Reviews
review by Karen Jeynes

| edited by Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin
Published by Jurassic London
PB 288 pages
RRP £14.99 (Kindle £2.48)
I’ve always believed that giving writers a tight brief sparks them to greater heights of creativity and innovation, and this anthology is evidence to just that. This collection brings together a wide array of voices with writing inspired by John Martin’s apocalyptic paintings. Among the mix of contributors are South Africans Lauren Beukes, SL Grey, Charlie Human and Sam Wilson. |
From Issue 17 (Jan 2012 |
by Vianne Venter

It’s been a very good year for reading. Bizarrely, this is largely due to the birth of my daughter, which forced me to sit still for the first time in, well, my life really. Just about the only thing you can do with a baby sleeping on your lap is read – terrible, I know, but I bore my sentence bravely. |
From Issue 16 (Oct 2011) |
review by Joe Vaz

Published by Harvill Secker
“They catch up in two seconds and start bombarding us with apples. Grandpa stays steady through the pounding. We roll up the windows to protect ourselves. Sad, because we haven’t seen apples in a year and now they’re drumming all over us. Unthinkable, that people could keep apples from other people. Grandma leans in close to Grandpa as he squeezes through the traffic, trying to get away.”
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review by Sarah Lotz

| Published by Generation Next Publications PB 258 pages RRP R150 (Kindle £2.14) My father's funeral had been that morning, and Kevin thought a night out would be the best way to take my mind off how he'd died. It hadn't helped. All I could think about was that I hadn't been able to say good-bye or tell him that I loved him. I couldn't even get drunk and forget about it. I couldn't pretend that I was okay and put on a happy face for the sake of Kevin and his friends. As a result we cut the night short, which irritated Kevin's friends and I was once again the party pooper. Kevin had been gone for what seemed like a few seconds when everything that I knew and trusted in my life changed forever. |
From Issue 14 (Oct 2011) |
review by Joe Vaz

| Published by Umuzi PB 144 pages RRP R150 (Kindle £1.49) The furniture is made for children. The parents I need to see are the ones who never come. Most of them are overly interested, clutching their handbags. 'Mister September,' they say, making my title - a common one on the Flats - sound like a caption from a calendar. Or, if they are men, are stepfathers, mustached and overbearing, smelling of the aftershave that announces them. They show their teeth and say, in a joke that is not a joke, 'You teachers. You have such nice lives. All those school holidays.' |
From Issue 13 (Sept 2011) |





