Features a lengthy interview with Alan Warner that focuses on his narrative processes. Also contains fiction and essays by thirteen other writers. The essays include writings on Spanish cinema, Matt McGinn and John Fante. There is a classic reprint of a story by Katherine Mansfield.
Features fiction and poetry by fourteen writers, including poetry by Tom Leonard. Artwork is provided by five visual artists, and this issue contains a classic reprint of a Sherwood Anderson story.
“As long as art exists there are no areas of experience that have to remain inaccessible.”
Originally written as obituary, memorial and eulogy, What I do (Memoirs) is a celebration of great literary art, artists and grassroots political movements. Booker Prize-winning author James Kelman pays homage to the writers, artists and political figures who have been significant in his life, and to his work. Kelman writes with characteristic clarity and precision about Mary Gray Hughes, Tillie Olsen, Alex La Guma, Tom Leonard, June Jordan, Alasdair Taylor and many others. And in the process, he shows us the ways that art can access powerful human experiences.
What I do (Memoirs) is both biographical and autobiographical.
Tales of Here & Then brings together a compilation of James Kelman’s shortest stories, including a selection of new and previously unpublished works. Kelman, a master of the short story form, has consistently found new ways to write about human existence. In this edition, the stories are presented in radically new visual forms where typography becomes an important aspect of the narratives.
“This is something different from the usual book of short stories. I am going for something visual in these stories, that treats the look of the text as part of the art-object – think of it as a kind of gallery where visual artworks have their own space. This is what I’ve been seeking since Short Tales From the Night Shift back in 1978.” – James Kelman
Published in the aftermath of the electorate of Scotland choosing to vote ‘NO’ to becoming an independent country, this collection features fiction by seventeen writers from various places who were working in Scotland at the time. The stories include ‘Who is Killing the Fringe Comedians of Edinburgh?’ by Alan Warner.
An anthology of fiction and poetry, published in support of zero-hours workers. These stories deal with the struggles and experiences of a range of people and characters, and themes of class, language and power emerge organically from within these lives.
Kevin Cormack was born and brought up in Kirkwall. His poems take place in ordinary parts of the town, rather than in more obviously scenic locations. All are written in the living language of Orkney:
Wur dopplegangers welcomed us
wae cult-like smiles, trestle tables
decked oot wae wur stoor-bliind
bruck, at the Hell’s Half Acre
ker boot sale.
Tonnie Void is a booklet/pamphlet publication (40pp)
Dark Island by Duncan McLean is a booklet of short stories from one of Scotland’s finest short story writers. McLean is the author of previous works such as Bucket of Tongues, Blackden and Bunker Man. Published by Abersee Press in 2017 (34pp).
Speak for Yourself is a booklet of new writing from Orkney and New Zealand, edited by Duncan McLean. It features writing from Hera Lindsay Bird, Simon W Hall, Morag MacInnes, Craig Marriner, Alison Miller and CK Stead. Published by Abersee Press in 2017 (44pp).
Swiet Haar: New Writing from Orkney and Shetland is a booklet edited by Duncan McLean. It features writing from Kevin Cormack, Robert Alan Jamieson, Amy Liptrot and Christine De Luca. Published by Abersee Press in 2017 (36pp).
