 Cadenza 2 Coastguard Cottages Frieston Shore Boston Lincs PE22 0LZ Subscription: 4 issues £15.50 [Europe £17; RoW £18] email Cadenza visit Cadenza's website Before commenting on this review please read the FAQ page Home page Notes for publishers Want to be a reviewer? Anthologies. Books. Audio. Magazines. Software. Video. Artefacts. Web design by Gerald England This page last updated: 24th February 2004. |
Cadenza #10 | |
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It is pleasant, though unfortunately too rare, to find a UK magazine combining fiction and poetry. I don't know why we insist on being so exclusive. But this edition should raise hopes. It mentions the creation of PROSPECT, the University of East Anglia's fiction-poetry publication launching January 2004 CADENZA runs competitions, advertises others, gives writing advice — this edition deals with resisting that early morning logging-on temptation and writing instead. There's an interview with crime story writer Alex Keegan on the difficulties of publishing short stories; a review of Nathalie Goldberg's latest, WRITING DOWN THE BONES, and a regular column by Jane Wenham-Jones, this time reviewing SEXY SHORTS FOR CHRISTMAS, ACCENT PRESS. The rest is fiction (shorts and short shorts) and a separate poetry section, entitled Bard Attitude, edited by Fiona Curnow, which this time is loosely grouped around the theme of love. I particularly liked ZANZIBAR by Lavie Tidhar: Lie a sailboat your body an Arab dhow painted white pale as the deposits of chalk on the shores of the Indian Ocean. When I board you, my hands knowing and warm in the African sun unfurl your sailsAmong the fiction that caught my eye were GODLESS IN INDIA by Jason de Boer, an excellent tale of a train-journey to Agra; IS SUMMER COMING EARLY? by David King, an amusing and at times violent story of neighbourhood infidelity; STILL ART by Moyette Marret Gibbons, an interesting subject, a young girl reacting to her own mother's paintings of her on show at the Tate Modern; though the ending has, to my mind, an unnecessary change of focus. I'd have chopped those last two lines off; THE MANGO TREE by Joseph d'Lacey is a beautiful moral tale full of writing promise. All in all, a good range in this beautifully produced magazine. | ||
| reviewer: Jacqueline Karp-Gendre |