Hints, tips, must haves and recommended reading — As another month draws to a close, I just wanted to address some ‘housekeeping’ issues to give our writers some ideas of the writing and presentation we need to see used for you to get published, Featured and/or Boosted via Counter Arts. When formatting your title block, we need to…

To be updated throughout the year, with links to any essays and reviews about the books on our list. ***Last added to 31/5/2023*** — To recap, I’ve drawn up our new Book Club list for 2023 . There are twelve books in said list (below), one for every month. …

A story told in several parts —

June Prompt — I’m throwing this out there without a poem or any fiction attached, because right now the Muse is evading me (too many other things going on in my head right now I guess). I will write something soon, but it’s the second of the month already and time is a-ticking. …

A Counter Arts Book Club review — When choosing titles for Counter Arts’ 2023 Book Club list, I decided to slide this very slim volume in there because it had been announced as winning the International Booker Prize in 2021. Published in 2020 by Pushkin Press, this novella of one hundred and sixty-two pages is a difficult…

A review — What a wonderful example (and exploration) of poetry’s contribution to the conversations to be had around race, violence and social history. The poet, A. Van Jordan, is Professor of Creative Writing at Stanford University and the recipient of a number of accolades. He has received numerous awards and a Gugenheim…

Announced on Monday 15th May — I was going to write about the whole kit and kaboodle, but honestly, it’s a lengthy list of categories, short-listers and winners — so I’ve decided to narrow the field down somewhat and concentrate on the books I do read these days. Which means: no children’s categories at all (I…

She deserves better than this — Once more at volume for the people in the cheap seats: Rape is not about sex. Rape is about power. “.. it is often assumed that rape is an act of lust and that, consequently, rapists are simply men who cannot control their sexual urges. The truth is that most…

Home, family and identity — Nearing the end of last year I wrote this long review essay (for the Counter Arts Book Club 2022) about Ocean Vuong’s ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’: 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' - Ocean Vuong What is gorgeous is this novel. I read it when it was first published and adored it, so when I signed on for Book Club…link.medium.com One of the themes running through Vuong’s novel deals with his family’s status as Vietnamese refugees. …