Childhood should be carefree, worry-free and fun, but often we’re made to feel ‘not quite right’ in some way or another. These are just some of the complex, moving and, at times, humorous issues examined by award-winning authors Jay Bernard, afshan d’souza-lodhi and Catherine Johnson.
The idea of travel brings with it the promise of exotic places filled with interesting people… But that’s for those who are able to come and go as they please. For many, ‘travel’ has been ‘not quite right’ for centuries, bringing conquest, oppression, inequality and disaster.
Love touches us all at some point — from dependable familial bonds to the warm comfort of childhood pets, from the heady perfume of romance to the cherished appreciation of community, culture, country. The physical and emotional connections transcend barriers, cross generations and borders. And yet, love can sometimes be ‘not quite right’, taking where it should be giving, causing destruction — even as we still love.
Celebrating ten years of Speaking Volumes, this anthology is a warning shot, an affirmation, an education … These forty writers — new and established — speak volumes, invoking their experiences of outsiderness and their defiance against it.
In this episode we’ll hear ‘The Pilgrimage’ by Amina Atiq; ’Knot’ by Leonie Ross; and ’The Apocrypha of O’ by Gaele Sobott. Our guide is poet, novelist and musician Dr Anthony Joseph.
Available at all good bookshops, or you can order from Flipped Eye Publishing.
Speaking Volumes live literature organisation.