Month: November 2020

‘The Geometric Kingdom’ is out now.

 

In The Geometric Kingdom, Rupert Loydell and Maria Stadnicka write about loss, grief and mourning, and explore how memory, faith and ritual facilitate the relationship between the living and the dead. 

Publisher: Knives, Forks and Spoons Press, UK.

Editor: Alec Newman 

 

 

‘Loydell is mining themes that resonate with our times, leading to collaborations with a talented array of fellow poets, allowing for a synergistic pulse of varied views. He and his fellow travelers ask difficult questions and offer open-ended answers through the time-tested holy triad of ethos, logos, and pathos.’

 – Joey Madia, X-Peri

‘Stadnicka’s poetics is one of craftmanship, wherein she carefully walks the tightrope of surreal poetic metaphor and the gritty realism of investigative journalism and broadcasting. Drawing on her experiences in both, Stadnicka’s writing culminates into a distinctly inventive literary landscape.’

 – Bryony Hughes, Stride

 

The Geometric Kingdom is now available at Knives, Forks and Spoons Press  it can also be ordered on Amazon as well as various local bookshops. 

 

Yes, it is all a snapchat but I take it seriously.

Katrina aged four (1992). © Photograph: Craig Easton / Published in The Guardian on 14 Nov 2020

I am seven and have committed a crime. And I am going to prison where my brother won’t visit for fear of being locked up as well. Someone says that if you stare at the classroom walls long enough, Mister Williams can’t read your thoughts because God, hidden in the plaster, has built a shield around your body which makes you invisible.

I trust God to wake me up with a packed lunch I can carry to school, but at break-time all I hear is rumbling and heartbeats. Grandfather warned me that when you get upset your heart grows a claw which pokes at your ribcage until you pass out. And to avoid passing out, I’ve stolen a girl’s lunchbox. I am a thief who will go to prison and die hungry.

© Jack Shenker The Guardian 14 Nov 2020

The article can be accessed here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/14/this-photo-of-children-living-in-poverty-caused-shock-waves-in-1992-where-are-they-now

Maria Stadnicka, 14th November 2020, UK

“Sleepwalking into the Abyss”

Earlier in the week, a few anglo-american media agencies mentioned the ‘quartet of despotism’ in reference to the international reaction to the election results in the US. It could have been a slip of the tongue, or maybe a warning sign that things are not over until are over.

Yesterday, The Guardian, The Independent [yes, I know] picked it up again and included Timothy Snyder’s analysis on the current developments. It reminded me of a talk Snyder gave in Amsterdam in 2017, in which he looked at the contributing factors to the current state of affairs. I’ve only just ‘re-found’ it: ‘Can history save us from ourselves?

The talk is long and if you are short for time, begin with minute six and listen for about 45 minutes.

The fact that The Independent, currently owned by the former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev, has picked this up too, is in itself worthy of further attention. 

Maria Stadnicka, 12 Nov 2020