Ibrahim is a young Muslim guy walking from Cardiff to London. He has his own reasons, and his own mental and physical struggles to deal with along the way. What he hadn't counted on was a chance meeting with 75-year-old East Londoner Reenie before he's hardly started. With her life's luggage in a shopping trolley, complete with an orange tent and her pet cockatiel, Reenie is also walking the M4, and not for charity. As they share a journey their paths stretch out before and behind them into the personal and political turns of European history in ways neither could have foreseen. An impressive and daringly human book from novelist David Llewellyn.
This collection is a study of African literature framed by the central, and multi-faceted, idea of 'mother' - motherland, mothertongue, motherwit, motherhood, mothering - looking at the paradoxical location of (m)other as both central and marginal. Whilst the volume stands as a sustained feminist analysis, it engages feminist theory itself by showing how issues in feminism are, in African literature, recast in different and complex ways.
CMJ New Music Report is the primary source for exclusive charts of non-commercial and college radio airplay and independent and trend-forward retail sales. CMJ's trade publication, compiles playlists for college and non-commercial stations; often a prelude to larger success.
'Beautifully told and beautifully written' – Philip Reeve (author of Mortal Engines) 'An impressive and compelling work, entirely original' – New Welsh Review 'Masterly interweaving of narratives, time periods and places, David Llewellyn's A Simple Scale is a symphony of mysteries and passions.' – Paul Smith 'A Simple Scale is a work of self-assured persuasive power, and the resounding artistic statement of a writer who has truly arrived. It is bold, it is brave, and it is the real deal.' – Wales Arts Review A piece of music starts a story which ranges across Soviet Russia, McCarthyite Hollywood and post 9/11 New York, as the mystery of the lives of two gay composers is uncovered. Who wrote that music? What event caused their lives to cross? What pressures caused their actions? What are the consequences for those around them? In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a man arrives in New York to claim that the theme tune of a popular tv series, written by Hollywood's Sol Conrad, is the work of his grandfather Sergey, an eminent Russian composer who was sent to the gulag by Stalin, and from whom Sol stole the score. Conrad's young PA Natalie is determined to defend her elderly employer, but as she digs deeper she discovers worlds of which she barely knew – Russian labour camps, McCarthyism, repressive governments, and the plight of homosexuals in the USA and USSR during the twentieth century. Natalie, Sol and Serge each tell their stories, ranging across continents and decades. A Simple Scale moves forward through their narratives of love, death, deceit, the CIA, the NKVD, atomic bombs, classical music and Hollywood. In a dramatic conclusion their pasts and presents catch up with them, as the secrecy, manipulation and betrayal that were at the centre of Sol and Sergey's lives inform a few weeks of 2001, when history is about to repeat itself. Rich in detail and atmosphere, David Llewellyn explores the points at which the personal and the political meet. His depiction of 30s Leningrad, 50s California and post-9/11 New York is only too believable.
"Torchwood, the smash-hit thriller drama created by Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies returns to the screens in the new year with 13 new episodes on BBC2. Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto are a close-knit team of investigators solving alien and human crimes as they delve into the underworld of modern day Cardiff. ith a great line-up of special guests including Doctor Who companion Martha Jones returning for three episodes, Richard Briers playing a 90 year old man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star James Marsters playing a pyschopath - the new series is sure to hit the headlines. he novels include brand new stories featuring the Torchwood team."
The maestro of political plays is back and his latest offering in a decade, Fear of Writing, is a groundbreaking commentary with its finger on the political pulse of Singapore today. In Fear of Writing, a playwright struggles with writer’s block, a director and producer bemoan their failure to get a government license to stage their play, and a father writes to his daughter overseas. Seemingly disparate elements are woven together, while the line between art, performance and reality begin to blur dramatically as the play reaches its chilling conclusion. Fear of Writing is a play that will haunt you while compelling you to decide where you stand on the issues of control and censorship. Written by Tan Tarn How, Fear of Writing was first staged by Theatreworks in 2011 to critical acclaim.
