Latest editorial
GORDON PARSONS recommends an entertaining account of the years between Germany’s defeat in WWI and Hitler’s seizure of power
Sometimes less is a lot more
Two new collections demonstrate why narrative poetry can work better when it's economical with its truths, says ANDY CROFT
MIGUEL YOSHIDA explains the evolution and influence of the Cuban Casa De Las Americas in joining culture to the revolutionary struggle
ANDY HEDGECOCK is charmed by a skilful adaptation of Tove Jansson’s lyrical portrait of three generations of a family, overcoming grief
ALEX HALL treads warily through a messy, dialectical struggle fought in the mundane machinery of driving licences, criminal law, and birth registries
MICHAL BONCZA, FIONA O’CONNOR, JAMES WALSH and ANGUS REID review Atlas of Disappearance, Love Me Tender, Bouchra, and This Tempting Madness
Flitting between myth and the modern world, Medusa is determined to steer clear of human affairs. When her resolve crumbles, the result is petrifying in every sense
For thousands of years it was understood to be the responsibility of poetry to tell stories - public and private, real and imagined. From The Iliad to The Wasteland poets sought to impose a compelling narrative shape on events.
Today, poetry is arguably the least effective way of telling a story. Cinema is better at action, theatre is better at dialogue and novels are better at psychology and plot.
In a world of so many noisy competing narratives, how can poets still tell stories? Or rather, what kind of stories should a poet try to tell? Jokes that pack a punch-line? Fables that pack a punch? Bukowski-like anecdotes? Wild and entertaining inventions?
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ALAN MORRISON explores, and recommends, a remarkable collection of poems that explore war photography with the moral responsibility of a documentary film-maker
ALAN MORRISON welcomes a new collection from the most imaginative and committed ecopoet of our time
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change