Bridges not Borders: An Anthology of South Asian Writing, edited by Cardiff- based Aiysha Jahan and Susmita Bhattacharya from Winchester is published today (11/9/24). This anthology of short stories is part of a wider project, Write Beyond Borders, funded by The Arts Council England and AHRC, which seeks to...
Books
Top picks for late summer reads
By Laura McCarthy. Still holding onto summer? Top reading picks for seasonal readers. If you’re anything like me, you enjoy reading books which suit the season. You want a book which you can read in the garden on hot August days or one you can take camping. There’s nothing...
Author talk on The Broken Promise of Infrastructure at October Books
New book The Broken Promise of Infrastructure tackles the divisive cultural politics that have been used to deflect attention away from Britain’s failing infrastructure, from Brexit through to the ‘levelling up’ agenda. Building on more than a decade of research, this book argues that infrastructure projects are always far...
Book Review: Vague Wisdom by Will Vigar
By Anita Foxall Will Vigar’s new poetry collection, Vague Wisdom, should be top of your shopping list if you are looking for a good poetry book. It is rich in images and memories, some borrowed from art and cinema, some very personal. Poetry has always been present in his...
Southampton’s Itchen Bridge takes centre stage in BBC Radio 4 festive drama
By Carolyn Thomas Woolston-based author Ali Sparkes has written a new play for Radio 4, inspired by the tales of tollbooth workers on Southampton’s Itchen Bridge. Billed as a ‘festive romcom’ starring comedian Shaparak Khorsandi (pictured top with Ali), Tess of the Tollbooth explores the developing relationship between tollbooth...
Under the Covers books section December: Thriving by surviving separation
By Carolyn Thomas. Southampton-based drama teacher Daisy Harris-Reid, known to her 13.6k Instagram followers as ‘Mum about Town’, has written her first book, a self-help manual for women coping with separation and solo-parenting. The pocket-sized ‘Separation Survival Guide – How to Press the Reset Button’ is based on her...
Under the Covers books section: short stories big on thrills
By Carolyn Thomas. Those who find the lead up to Christmas all rather too saccharine may be delighted to lose themselves in the latest collection of creepy tales of terror and paranoia by local author Oli Jacobs. His newest nine short horror stories, wrapped up in a volume called...
Meet authors Kathryn Malcolm and Connor Irving in Southampton on Saturday
Perry’s Art Supplies, Southampton, hosts a book signing event featuring two notable local authors, Kathryn Malcolm, author of “The Shadow of the Scholar,” and Connor Irving, author of “The Salt of Angels Book 1: Pillars of Cloud” on Saturday (November 4). The event promises an engaging Q&A session, book...
Book launch: The Same Country, October Books
This autumn you can join author Carole Burns at Southampton independent book shop, October Books in Portswood, for the launch of her debut novel, The Same Country, about race and racism in America.‘The Same Country is an electric, emotionally charged novel: it seethes with its own energy. Pick it...
Under the Covers – August: Meet prize-winning Totton-born author/illustrator Kim Hillyard
By books editor Carolyn Thomas. Images by Jasmine Joynson. In just a few years Totton-born children’s author and illustrator Kim Hillyard has cornered the market in life-enhancing stories featuring quirky animal heroes. So far she’s featured a fly, a hamster, and a mammoth in her beautifully illustrated stories for...