The Book of Gaza is the latest in Comma Press’ series of city short story books. Right now, it’s the most relevant so I was really interested in seeing what it would be about. It is made up of ten short stories, written by pioneers of the Gazan short story to more younger authors of the form. It aims to show us a world that goes beyond the media and propaganda out there.
commapress.co.uk
Half of the authors are written by women and very much centre on female issues-the body, sexuality, relationships and family. Most of the short stories are based in or around the sea, this being an important emblem of freedom or independence, I would think.
The collection opens with A journey in the opposite direction and is written by a young author, Atef Abu Saif. It documents a day in the life of some young people in the city of Gaza and how their lives connect and merge. It was a chance for me to throw off the preconceived images I might have had of the city of Gaza and the camps. It portrayed a youth in a hopeful city of cafes and street corners but never forgetting where they are.
The next story I’d like to mention is The Sea Cloak by young writer and Palestinian activist Nayrouz Qarmout. It opens dramatically with a scene of 2 children playing “Jews and Arabs” and centres around the sexual coming of age of the female character in it. The sea takes centre stage and it is where the girl has her first sexual encounter. Beautifully written and the setting blew me away. We also get insight into the way the females are treated in this part of the world and how the women there struggle to be heard and be treated as equal.
The Whore of Gaza by Najlaa Attaallah shows us an empowered women living in the Gaza strip. She takes full control, or so she thinks by the end of the story. Really interesting and artistic imagery here.
Possibly, my favourite was A White flower for David. Before I started reading this, I was apprehensive as I thought it may be written from a very pro-Palestine perspective but this story manages to help the reader see both sides of the conflict. We have a relationship between an Israeli soldier and his family and a Palestinian family. We see one version of what it must be like to live in one of the refugee camps. Very touching and sentiment is held back.
In Abu Jaber goes back to the woods written by the father of the Gazan short story, Zaki al’ Ela, we see a very aggressive and bloody, confused refugee camp. This is a place of turmoil and interesting that this collection chooses to give us many sides, many settings, many feelings, opinions and questions but yet, we can come to the conclusion that nothing is as simple as is portrayed. Even within this piece of fiction, we will need to read widely, question frequently and hope and care for all the humans affected by this history, conflict and setting in the Gazan strip.
This collection is worth a read absolutely. I am not sure how much of it would have been censored at the time but because we have ten stories to read and take in, we can start to see a common thread-the human condition and this is the beauty of the short story. It works.
The Book of Gaza-a city in short fiction published by Comma Press and edited by Atef Abu Saif is available now. Get it now while you can be part of the debate.
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Grace-a short story in Dubliners by James Joyce
this story opens with a strange scene. A man, Mr. Kernan has fallen down stairs in a pub in Dublin city and is unconscious. After much confusion, Mr. Kernan leaves with a friend of his, Jack Power. Mr Kernan seems unable to talk about or remember what has happened.
When they get home, Mr. Kernan goes to bed and Mr. Power speaks to the children and Mrs. Kernan. Mrs Kernan is worried about her husband’s drinking and Mr Power promises to help.
The story then moves to a Jesuit Church service and we hear the priest, Father Purdon speaking. Mr. Kernan, Mr. Power, and some other male friends sit by each other. From the red-lit pulpit, Father Purdon preaches and calls himself a spiritual accountant of sorts.
He tells them to count up their sins and compare the sins to their clear conscience. He tells them if this balances, God’s grace will save them if their faults are rectified.
Some nights later, Mr Kernan’s friends visit him to help him to turn over a new leaf and join a Catholic retreat or cleansing service. Mr. Kernan is a former protestant who became a Catholic due to his wife’s pressure but never really accepted the church. His friends reveal their plans for the retreat and start to talk about religion.
Mr. Kernan does agree that he will join the retreat but refuses to light any candles saying that he does not believe in magic.
This story is structured under a framework of fall, conversion, and redemption in terms of religion.
The story divides up into three pieces and each piece show the process of redemption.
Mr. Kernan is literally the “fallen man.”
The second part of the story looks at Mr. Kernan’s conversion,and his friend’s reliance on big terms and names to make themselves look serious and pious. Is Mr. Kernan’s conversion a sham.
The last part of the story is meant to deal with Mr. Kernan’s “cleansing” yet it doesn’t happen. He goes to church and listens to the priest, but the story does not follow his rise from the fall.
The church is critiqued. It is not a place of healing at all as it should be. Interesting that Father Purdon shares his name with the name of the street that is home to the red-light district, or prostitution area, of Dublin, and his pulpit ha a red light. All images pointing to sin not redemption.
