An extract from Femi Kayode’s second novel, Gaslight, published by Raven Books in November 2023. GENESIS Let them come for him during Sunday service. They should wait for him to walk to the altar. Let him check that the cameras are placed as he directed during rehearsals. Give him time to mumble some […]
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Seaweed Rising
An extract from Rob Magnuson Smith’s third novel Seaweed Rising, published by Sandstone Press in November 2023. The divisions onboard the Farolita soon became explicit. The crew looked after ship maintenance, navigation, and the safety of the expedition. The passengers—an international consortium of seaweed executives—concerned themselves with flow charts, algae distribution surveys and […]
Jungle House
Julianne Pachico’s new novel Jungle House follows the relationship between a young woman and the AI house that raised her. Jungle House is published by Serpent’s Tail in November 2023, and the following excerpt is reproduced with permission. A dragonfly lands on the glistening scum, before retreating immediately, as if disgusted. ‘Well, Lena,’ […]
Runner Hawk
An extract from Michael Egan’s newest novel, Runner Hawk, published by Everything with Words in October 2023. One It was right in a moment of stillness as the cold morning air bit at my breath that I first caught sight of the runner. He hung there in mid-stride, strange and unnatural in his frozen […]
Crafting Crime Fiction
The following is an extract form the introduction of Henry Sutton’s new monograph, Crafting Crime Fiction, published by Manchester University Press in October 2023. INTRODUCTION: BEGINNINGS What is crime fiction? Let’s start here, with the biggest mystery of all. Or is it? This book will ask many questions and hopefully answer quite a few. […]
The Graveyard
This extract is from a novel in progress and is set during the 1600s, in New England. A fortnight before the birth of my brother, mother woke me with a silvery whisper. I had, since she had grown heavy with lethargy and child, taken the habit of watching over her in her sleep. I […]
Three Poems
Three poems from I don’t know what language I dream in by Taher Adel, published by Burning Eye Books in September 2023 I don’t know what language I dream in My mother speaks to me only in Arabic because you’ll learn English in school. But when did I lose my mother tongue? Was it […]
Rail-Song
The noise has hounded Zoë for so long that she’s forgotten what silence feels like. To her, quiet is just the momentary lull between the roars of the freight trains, which run parallel to the flat on both sides. ‘The way you bolt upright like that, it’s enough to give me a heart attack,’ Percy […]
What is a Doctor?
The opening chapter from Phil Whitaker’s new book, What Is a Doctor?, published by Canongate in July 2023. Chapter 1 – Medical Records I was seventeen and had not long passed my driving test. I helped my mum into the back of the car, her hands clutching a kitchen mixing bowl. It was the middle […]
Remember, Mr Sharma
An extract from A. P. Firdaus’s debut novel, Remember, Mr Sharma, published by Sceptre in July 2023. Punjab, 1947 She is alone on the terrace and the light is bleeding out of the sky. She stands with her back to the setting sun, holding a pile of clothes in her arms, and […]
