Fiction

Don Quixote is the best book out there on political theory, followed by Hamlet and Macbeth. There is no better way to understand the tragedy and the comedy of the Mexican political system than Hamlet, Macbeth and Don Quixote. They're much better than any column of political analysis.

Subcomandante Marcos

Traven (alias Ret Marut, born Otto Feige), police photo, London 1923

Sunday, 31 March 2019 11:13

Exposing the exploitative nature of capitalism: the life and writings of B. Traven

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

Jenny Farrell introduces B. Traven, a writer who stood consistently and unreservedly on the side of the working class and the oppressed. Like Robert Tressell, his novels and writings relentlessly expose and protest the exploitative nature of the capitalist system. The writer Otto Feige, alias B. Traven, died fifty years…

the death ship treasure of the sierra madre workingclass writers

Friday, 08 February 2019 09:04

Milkman

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

Jenny Farrell reviews the novel Milkman, a peripheral view on a besieged working-class community during the North of Ireland Troubles, which has won the Man Booker Prize Belfast-born author Anna Burns has won the 2018 Man Booker Prize for her novel Milkman. The Booker’s chair of judges, philosopher Kwame Anthony…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 04 February 2019 18:32

The Interview

in Fiction

Written by Jim Aitken

The Interview by Jim Aitken He needed the job because he needed money to pay his bills. It was as simple as that. This interview, if he passed it, could do more. It could enable him to follow his dream of enabling youngsters to dream themselves. Right now people needed…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 02 February 2019 16:22

Shrinking Brexit

in Fiction

Written by Jan Woolf

Shrinking Brexit by Jan Woolf CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services), Islington, July 2016 Marjorie glances in her consulting room mirror. A strong face looks back, handsome rather than pretty, a face ready for compassion: for active listening, eyes softening for the right kind of contact with her first…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 08 January 2019 19:32

Sugar Plum

in Fiction

Written by Jan Woolf

Sugar Plum by Jan Woolf A winter’s day in 2008, in Dalston, London 6am Zeina wakes, and, remembering, keeps her body as still as she can. She lifts her hand to snap on the bedside light, gently turning her head towards the photograph in the thin green frame. There they…

Marx Memorial Library

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 28 December 2018 18:56

Owton Manor Olympian: a short story by Craig Campbell

in Fiction

Written by Craig Campbell

Owton Manor Olympian by Craig Campbell Dale felt his ankles jar sometimes in the old Gazelles he'd bought the previous summer. They were yellow and faded like his Dad's nicotine fingers when he fell asleep in the big chair. As a boy he would creep past him in the small…

Monday, 17 December 2018 11:21

Dishwasher hands

Written by Craig Campbell

in Fiction

Dishwasher hands by Craig Campbell Saturday nights at the Dilshad were the worst. People let off steam in Hartlepool in the worst ways possible, like stray bullets looking for a spleen. From time to time I would glance through the crack in the kitchen door but their DNA was always…

Tuesday, 11 December 2018 19:25

The Baton: a short story by Jan Woolf

Written by Jan Woolf

in Fiction

Marx Memorial Library is hosting a series of readings from left-wing fiction writers. Each month a fiction writer, dramatist or poet will read from current work and discuss their writing processes with the audience. These sessions are ideal for avid readers as well as writers. The writers in February will…

Wednesday, 05 December 2018 18:14

Decolonising the mind: the life and work of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

Jenny Farrell celebrates the life and work of the African Marxist writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Ngũgĩ turned 80 this year. He was born into colonial Kenya in 1938 and witnessed in his youth the Mau Mau War of Independence, which ended in1962. Ngũgĩ has written prolifically. His first major novel…

The "War to End All Wars," like all the wars that have followed it, discarded human lives on all sides. Here, a German prisoner helps British wounded make their way to a dressing station. Image: Imperial War Museum

Wednesday, 07 November 2018 13:37

The Discarded Soldier

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

Jenny Farrell introduces a little-known short story by Liam O'Flaherty 11 November 2018 marks the centenary of the ending of World War I. During that bloody slaughter, the propagandists described it as the “war to end all wars”. One hundred years and as many wars on the militarists in the…

Remembrance Day WW1