REVIEW: BOBBY PARKER’S ‘HONEY MONSTER’
By Stella Backhouse | Bobby Parker’s 2022 collection ‘Honey Monster’ documents his working-class background and the bleak discourse of poverty, addiction, casual violence, mental illness and sexual abuse that formed the cruel narratives of both his child and adult lives. The contents matter-of-factly recount tragi-comic realities that should not seem normal, such as moving the gun on the kitchen table to […]
Coventry Poet Laureate Visits Dresden
[Press release] In September 2022, Emilie Lauren Jones (Coventry Poet Laureate) travelled overseas to the city of Dresden in Germany, for the first ever Coventry-Dresden poetry exchange visit…
INTERVIEW: FIRE&DUST MEETS KEN CUMBERLIDGE
Poet Ken Cumberlidge has twice been a regional finalist at Hammer & Tongue Cambridge, and his work can be found in numerous publications, both print and online. In September, Ken headlined at Fire&Dust. We caught up with him after the gig, to ask a few questions…
INTERVIEW: FIRE&DUST MEETS JEMIMA HUGHES
Jemima Hughes is a Birmingham-based performance poet and multi-slam winner whose work emphasises mental health awareness and covers taboo subjects such as sexual violence, mental illness and suicide. On 1st September, she headlined at Fire & Dust. HCE caught up with Jemima after the gig, to ask a few questions…
REVIEW: JO BRATTEN’S ‘CLIMACTERIC’
Reviewed by Stella Backhouse | ‘Climacteric’ contains numerous warnings: about the female body, about the planet, about the loss of loved ones that is the inevitable accompaniment of middle age, about a concurrent blurring of the self and its boundaries, presaged in the first poem and continued later in lines like […]
INTERVIEW: FIRE & DUST MEETS EMMA KEMP
Emma Kemp is a Coventry-based poet with work published in various magazines and journals, and is also the rep of the ‘Cov Stanza’ group. On 11th August, Emma headlined at our virtual Fire&Dust event. HCE caught up with her after the gig, to ask a few questions…
ART EXPOSURE INTERVIEW: COVENTRY GROTESQUES
Gargoyles and grotesques can be found in countries across Europe, such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK. Together, historical researcher Danny Reed and Coventry artist Mary Courtney are curating local grotesques on Instagram and have created an interactive ‘grotesque guide’ to Coventry (and beyond)…
September 2022 Round-up: Virtual Literary Events
September arrives, and summer begins to melt away into memories. Hopefully, one day, the Covid-19 pandemic will do the same. The HCE magazine team have created another list of online literary open mics, events and workshops, to help you plan for the weeks ahead. Don’t miss out!
Formatting: Theatre Script vs TV/Film Screenplay
By Emma Evans | Planning to write a script, but not sure yet whether you’ll want your masterpiece to be on primetime television or touring theatres? Confused over what these two script formats look like and how they differ? You’re in the right place!
Press Release: ‘Black Snowflakes Smothering a Torch’
At its foundation, ‘Black Snowflakes’ presupposes that many issues veterans face when reintegrating come not from the veteran’s traumas but from the hypocrisies inherent to American civilian culture itself. The book will be published in November 2022 with Woodhall Press […]