Great summary

It’s been days since I read Go Set A Watchman and I can’t stop thinking about it. In some ways, the novel is excruciating. The story takes place twenty years after To Kill A Mockingbird. Beloved characters have aged, or died, and the house that Jean Louise (Scout) Finch grew up in has become an ice cream parlour, but those characters that remain are true to themselves. Dr Finch is still batty and wise, Jean Louise remains feisty, Aunt Alexandria is still as inflexible as her own corsets, and Calpurnia remains a code-switching, disappointed mother. The central struggle in this novel revolves around the breaking of idols; both familial and cultural. The myth of The Father must give way to the truth of the father (in culture and flesh) if the child is ever to grow into something independent and new.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, we viewed…

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human it is by Reuben Woolley

I am not a silent poet

we are most human here
in quiet hours
where hurt come tumbling through

alone
we are human
where i does not relate
………. goes blind wherever

here
we are human
on killing shores
………. irrevocably
childless
unashamedly lonely

………. in tears
we are human
it is the water
we share

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How an Illness Changed the Way Laura Hillenbrand Wrote Her Bestselling Books

Longreads

Your inspirational story of the day is Wil S. Hylton’s New York Times Magazine profile of bestselling author Laura Hillenbrand, who’s written both Seabiscuit and Unbroken while suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. The illness left her unable to leave the house—which, rather than hamper her ability to do research or interview sources, gave her some different advantages:

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#NoShame in Mental Illness: A Reading List

Longreads

Even though I’ve lived with mental illness for years, I’m still learning about self-care, support systems and valuable resources. One of these resources is No Shame Day, initiated by poet and mental health advocate Bassey Ikpi. Ikpi founded The Siwe Project, which provides special mental health support for the Black community and other minority groups. On the first Monday in July, people take to social media and use the hashtag #NoShame to talk about living with mental illness and overcoming stigma and silence. Here, I’ve collected several stories about mental illness, many written by writers of color.

1. “Disrupting Domesticity: Mental Illness and Love as a Fact.” (Ashley C. Ford, The Toast, July 2015)

Ashley C. Ford interviews her partner, Kelly, about living with a person with mental illness–how to love her better, comfort her during panic attacks and hold her accountable. Kelly’s love for Ashley is so strong: “I love…

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Reinvented Video for WordPress

Ambit Summer Writing Competition

Abegail Morley

Ambit Summer Writing Competition 2015

Ambit Magazine announces the launch of its 2015 Poetry and Fiction Competition. There’s no theme this year – just send us your best work on any subject, in any style. The poetry competition will be judged by Dan O’Brien, and the fiction competition judged by Alison Moore.

How to enter

Submissions can be made by our Submittable portal – visit their portal

For poetry each submission costs £5. With 6 UK or 8 overseas submissions, you’ll receive a free year’s subscription to Ambit Magazine

For short fiction each submission costs £7. With 4 UK or 6 overseas submissions you’ll receive a free year’s subscription to Ambit Magazine

Prizes

The first place prize in each category will be £500, second place £250 and £100 for third.

The competition opens May 1st and closes July 15th. Winners will be announced on September 1st on the Ambit website.

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juli Jana’s ra-t (Shearsman, 2014)

Tears in the Fence

This ground level portrait of London’s history through the figures of ra-t and puss-in-boot-s sears with sonic booms and majestic word-play swivels. The figures, with their split names suggesting that they are broken, hesitant, slippery and under stress, draw upon our knowledge of their past as street survivors. This is more of a third person exploration than a giving of voice to those that are mute. The rats and cool cats of the underground mingle with the weeds, vegetables and butterflies, scurry between gaps and the people that walk the streets. Puss in boots in the fairy tale was capable of guile and deceit, and here, with ra-t, offers an alternative view of the city. Puss in boots, or the booted cat, dates back to sixteenth century Italy and spread across Europe with its various incarnations as helper and trickster. The most durable and adapted version being by Charles Perrault…

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