Joyce is asking if grace can save a man from sin. Mr Kernan has no sin. The priest has no grace either and acts like an accountant. These men are all searching for grace yet never find it. A cycle that goes on and on throughout Dubliners.
You all know I love the short story form so when Comma Press asked me if I wanted a review copy of the latest “Book of” series, of course I was very excited!
commapress.co.uk
Under the Israeli occupation of the ’70s and ’80s, writers in Gaza had to go to considerable lengths to ever have a chance of seeing their work in print. Manuscripts were written out longhand, invariably under pseudonyms, and smuggled out of the Strip to Jerusalem, Cairo or Beirut, where they then had to be typed up. Consequently, fiction grew shorter, novels became novellas, and short stories flourished as the city’s form of choice. Indeed, to Palestinians elsewhere, Gaza became known as ‘the exporter of oranges and short stories’.
This anthology brings together some of the pioneers of the Gazan short story from that era, as well as younger exponents of the form, with ten stories that offer glimpses of life in the Strip that go beyond the global media headlines; stories of anxiety, oppression, and violence, but also of resilience and hope, of what it means to be a Palestinian, and how that identity is continually being reforged; stories of ordinary characters struggling to live with dignity in what many have called ‘the largest prison in the world’.
A Mother, a short story by Elske Rahill, Dubliners 100
Dubliners 100 was an ambitious project. There was always going to be comparisons in style and theme but the more I read, I think the secret to the success of Dubliners 100 is in how well the writer shows us a social commentary of Dublin as it is now.
This is what A mother aims to do. A story of a mother who is quite the middle class and conservative woman. She marries an accountant but would have preferred a solicitor. They obviously don’t love each other yet have children who they send to a Colaiste, where the best Leaving Cert results. Similar to Joyce’s version yet brought brilliantly up to date. We get honest insight into how the education system works in Ireland today. A very truthful look at why parents really send their children to certain schools. It mentions Educate Together and Gaelscoileanna and I think it really hits on the debate of where we send children to be educated. Interesting.
The mother in this story is on the parents’ association of her child’s school, something that probably didn’t exist in Joyce’s Dublin.
The story spirals slightly out of control, ending in a bizarre party where mothers can relive their wedding day. I don’t think it works though I get what the author was trying to do. It has a compares cleverly with the scene at the concert hall in Joyce’s story.
This story succeeds as it has completely caught on one of the “elephants in the room” in terms of social class, education and parenting in Ireland today. Joyce would have been confused and definitely have laughed at these people.
A Mother is available in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press.
A Mother is a brilliantly observed piece of society in Dublin at the time. A mother who has married because she feels she has to. Sends her children to the best schools where they learn French and Gaeilge. They learn piano and the harp. One of the daughters is due to play at a concert but the Mammy is organising and managing everything. We don’t really hear from the daughter. We end on a huge eruption on the part of the mother in front of the other performers at the concert the daughter is meant to be performing at.
This story has the most to play about with in an updated version. Ireland hasn’t moved on that much. I’ll be looking to see how the middle-class Mammy will be depicted
A Mother by James Joyce is available in Dubliners.
My least, least favourite of the lot of Dubliners. Thought this when I read it and think it still.
Ivy Day commemorates Charles Stuart Parnell’s death in 1891 and it takes its name from the Dubliners who, at Parnell’s funeral, wore the ivy growing by his grave in their lapels and this story is saturated with his presence.
It is Ivy Day and we find a group of political canvassers gathering together in a committee room( formerly Parnell’s headquarters) to drink, talk political stuff and wait for their money for their wages. We have a rendition of the poem “The Death of Parnell” towards the end of the story, a poem that basically celebrates Parnell. This poem causes the men to think about their lack of action, in general towards politics and history.
This story is about the death of Irish politics and the way it used to be. The Committee Room in London was where Irish politicians chose not to support Parnell as a leader in December 1890. This destroyed Parnell’s career, and, Joyce’s story suggests, the future hopes of the next generation as well.
The men in this story too are full of betrayal and have beliefs that go all over the place. They focus too much on the past so as there is no action taken. The men are also caught in the paralysis or circle of inactivity. They realise that political energy is needed and call on the spirit of Parnell but they know they will not be able to take this job on. Instead, they sit there, year after year, inactive.
I think I dislike it so much because of its content, the past, history and politics. It is also a highly male story. No women. No emotions. No thoughts for me to ponder.
Eimear Mc Bride was given the short straw with this story, come back to my next post and we will see if her unique writing style can deal with it!
Ivy Day in the committee room by James Joyce is published in Dubliners.
Like the story, Eveline, we see a character waste an opportunity. James meets a married woman, Mrs Sinico. They start to get to know each other, emotionally and mentally, if you know what I mean! their affair is ended by James and a few years later, James receives some bad news about his former lover. He is ultimately left lonely as was she.
