Sam Reese and his book Come The Tide (Platypus Press) made an excellent impression on our sensibility a few weeks ago, and we couldn’t leave things at a stalemate.
In this interview, guests Ornette Coleman and Silvia Plath enrich Sam’s thoughtful reflections and unusual takes on the pleasure of writing and on the writer’s many duties.
All pictures courtesy of Alexandra Kingston Reese.
Platypus Press is an independent publisher that has been on the back of our heads for a moment now. This This Week in Arts follows another volume highlighting The Emma Press, and let us assure you that the coup de cœur is made of the same intensity.
We picked two books to justify and report this excitement: a poetry anthology entitled Islands Are But Mountains and a collection of thirteen short stories by Sam Reese entitled Come the Tide.
NB: all the pictures used for this article are courtesy of the publisher. Considering the current health situation, we wouldn’t have risked the life of a postman for the sake of literature, as precious as literature is right now. As for reading and not taking fancy pictures, Kindle saved the say once again.
Writer, broadcaster, filmmaker, pataphysician: Kevin Jackson expressed his curiosity and his fierce desire for creation through more means that you could imagine in a lifetime. A few lifetimes could be necessary, to be honest. Kevin Jackson must be a cat. A cat who wrote a story with a dog. Yes, you read that right.
His last book Greta and the Labrador (Holland House) is a poignant tale of getaway, loyalty and love. One drop in the ocean of a critically-acclaimed career, but a beautiful and remarkable one.
Kevin Jackson is a generous, thoughtful character himself. He agreed to share some of his colors with us and we couldn’t be happier to share them with you today.
This is an interview, but the rumor says that a Why I Write could be on the works.
We have the pleasure today to introduce you to Nathalie Abi-Ezzi, author of Paper Sparrows, a brilliant tale of disappearance, exploration and war.
We’ll have the pleasure to review her last novel, Paper Sparrows, very soon. For now, find more details about this book at the end of this Why I Write.
Bio: Emma Darwin’s new creative non-fiction, This is Not a Book About Charles Darwin (Holland House Books), was published in 2019; it was acclaimed by the Literary Review as ‘unsparingly honest…wise, witty and informative’. She is the author of two historical novels: The Mathematics of Love (Headline Review) – which is probably the only book ever to have been nominated simultaneously for the Commonwealth Writers’ Best First Book, and the RNA Novel of the Year – and A Secret Alchemy (Headline Review). Her non-fiction Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction is published by Teach Yourself / John Murray, she has a PhD in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, and is a creative writing mentor and tutor with a hugely popular blog, This Itch of Writing (link below).
Picture by JP Masclet.
Why I Write, by Emma Darwin.
Awarded with a grant from Arts Council England only one year after being founded by Emma Wright, The Emma Press has been publishing books for eight years.
Eight years of meticulous combination of quantity and quality, eight years of uncompromising expression, eight years of unwavering determination.
We couldn’t be happier to immerse ourselves into the colorful world of The Emma Press, and couldn’t be more admirative of all the work accomplished so far.