Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick their favourite books of the year. Gerald Dawe With the volume of book publication hitting dizzying heights, matched by the promotional buzz of the market-place and sales via self-promotion, it sometimes feels that ‘literature’ has become just another product in the digital world of global media. Whatever is good for…
Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick their favourite books of the year. Jo Mazelis The intriguing title of Martina Evans’ Now We Can Talk Openly About Men is taken from a phrase that the author remembers was once spoken when a group of her female relatives were gathered together. All of the women that day…
Sophie Van Llewyn discusses her short story, ‘Dinner for Two’, taken from Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. At the time when I began writing ‘Dinner for Two,’ in the winter of 2017, I was, primarily, a flash fiction writer. I had a six-month-old baby, and I only had time to write when she was napping.…
Ellie Rees discusses her two poems in Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. What happens to a poem when you take it out of its context, when it loses the support of the poems that lead up to it, and the reflective glow of those that come after? In The Natural History of Selborne, first…
Paul Whyte discusses his short story, ‘Bottle Gardens’, featured in Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. I’ve lived with a relatively severe anxiety disorder for most of my life. It’s a part of who I am, and that’s ok, over the years I’ve come to accept it. Thankfully, I seem to be managing it pretty well…
Meadhbh Ní Eadhra reads an excerpt from ‘Messages’, her short story in Issue Ten. Meadhbh Ní Eadhra is from Galway in the West of Ireland and has published three award-winning books for young people, Rua, Fáinne Fí Fífí and Faye. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including National Oireachtas na Gaeilge literary prizes and…
When the editor, John Lavin, asked me to contribute a few words online to supplement poems of mine published in Issues 7 and 10 of The Lonely Crowd, two of which that are part of a long-term and on-going series, ‘tales sad, savidj and obscure’, I agreed to do so with mixed feelings, as I…
K. S. Moore discusses her three poems from Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. For me, going outdoors is often the start of an adventure in poetry. It’s that feeling of being in nature. Everyone and everything is highlighted against a background of animated, unspoiled colours. ‘Lost Summer’ began when I saw a neglected boat,…
Patrick Jones reads ‘Soul Transplant’ from Issue Ten. Patrick Jones’ published work includes The Guerilla Tapestry (1995), The Protest Of Discipline (1996), Detritus (1997), Mute Communion (1997), Commemoration and Amnesia (Big Noise Productions, 1999), Fuse (Parthian Books, 2001), Against (2003), Darkness is where the stars are (Cinnamon Press, 2008), Tongues for a Stammering Time (Anhrefn Records, 2009), The Aspirations of Poverty (Red poets, 2017). © Patrick Jones, 2018. Image © Jo Mazelis, 2018.