Eveline was given a chance to leave Ireland in the short story of her name. James is given a chance to love, connect. But, he misses it.
It is a story, again, of paralysis. The colours of brown and yellow saturate James’ world. His floors, walking stick, food and drink. In this way, Joyce links all of the stories.
This story is another favourite of mine from the Dubliners.
A painful case can be read in the short story collection, Dubliners.
Joyce works like an engineer in the Dubliners collection. Each story is fit into the last and forecasts the next. Clay follows the dark, angry story of Farrington, a nothing character who causes so much tragedy in his life and others.
When you read Clay the first time, your brain will think “meh”, a nice, gentle story about a gentle woman who likes her cakes. But, go read it again. No, read it three times.
This story has been molded to contrast with the badness of Counterparts, the story before it. But, in many ways,the characters and setting are the same and come to the same conclusion. This story is needed.
Clay can be read in Dubliners by James Joyce. you can download it for free on kindle or buy a physical one for €3!
Counterparts, short story by James Joyce.
This is the most depressing story and most despicable of characters in Dubliners. Farrington is an office clerk who is an angry man. Terribly angry at everyone and everything. His job is hateful and he is bullied by his boss. His friends fleece him for money that he pawns for his watch and his wife bullies him when he is sober and he bullies her when he is drunk.
vimeo.com
We see the full of the city in this story, with Farrington going on an angry and pointless journey from work to pub to home. He realizes he is in a bad situation but has no solution to what he might do. He doesn’t even realize the extent of his problems are of his own making.
I hate reading the ending of this story, it is a violent and awful one. We can only imagine that the next day for Farrington nuns his family and friends and workmates will be the same. The theme of routine plays strongly in this story. An aggressive routine that most Dubliners go under, Joyce comments.
I’ve read a couple of reviews on the Belinda Mc Keon’s take on this story. I really do like her style and energy so I am looking forward to getting stuck into her version of this hideous tale.
Counterparts is a short story published in the collection, Dubliners by James Joyce.
How long have you been interested in writing and the literary world?
Alex: For has long as I’ve been reading I’ve been interested in writing and the literary world. I vividly remember ripping off Enid Blyton stories when I was about 8 years old. I would plagiarize the heck out of them and then collect them all in a notebook I had stolen from my mother that I would refer to as ‘my book’. My first ‘novel’ was written at age 12 and had a print run of 3 copies. I believe it was called War of the Heart and was historical fiction set during World War II. It was predictably terrible.
Gráinne: I have been an avid reader my whole life but was seventeen before I started writing. I had never really been one for keeping diaries or anything like that, but I started to write down random thoughts. It was a therapeutic exercise mostly, but some of these thoughts became scenes of dialogues. My first ‘novel’ was a shocking attempt at chick lit, which saw a teenager run away with her boyfriend’s father. Not sure what issues I was trying to work out at the time. Thankfully my work has become a bit more focused and less pervy.
The Silver Apples Magazine has quite an open and wide ranging ethos in terms of the pieces it wants writers to submit. You accept any genre or medium and you don’t mind if they are not thought provoking or well written. They can be literary but probably just need to be entertaining. Can you tell us what you do not want then as there must be pieces that are “just not your bag, baby”?
Alex: We really do mean it when we say that we are open to reading and publishing submissions from pretty much any genre. If they fit the brief and work well with the other accepted submissions then it really doesn’t matter if they are romance, slipstream, or just plain silly. We know what we like when we see it!
Gráinne: I can see how it appear to be a bit random, but there is a method to our madness. We love quirk. We love that piece that you are afraid to submit somewhere else because you think its too nerdy, or it won’t be understood. We love to laugh and to debate about what the writer was thinking when they wrote it, drew it or photographed it. And to believe that the thing they were thinking was bizarre, weird and probably a bit sick and twisted.
What would grab your attention in terms of literary writing being submitted to the Silver Apples Magazine?
Alex: There are a LOT of magazines out there dedicated to publishing solely literary works. We are not one of those magazines. For a ‘literary’ piece to be accepted by us it has to come with a little something extra – a quirkiness, an off-beat quality, something that would horrify your secondary school English teacher.
Gráinne: I don’t want to have to work too hard when I am reading something. Sometimes it is great, but sometimes Ulysses is not appropriate. Silver Apples Magazine is not a place to show off your writing skills. We know you have skills. We want you to show off your imagination, your passion, your eccentricity, in a safe space.
I love writing prompts and you do too! Where do you get your ideas from for prompts and why do you like this approach?
