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

Thursday, 09 December 2021 16:42

The Nobel prize for Literature: Abdulrazak Gurnah

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

On 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, Abdulrazak Gurnah will receive the Nobel Prize for Literature on behalf of black Africa. Wole Soyinka was the first black African writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Other Nobel Prize winners from the African continent are Nagib…

Monday, 22 November 2021 12:45

Land of the Ever Young

Written by Mike Quille

in Fiction

This is the final book in a set of three volumes of working people’s writing from contemporary Ireland. It follows on from a poetry anthology, Children of the Nation and a prose anthology, From the Plough to the Stars, all edited by Jenny Farrell and available here. The children’s stories…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 20 November 2021 11:56

Georgie

in Fiction

Written by Karl Parkinson

The Blocks is published in The Cry of the Poor, available here.

The Cry of the Poor

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 15 November 2021 09:42

Provenance, by Kate Thompson: fighting inequality and injustice to Aboriginal peoples

in Fiction

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell reviews Provenance, by Kate Thompson As Elliot Fielding struggles in an Australian hospital to piece together his fragmented memory following serious head injury, the reader embarks with him on the road to make sense of his life before. The narrative delves into the realities of Aboriginal life, through…

Aboriginal art

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 20 October 2021 08:35

Liam O’Flaherty and the Irish Free State

in Fiction

Written by Jenny Farrell

As Ireland observes the centenary of its incomplete independence – the setting up of the ‘Free State’ with dominion status and the partition of the country – care must be taken not to distort history. One of the authors who lived through the years of upheaval and the years of…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 05 October 2021 16:07

Fire in My Head

in Fiction

Written by Mike Quille

Moya Roddy’s new collection of stories catapult us into the minds and hearts of working-class people who, despite a class system that offers them very little, reveal their own strength and potential through friendship, community and solidarity. Whether it’s the young mother in Doctor’s Orders fighting to get the right…

Tuesday, 07 September 2021 19:36

A Female Text in Flight: Review of A Ghost in the Throat

Written by Razia Parveen

in Fiction

‘A Ghost in the Throat’ is a beautiful and poetically penned love-letter from one writer to another. It is an intriguing concoction of history, romance, sorrow, skullduggery and the importance of language all wrapped up in lyrical prose and delivered, like a gift, to the reader. We are presented with…

Tuesday, 24 August 2021 09:44

Shuggie Bain and working-class writing

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

Jenny Farrell review Douglas Stuart's new novel Douglas Stuart won the 2020 Booker prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain, set in his home town of Glasgow in the 1980s. Like many working-class writers, Stuart found himself doubting the value of his story: I used to ask myself, ‘What right…

James Kelman

Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:30

Place, personality and politics: the life and loves of D. H. Lawrence

Written by Alan Dent

in Fiction

Alan Dent writes about D. H. Lawrence Stand at the front door of 8a Victoria St, Eastwood and turn to your left and you can see the enfolding countryside Arthur Lawrence must have looked towards many times. Bert was under two when the family moved to The Breach House. In…

Monday, 26 July 2021 12:45

Walter Scott and the historical novel

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

On his 250th anniversary, Jenny Farrell writes about Walter Scott and his historical novels, uncovering themes of class conflict, ethnic and nationalist struggles, and how the personal experiences of his characters link with broader historical upheavals History is vanishing from school curricula, and historical awareness is being deliberately erased. Novels…

Ivanhoe Heart of Midlothian Rob Roy