Editorial: Nick Hern Books
A play about connection and isolation, forged during the Covid pandemic, exploring what we hold on to in troubled times. Chris Bush's play Nine Lessons and Carols: Stories for a Long Winter, with songs by Maimuna Memon, was first staged at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2020, directed by Rebecca Frecknall.
Poet and musician Gary Barwin both continues and extends the alchemical collision of language, imaginative flight and quiet beauty that have made him unique among contemporary poets. As the Utne Reader has noted, what makes this work so compelling is 'Barwin’s balance of melancholy with wide-eyed wonder.' The Porcupinity of the Stars sees the always bemused and wistful poet reaching into new and deeper territory, addressing the joys and vagaries of perception in poems touching on family, loss, wonder and the shifting, often perplexing nature of consciousness. His Heisenbergian sensibility honed to a fine edge, the poems in this bright, bold and acutely visual book add a surreptitious intensity and wry maturity to Barwin’s trademark gifts for subtle humour, solemn delight, compassion and invention. 'Between the freaky, funny filmmaker Guy Maddin and author Gary Barwin, Canada is producing some of the most innovative creative works of our time.' – Utne ReaderVer libro
'What doctor know about our illness? Just give you pills to sick you stomach and a doctor certificate. What they know about a black woman soul?' In North London, Del and Viv are soul-sick. Del doesn't want to be at home; staying out late – 3 p.m.-the-next-day late – is more her thing. Viv scours her schoolbooks trying to find a trace of herself between their lines. When Enid takes her daughters to the local obeah woman for some traditional Caribbean soul-healing, secrets are spilled. There's no turning back for Del, Viv and Enid as they negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures. Two generations. Three incredible women. Winsome Pinnock's play Leave Taking is an epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home. It premiered in 1987, and was revived at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2018, in a production directed by the Bush's Artistic Director, Madani Younis. Winsome Pinnock has written numerous plays, including Talking in Tongues, for which she won the George Devine and Pearson Best New Play Awards. 'The godmother of Black British playwrights' GuardianVer libro
Anacreon (582 BCE–485 BCE) was a Greek lyric poet born in Teos, an Ionian city on the coast of Asia Minor. He likely moved to Thrace in 545 BCE with others from his city when it was attacked by Persians. He then moved to Samos, to Athens, and possibly again to Thessaly, seeking a safe place to write his poems as his patrons (including Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, and Hipparchus, brother of Athenian tyrant Hippias) kept being murdered. It is unknown where Anacreon died, though he lived to the unusually advanced age of 85. Few of Anacreon's works survive, but those that do focus on wine, love (homosexual and heterosexual), and the overall pleasures of the legendary Roman symposium. Anacreon used various techniques in his writings, including self-deprecation and irony. The collection of miscellaneous Greek poems from the Hellenistic Age and beyond known as the Anacreontea was "mistakenly labeled" with Anacreon's name. Despite later appreciation for Anacreon's true poems, his works were not appreciated during his lifetime. This work is a collection of the Odes of Anacreon, translated into English by Thomas Moore.Ver libro
Demons, ogres, werewolves – men have all the fun. Not here. Celebrated playwright RM Vaughan's The Monster Trilogy turns the tables and offers up three monstrously evil women in three explosive monologues. In The Susan Smith Tapes, the infamous young mother who drowned her three sons tries to recapture the public's attention by auditioning for talk shows from her prison cell. In A Visitation by Saint Teresa of Avila upon Constable Margaret Chance, we meet a middle-aged police officer whose world view is warped by her obsession with race, bloodlines and genetic determinism. And Dead Teenagers introduces us to the Reverend, a frustrated cleric unhealthily addicted to the spectacle of large funerals for murdered children. These monologues – all performed at Rhubarb! festivals and all critically acclaimed – create a vivid triptych that considers the notion of monstrosity from three very distinct perspectives. 'RM Vaughan writes like a sailor with a PhD and a broken heart.' – Daniel MacIvorVer libro
DARKNESS HAS A VOICE—AND IT’S CALLING YOUR NAME! Welcome to the haunting world of The Raven—a soul-shattering journey into madness, obsession, and the chilling GRIP OF FATE. Step into the mind of a man whose heartache will echo in your bones. FEEL the crushing weight of loss as a simple visitor turns into an INESCAPABLE SYMBOL OF DESPAIR. HEAR the relentless tapping at the door, the endless echo of that one word—NEVERMORE—driving you to the brink of INSANITY. With every line, Poe’s genius pulls you deeper into the abyss of grief, where the DARKNESS feels alive. The vivid narration brings every shadow to life, amplifying the dread that builds with every breath. SEE the raven’s unblinking gaze as it casts a spell of torment binding you to the SORROW of a life forever changed. This isn’t just a poem—it’s a chilling descent into the mind of a man HANUTED by memories and tormented by fate. LISTEN NOW and let The Raven claw its way into your soul. FEEL THE COLD HANDS OF FATE CLOSE IN ON YOU!Ver libro
Featuring all new tales of dark fantasy, cosmic horror, supernatural revenge, and the sorcery of terror from masters of the craft, this issue includes the following stories and poems: “Her Happy Place” by Alma Katsu “The Thing in Jesse’s House” by Heather Graham “The Dreams in the Cipher House” by Maurice Broaddus “Shadow Plane” by Fran Wilde “Tales from Alexandria” by Priya Sharma “The Secret Priest” by Anne Walsh (poetry) “Apocalypse Nights” by Yvonne Navarro “Devoured by the Soiled and Peeling Wallpaper” by Jake Bible “The Beast of Bray Road” by Gabrielle Faust “A Beautiful Darkness” by Christina Sng (poetry)Ver libro