Alex: We like the idea of giving each issue a theme or a prompt because we feel it adds some cohesion to the magazine. Because we accept different art forms from a range of genres, the lack of an overarching theme could make the magazine seem a little disjointed or out of whack. Believe it or not, an incredible amount of thought goes into putting the issue together. We want pieces that will work together and create an entity that’s greater than the sum of its parts. We get our ideas by bouncing them off each other and seeing what sticks. We always want something that can be interpreted many different ways, something that can be subverted and analysed and picked apart by our contributors.
Gráinne: The prompts we put on twitter are really just fun ways of showing off our personalities. I think if we adapted the mentality we have with the magazine (if we like it we publish it, end of) without any kind of theme, it would get kind of messy. Sometimes we find ourselves searching for the theme in a piece we really like, before we eventually decide if we can’t find it, our readers won’t either, and that is not fair to the submitters who really embraced the theme and went with it, so we have to turn it down unfortunately.
What is your favourite literary magazine?
Alex: Ireland has a lot of really great and well-renowned literary magazines such as the Stinging Fly (which is beautiful and well worth a read). But for something a bit different, I would have to say that Albedo One has been a personal favourite of mine for a few years now. I even wrote my Master’s Thesis about them (in part). They are the only lit magazine in Ireland to solely publish works of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction. They have rejected me many times so you know they have discerning taste! Outside of Ireland, recent finds have included Quantum Fairytales (they give me serious cover envy) and, since I’m currently living in Canada and it is a very well-regarded Toronto institution, Tattle Creek.
Gráinne: I love Quantum Fairytales at the moment too, though my favourite in general is the Cork based magazine The Penny Dreadful. They have a great attitude and the stuff they had published so far is top quality. Their tweets are also hilarious. I have tween envy sometimes from reading them.
What book are you reading at this very moment?
Alex: Gráinne and I are reading a number of books in preparation for a super secret project and if we told you about it we’d have to kill you (no, seriously). Aside from that, I am currently reading Death Masks, the fifth Dresden Files novel because the last two books I read were Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughtry (which I did not like) and Frog Music by Emma Donoghue (which I thought was OK but not as good as Room) and I needed some easy-reading, vampire-fighting wizardry in my life. I swear, I pretty much read anything and everything! Oh and I’m also working my way through the backlist of the Hellblazer comics.
Gráinne: I am currently working on my first sci-fi novel and to that end have been reading books, graphic novels and poems that take place in another world. A world that couldn’t possibly exist, but you believe it does because the author laid it out beautifully for you. It had resulted in some really bizarre combinations. On my holidays last week I read Fahrenheit 451, three Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, and Neil Gaiman’s new kids’ book Fortunately, the Milk. And of course, the super secret project books….
Though, you have just released your first issue, could you already describe the vibe of the Silver Apples magazine in 3 words.
Alex: Quirky, entertaining, fun
Gráinne: W.T.F?
In your second issue, you have given a prompt of “Box of Tricks” for would be submitters, can you expand on this or give examples of where writers could go with this?
Alex: You are asking what could lurk inside the Box of Tricks? That is a dangerous question with an answer that differs for each person. Look inside yourself, pull the rabbit out of the hat and see what else emerges, make like Pandora…Dreams, nightmares, comedy, tragedy, truths and lies are all found within.
Gráinne: When I think Box of Tricks, I think magic, mystery, all the plot twists and turns you can image for good measure. Anything could happen and anything goes. But I want to be lured from the beginning, and shocked at the end.
Thanks so much for your time, Grainne and Alex. Wishing you all the very best in writing and reading for the second issue of the Silver Apples Magazine!
Rozz Lewis, June 2014
Bio
Gráinne O’Brien is known for her love of many things, but mostly academics and Harry Potter. Graduated from University of Limerick with a BA in English and History, and an MA in Gender Culture and Society, she has spent the last six years bouncing between conference organising, office managing, fiction writing, academic writing, and blogging. She has been published academically several times. She has just returned from a year working for a start up in Silicon Valley, where she learned how not to run a company, along with a bunch of other tech information she will never use again. Her latest accomplishment is the soon to be published Good Madness: A Collection of Essays on the writer Neil Gaiman, which she co-edited with Alex.
Alex Dunne is many things – Irish ex-pat, prolific tea drinker and errant writer of SF & Fantasy. She graduated from the University of Limerick with a BA in English and History (where she met Gráinne and bonded over crosswords and shared nerdiness) and went on to obtain an MA in Literature and Publishing from NUI Galway. Alex has previously been on the publishing team of ROPES 2010 (the annual literary magazine of NUI Galway) and some of her writing was featured in What We Didn’t Know Existed (the anthology of the Toronto Street Writers) and Congruent Spaces.
