Cultured Llama

Anna Maconochie launched her debut short story collection, Only the Visible Can Vanish, at the end of September at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green in London. A staircase of books was laid out on the table, which had reduced to a single shallow step by the end of the evening as Anna signed copies for eager readers. The event was captured by photographer Charlie Tipper, who has kindly given us permission to share his pictures.

Anna Maconochie has also appeared as part of a panel at Cheltenham Literature Festival, alongside Mariella Frostrup and others, talking about a new anthology Desire: 100 of Literature’s Sexiest Stories, in which one of Anna’s stories appears.  Anna’s name then appeared in an article in The Times, which advocates an award for the writing of good sex in literature, rather than just the Bad Sex Award. An appearance at Cheltenham Literature Festival and mention in The Times just weeks after Anna’s debut collection has been published is no mean feat.

Only the Visible Can Vanish costs £12 plus p&p. Free postage and packing if you buy two or more books.

The Kent launch of Only the Visible Can Vanish is on 13 November 2016 in Canterbury, as the guest of Save As Writers and Cronerstone Writers. Upstairs at The Jolly Sailor, Northgate, Canterbury at 6.30 p.m. Free entry, with open mic for poets and writers.

The Light Box by Rosie Jackson is reviewed by Rachel Playforth in The Frogmore Papers, 88:

I love the painful, angry, sad poems in the voice of Hilda Carline, the first wife of Stanley Spencer, which get at something very real and human beyond artworks and biography. The alluring not-quite-truths of art are also dramatically captured in ‘Can You Make My Mouth Smile More?’ which would be the standout poem here if there weren’t so many equally strong contenders.

The Light Box costs £10 plus p&p. Free postage and packing if you order two or more books from this website.

Automatic Writing by John Brewster is reviewed in Poetry Salzburg Review by CAITRÍONA O’REILLY, who particularly praises Brewster’s Scots poems:

“am aa din” (7) is a brilliant and very funny little lyric that succeeds by means of its jaunty rhythms and repetitions:

am aa din

am aa din in

am aa din daein

fir am aa din in

dinnae dae this

dae dae that

am aa din daein

fir am aa din in

Brewster shows a precise and knowing grasp of both language and of the apposite, emotion-drenched detail. When playing to his strengths, he shows himself to be a poet of promise in this volume.

Congratulations are due to John Brewster for his highly commended poem in the Wigtown Scots Prize, ‘Honi the Circle-Drawer’. The poem can be read here.

Automatic Writing costs £10 plus p&p. Free postage and packing if you order two or more books from this website.

Emma Timpany, author of The Lost of Syros, is interviewed by Rupert Dastur on the The Short Story website:

What makes for a successful short story?

The great thing about short stories is that although they are made from the same general elements – character, setting, internal and external conflict, and resolution (or lack of it) – there are countless ways of approaching writing them. You can categorise and analyse them but, in the end, like all art, there is something a bit odd and magical about how a story works, some inner tension that holds a few thousand words together, a little universe that you can’t add anything more to, or take anything away from, without it collapsing.

Read more here:The Short Story

The Lost of Syros costs £12 plus p&p. Free postage and packing if you order two or more books from this website.

As part of Cultured Llama’s 5th birthday celebrations, we are offering Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway by Stephen H. Morris for half price with free p&p. This fabulous book is only £9 (usual price £18) until 30 November 2016, or while current stocks last.

Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway, by Stephen H. Morris, is the definitive and indispensable guide to Medway music. Mixing oral history with profiles of the best singles, EPs and albums to come out of the Medway Towns since the mid-1970s, Morris tells the story of how performers such as Billy Childish, The Dentists and Lupen Crook have produced music whose influence extends far beyond the reach of five small towns in the north of Kent.

Here is what James Endeacott has to say about Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway

Stephen H. Morris brings to life a vast array of colourful characters, inspiring music and small venues – along with a passion and belief in the music of the Medway Towns. Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway is a detailed and thorough account of the area’s musical history from the mid-70s to the present day; it’s also a picture of a small part of the south east of England that has never lost its faith in love and music. There’s a beating heart in those towns and long may it continue.

James Endeacott

Over the last 50 years, James Endeacott has worked in a record shop, played in a band called Loop, been an A&R man for The Strokes, run a record label called 1965 Records and tried to unlock people’s minds. He looks like Mick Hucknall, supports Crystal Palace Football Club and signed The Libertines to Rough Trade Records in 2001. He has been Up The Bracket ever since.

Order now at the link, for £9 inc p&p: Do It Yourself: A History of Music in Medway