Shirley Jackson, The Lottery and Other Stories , is published by Penguin Classics. That can mean the book is quite old. It does seem to be, with the stories I’ve read so far being set in post-Second World War America, or it could mean a guarantee of quality. An imprint that says - this is really good. The book is in five sections, with short stories in each section. I’ve finished section one and started on section two. My feeling was of...

Jolono takes the story honours this week. His eponymous character Jack Winter is resurrected for a villainous Autumn return: http://www.abctales.com/story/jolono/who-jack-winter-part-6 Philip Sidney has consistently provided us with high quality prose and poetry and this latest poem is yet another example: http://www.abctales.com/story/philip-sidney/city-loving This weeks inspiration point: Poetry or prose that has some reference to 'change'...

Alvarez, A. (2005) The Writer’s Voice. London, Bloomsbury. Al Alvarez is British despite his Spanish surname. He was born in in London in 1929 and was privately educated; first at The Hall School in Hampstead and then at Oundle in Northamptonshire. Predictably, some might say, he went up to Oxford and gained a First in English at the end of his time as an undergraduate of Corpus Christi College. He worked as the poetry editor for The Observer...

In this module we are being asked to critically engage with the idea of the 'voice’ in our own original compositions and in the work of others " in terms of problematizing and deconstructing the concept of the ‘writer’s voice’. Whilst conceptual notions of voice will be interrogated, so will practical issues relating to the production of the voice on the page. " Essential Reading: Alvarez, A. (2005) The Writer’s Voice. London, Bloomsbury...

Coal miners lives were nasty, brutish and short - that was only in the good years. In his preface Zola tells his reader that all authors are liars, but there is something like the truth between these pages that still holds true. Zola shows how the Company makes profit from wage slavery of men, women and children. The Maheu family, for example, live in Village 240, Block 2, house Number 16. The Company owns the houses they live in. It allows a...

U, PG, 12A, 15 and 18; it's a hotly debated topic at my work (I do more than one thing but cleaning my local cinema is an essential part of my income), and I've no idea what the public makes of it. U is obvious, a U movie is deemed suitable for a child of four. PG, well I bust the rules slightly and took my daughter when she was four to Jurassic Park, PG is considered safe viewing for 8 and over, as did many others. No problems and I think most...

Awoke terrorised by an injured crow with loud-hailer outside the window. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a refuse lorry reversing into a nursing home. Still a little unsettling. Over breakfast, considered the day ahead and tried to recall the lyrics to "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". It's still not daylight as I head down the hill to the station. Daylight may not make it today. What is rain, but an opportunity to unfold my Parisienne...

It's such a privilege to be one of the co-editors of ABCtales and to be in a position of reviewing all the wonderful work that piles in every week. This week in particular has been excellent in terms of new talent and the work that they have brought to the site. The newbies made it a very tough job of making the choices for the picks of the week but the accolades go to Silver Spun Sand for her fantastic poem Albatross: http://www.abctales.com/...

Please please please support our final books on Unbound. If you haven't done so yet, then now is the time to do it! Celticman is lagging behind and badly needs your help. He's done so much for this site and helped so many of you - now is the time to give him something back: http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole And Ewan is so nearly there - just a few more of you and he'll be over the line. Go, give him a boost: http://unbound.co.uk/books/...

Hi everyone, I want to alert members to a forthcoming and prestigious poetry competition. It's a collaboration between the RSPB and The Rialto magazine based on the theme 'Nature'. The cost of entry is £6 for a single submission with subsequent submissions costing £3 each thereafter. A maximum of six poems are allowed in any one batch per individual entrant. Generous cash prizes are on offer with £1000 for the winner, £500 for the runner-up and...