Life Writing

All the old history was written for the amusement of the ruling classes. The lower classes couldn't read, and their rulers didn't care about remembering what happened to them - Frank Zappa

Monday, 01 July 2024 14:23

A woman's perspective on the invisible front: A review of 'The Shadow in the Shadow'

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Life Writing

Spy thrillers about and accounts of East-West spying during the cold war abound, always written from a particular Western political standpoint. Autobiographies relating the stories of former “agents for peace” on the other hand are rare. Beatrice Altman-Schevitz’s The Shadow in the Shadow is the only such memoir to be…

Thursday, 19 October 2023 08:09

Motherland

Written by Michael Jarvie

in Life Writing

The idea begins to take shape after the fortuitous discovery of the pale blue savings account book, wedged between two long-expired passports, and secured with an elastic band. It belonged to my deceased mother, and it reads Postsparbuch and Deutsche Bundespost. There’s a posthorn-shaped logo near the top of it…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 14 July 2023 09:12

Labyrinths of Austerity

in Life Writing

Written by Brett Gregory

Writer-director Brett Gregory on his bleak, moving, semi-autobiographical feature film, ‘Nobody Loves You and You Don’t Deserve to Exist’, which tackles austerity, class, and mental health. Images are taken from the film. An interview with Brett is here. Although I was born on an RAF base in Buckinghamshire, I was…

Margaret Thatcher Miners' Strike 1984

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 15 January 2023 22:51

I'd rather be striker than a scab

in Life Writing

Written by Michael Jarvie

I’d rather be a striker than a scab by Michael Jarvie It’s Wednesday, the 4th of January, and yet another day of the protracted RMT strike. When I worked as a revenue protection officer at Darlington station, I was in the same union, so I fully support the strike. Besides,…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 26 June 2022 09:49

Stewart Lee is a Snowflake!

in Life Writing

Written by Michael Jarvie

Michael Jarvie reviews Stewart Lee's show, Snowflake Tornado Stewart Lee is the undisputed master of anti-comedy, or, if you like, meta-comedy. Drawing on Bertolt Brecht’s theatrical technique, which in German goes by the name of the “verfremdungseffekt” (alienation effect) he antagonises his audience in order to elicit a response, like…

Alan Bennett Ricky Gervais Boris Johnson

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 11 September 2021 08:40

The barriers to working-class writers: Review of The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices

in Life Writing

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell reviews The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices, edited by Paul McVeigh Working-class writing is coming to the fore in Ireland. “The 32” follows the publications of two anthologies of working people’s writing, “The Children of the Nation” and “From the Plough to the Stars” (Culture Matters,…

Tuesday, 07 September 2021 17:55

From Lucifer to Lazarus: A Life on the Left

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Life Writing

Jenny Farrell reviews Mick O’Reilly's From Lucifer to Lazarus: A Life on the Left (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 2019) At the end of From Lucifer to Lazarus, Mick O’Reilly raises a question many working-class authors ask themselves when writing about their lives: “whether it is worthwhile telling the story of my…

Monday, 16 August 2021 15:55

Kate Clanchy's Class Conflict

Written by Michael Jarvie

in Life Writing

Michael Jarvie criticises Clanchy's recent memoir, and the publishing and reviewing industry responsible for its publication and promotion Kate Clanchy’s memoir, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, was published in 2019 by Picador. Following its appearance, apart from a few dissenting voices, the reaction to the book…

Orwell prize Picador

Thursday, 17 June 2021 09:11

Belfast in 1969 and its aftermath: a memoir

Written by Francis Murphy

in Life Writing

Francis Murphy presents a memoir of Northern Ireland in the late sixties Introduction Once again Northern Ireland is back in the headlines. Small scale rioting in Loyalist areas and the resignation of Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), reflect a growing awareness in the Unionist/ Loyalist…

Sunday, 29 November 2020 14:08

A barricade of resistance: Review of From the Plough to the Stars

Written by Paul Simon

in Life Writing

Paul Simon reviews From the Plough to the Stars, edited by Jenny Farrell This anthology is another impressive book from the Culture Matters imprint and is funded by a range of Irish trade unions and trades councils. Inspired by James Connolly's freedom call, these 49 compact works are the product…