barricaded in an apartment in war-torn Syria, the latest film from Belgian filmmaker Philippe Van Leeuw is an emotionally fraught affair.  It opens with birdsong and the choppy-hum of helicopters and, through a crack in the Read More

Home Front

Home Front is a new volume of poetry by four women who have each had a husband or son who has been to a combat zone. Bryony Doran, Jehanne Dubrow, Elyse Fenton and Isabel Palmer are the poets, whose voices tell of having a loved one in armed conflict. Each poet has a collection within Read More

Anatomy Of A Soldier

Anatomy of a Soldier is the debut novel of Harry Parker. He joined the British Army when he was twenty three and served as a Captain in both Iraq and Afghanistan. You would be forgiven for thinking that an adventurous tale of derring-do would fit this profile, but in this book the author should be Read More

Interrogating Water

Imagine you are interrogating water coercing the hydrogen and oxygen to give up their bonds, give up each other. New York-based poet Philip Fried’s Interrogating Water can be read as an intense critique of the ethics of modern day American warfare, tackling themes of political ambivalence, military torture, weapons and those who wield those forces. Read More

American Sniper

“It’s your call.” So responds a radio command at the end of American Sniper’s introductory salvo. Immediately, this gives the audience an insight into the life of the sniper: deciding who lives, and who dies. As the sound of Chris Kyle’s (Bradley Cooper) rifle shot fills the cinema, an immaculate piece of editing transports the Read More