Rigid and bony like an orchard in winter— a single tree can produce forty types of fruit. We can collapse a whole orchard by injuring the tree so that twenty …
Heimlich Unheimlich (Sieglinde Karl-Spence and Hazel Smith)
A Note from Author Hazel Smith These images are extracts from the latter part of Heimlich Unheimlich, a poetry and art collaboration published by Apothecary Archive in 2024. The …
Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You (Koraly Dimitriadis)
Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You Shut up and we’ll be good to you Be good and we’ll love you We’ll tell powerful people about your book But …
The Leaves (Jacqueline Rule)
The morning sky is flat, a smooth grey pebble. There’s a row of trees across from the house where the social worker’s car has stopped, the limbs are pitted and …
Courage (Maxim Bishev)
Inspired by ‘Mourn Not the Dead’ by Ralph Chaplin Grieve not the innocent who lie In cobbled cells, Awaiting execution. Grieve not the liar’s wretched conscience Which oft in moonlight …
Editors’ Note (Verity La Reborn) Issue One: ICONOCLAST
After years of silence, Verity La returns. This is our first issue since the journal’s Managing Editor, Michele Seminara, endured a cancellation at the hands of activists. What followed was social …
Stop All The Clocks (Magan Magan)
Honey My mother said I looked like a boiling pot of honey the way my face broke out when she talked about Jahannam. Gentle boys ruin in the fire too …
BORDERLESS (Judith Nangala Crispin, Anne Casey, Zeina Issa)
Murder at Wave Hill Judith Nangala Crispin i. Yes, he is beautiful, the boy dancing with men, purlapa, snake story — his skin gleams oil and iron-red ochre, she watches …
UNSETTLING HONESTIES: Anne Casey’s ‘Portrait of a Woman Walking Home’ reviewed by Gillian Swain
Portrait of a Woman Walking Home is a slim book, but it is not a light read. The book has weight and a texture that may well rub you up …
Black Christmas (Mohammad Ali Maleki)
Ah, black Christmas, you’ve arrived again, too soon. Why did you hurry back? We’re not glad to see you, we’ve been imprisoned for so many years. Ah, black Christmas — …