Image by Jakob Owens
Dear writers, readers and friends,
Welcome to August. In a time of great weirdness – in the climate, in politics and all of the rest – this is the month to stretch beyond the borders of language and reality towards some other future. And here it is – we bestow upon you this little piggy, along with a bumper summer selection of writing from the finest poets, fictionists and translators we could gather.
Our wonderful, surreal image prompt is brought to you by photographer and filmmaker Jakob Owens, who you can follow on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jakobowens/?hl=en) .
This month’s writing lifts off with a wonderful piece by Michael Donkor (https://twitter.com/MichaelDonkor) , who studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway and now teaches English Literature to secondary school students. The Observer named him as one of 2018’s best debut authors for his first novel Hold (4th Estate) and this year he was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.
On page 2 we feature Lucie McKnight Hardy (https://twitter.com/LMcKnightHardy) who grew up in West Wales and is a Welsh speaker. Her work has featured, or is forthcoming, in various places online and in print, including The Lonely Crowd, The Shadow Booth, Best British Short Stories 2019, and as a limited edition chapbook from Nightjar Press. Her debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them, was shortlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition 2017 and longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award 2018 and is published this July by Dead Ink Books (https://deadinkbooks.com/) .
Next up, we are delighted to bring you Jess Thayil (https://twitter.com/JessThayil) , whose poems have featured in Magma Poetry, The Stinging Fly, Ink Sweat And Tears, Black Bough Poetry, AbstractMagazineTV, Potomac Review and Whale Road Review. She’s also engaged in self-taught abstract and mixed media art practice.
On page 4, we’re thrilled to welcome writer and translator Lucy Jones, who is British born and has lived in Berlin since 1998. Lucy studied German, film and applied linguistics and did several jobs before becoming a translator, including freelance fashion photography. Returning to her roots in literature, in 2008 she founded Transfiction (http://www.transfiction.eu/about-us/) , a collective of translators in Berlin. She also hosts a reading event called The Fiction Canteen (https://fictioncanteen.blog/) for writers and translators in Berlin.
And finally we have Durre Shawar (http://durreshahwar.com) , a writer, editor, and co-founder of ‘Where I’m Coming From’, an open mic event that platforms underrepresented writers in Wales (next event is on August 13 (https://www.facebook.com/whereimcomingfrom/) ). Durre has been published in various magazines and anthologies including Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class (Dead Ink Books), We Shall Fight Until We Win (404 Ink), Cheval 10 – Terry Hetherington Young Writers Award (Parthian Books). Her work explores themes of identity, intersectionality and mental health. Durre has worked and written for National Theatre Wales, British Council, Metro, National Museum Cardiff and Wales Arts Review. She is a regular speaker and performer at events and festivals and was part of the Hay Festival Writers at Work scheme, as well as BBC Writersroom Wales.
So, dear readers if you’re feeling political, personal, hungry or like swimming in a sandy-bottomed sea, we hope you enjoy our amazing lead selection. May it inspire you to get writing now. You know the rules: 50-500 words, one hour. Subs close on 15 August.
The image is the starting point, the text is up to you…
Preti, Kristen, Lucie and Luke
@visual_verse (https://twitter.com/visual_verse)
@MichaelDonkor (https://twitter.com/MichaelDonkor)
@LMcKnightHardy (https://twitter.com/LMcKnightHardy)
@BacktoJones (https://twitter.com/BacktoJones)
@JessThayil (https://twitter.com/JessThayil)
@Durre_Shahwar (https://twitter.com/Durre_Shahwar)
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