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From an article by Tamara
Sellman of MRCentral (Readers, Writers
and Reviewers of Magic Realism in the USA)
I received a lovely bundle of books from Kay back in October at the urging of
MRCentral member Elaine Walker, who helped connect me with the publisher. Three
titles emerged from the packaging: The Sleepless Sands, Survival Guides,
and Rogue Symphonies , all of them themed anthologies from EarlyWorks
Press . Inside, I found specific stories tagged by Kay with a note of apologia
for having sent so many books, that it might be presumptuous of her to ask me to
read them all! (There's nothing I like more than getting books in the mail, so I
found her note charming, for I felt like I was celebrating an early Christmas.)
Of course, I read all of the stories she tagged and reinforced a feeling I've
had for a while now: that British imaginative fiction (in the vein of the
fantastical, the speculative, and the like) is a force to be reckoned with, and
that I'm far overdue in discovering these little gems and their writers for
myself. I also discovered that British writing is nothing if not witty and was
so glad to have taken these books with me to the local coffeehouse to enjoy over
a bowl of mocha. I must have been the cheeriest person in the room, emitting
little giggles and cries of pleasure as each story unfolded before me.
Seriously. I mean, the coffee is good there, but it's not that good.
The authors who best championed, to me, the spirit of MR, included our very own
member, Elaine Walker, plus Felicity Bloomfield, Douglas
Bruton, Caroline Davies, Catherine Edmunds, Stephen Firth, Natasha Monroe,
and Guy Ware. The stories' content runs the gamut, from a book
that eats words and a disintegrating starlet to a batch of talking sourdough and
a man who has a relationship with the mysterious subject of a passport photo.
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NB We at Earlyworks Press were introduced to Tamara and to MRCentral by Elaine Walker, author of 'The Crying of the Lilies' published in our anthology, 'Suvival Guides'. As a result, we are now considering making Magic Realism the subject of our next genre challenge. If you're interested, please watch the competitions page on this site in June/July for developments.
