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Neptune’s Projects: An Interview with Rishi Dastidar

“is there something in adopting the voice of a god, but giving him very human qualities and frailties? It turned out that adopting a persona that revolved at once about both being powerful and powerless was a great parallel for exploring subjects like climate change.”

Five Poems from Speculum, by Hannah Copley

They were stones in a champagne flute,
I was always bound to smash.
But they were there for a while,
hanging on, two faceless punters waiting
for the gag, and then it all slipped out
of me as easily as a giggle. Once is a mistake.
Twice is careless. By the end of it
you could hear a pin drop in my heart.

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Neptune’s Projects: An Interview with Rishi Dastidar

“is there something in adopting the voice of a god, but giving him very human qualities and frailties? It turned out that adopting a persona that revolved at once about both being powerful and powerless was a great parallel for exploring subjects like climate change.”

Five Poems from Speculum, by Hannah Copley

They were stones in a champagne flute,
I was always bound to smash.
But they were there for a while,
hanging on, two faceless punters waiting
for the gag, and then it all slipped out
of me as easily as a giggle. Once is a mistake.
Twice is careless. By the end of it
you could hear a pin drop in my heart.

mushrooms

The Monster of Invidia, by M L Hufkie

“How long he sat in his car he couldn’t say, but he pulled out of the hospital car park when the noise of an approaching ambulance interrupted his thoughts. He somehow ended up on the Sea Point Promenade again, sitting on the bench they had sat on so many times before. By the time the sun set, painting the Cape Town sky a marvellous orange-yellow-purple, he had made his decision.”

rowan_winter

Trappings, by Fiona McCulloch

Fiction: “Hugmanay 1983 – ah’m sat oan the couch in the livin’ room. Telly’s oan an’ it’s jist me an’ ma muther an faither cos ma twa bruthers are oot wi’ their pals. Scotch an’ Wry afore some Hugmanay show comes oan efter. Ah’m hopin’ the 50p slot meter disnae run oot on oor rented TV …”

Caring - High Rise

Caring, by Kate Jackson

Shortly after I left my job, a friend said she was surprised, she thought I cared. I told her I left because I cared.

Taittinger

The Roses and the Weeds, by Elinora Westfall

Fiction: “She wishes that she had kept a written record of all the epic bloody nonsense that has come out of his mouth over the years because she could have gained some kind of minor social media fame and parleyed a book deal out of it to boot: Shit My Stupid Shag Buddy Says.”

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Neptune’s Projects: An Interview with Rishi Dastidar

“is there something in adopting the voice of a god, but giving him very human qualities and frailties? It turned out that adopting a persona that revolved at once about both being powerful and powerless was a great parallel for exploring subjects like climate change.”

Five Poems from Speculum, by Hannah Copley

They were stones in a champagne flute,
I was always bound to smash.
But they were there for a while,
hanging on, two faceless punters waiting
for the gag, and then it all slipped out
of me as easily as a giggle. Once is a mistake.
Twice is careless. By the end of it
you could hear a pin drop in my heart.

Kate Wilkinson

Interview: Kate Wilkinson

“The 7 – 11 age group is for me the most joyful of childhood – their imagination is boundless, they are brave and unjudgmental, and the self-consciousness of the teen years has not yet set in.”

Scarlett Sabet

Poem and Interview: Scarlett Sabet

“What is happening in Iran is heart-breaking, and this poem is testament to that, it is also paying homage to my Father and my Persian heritage, of which I’m so proud.”

The Fish - Joanna Stubbs

The Fish, by Joanna Stubbs – Review

“If Stubbs set out explore how humans have the capacity to worry about ‘big existential events’ when they also face everyday problems, she has succeeded.”

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Author Not Present: The Entertainer

Author Not Present is a podcast in which Louise Hare, Christina Carè, and Peter J Coles critique anonymous submitted pieces. In the sixth episode, Louise, Christina, and Peter discuss ‘The Entertainer’. Listen to find out what they liked and what they thought could be improved as they deal with structure

Podcast: Alice Haworth-Booth and Kate Ellis

In the fourteenth episode of the MIR Podcast, Peter J Coles talks with the winner of the Bricklane Bookshop short story prize, 2020 Alice Haworth-Booth, and the head of the prize, Kate Ellis. They discuss writing climate change and what it takes to run a big prize.     Show Notes: Bricklane Bookshop

Author Not Present: The Woman in the Street

This episode was recorded before the outbreak of the current crisis so we apologise for any inaccuracies! Author Not Present is a podcast in which Louise Hare, Christina Carè, and Peter J Coles critique anonymous submitted pieces. In the third episode, Christina and Peter are joined by author Jarred McGinnis

Author Not Present: Magrit

This episode was recorded before the outbreak of the current crisis so we apologise for any inaccuracies! Author Not Present is a podcast in which Louise Hare, Christina Carè, and Peter J Coles critique anonymous submitted pieces. In the third episode, they discuss ‘Magrit’ – a quirky story of a