From time to time, a man would walk down O’Connell Street with a troupe of dancing bears. Now, this was not, in itself, unusual. A great deal is packed into those two opening sentences of Quigley Cryan Brockbank’s The Dancing Bears of O’Connell Street, and they do what every good short story opening should do.… Continue reading Spring 2023 – Fiction
Author: Spellbinder
Food-themed Prompts for Spring
First prompt: think about your favourite food, or a unique food you like, and incorporate it in a piece of fiction or creative non fiction. If writing fiction, you could play with POV and try to write the story from the point of view of the food itself, or even from each of the ingredients.… Continue reading Food-themed Prompts for Spring
Tackling Surrealism
A fantastic way to be more adventurous in your writing is to try your hand at radical literary and artistic movements by following their principles and engaging in decades of creative conversation. Surrealism is a movement which has remained fresh and ever-evolving, and has always been politically and culturally subversive. A great example of its… Continue reading Tackling Surrealism
Winter 2023 – Drama
‘The set is meant to look like a PATH IN THE WOODS, very gothic and dismal.’ And with that, I was hooked. ‘Donkey Skin: A Monologue’ by Carly Chandler was a fantastical monologue from the point of view of ‘Donkey Skin’, a young woman running away from home in the dead of night. She stops… Continue reading Winter 2023 – Drama
Winter 2023 – Art
‘She’s Got Mirth but I Got Bravado’ – Alejandro Gonzalez Alejandro Gonzalez’ digital illustration ‘She’s Got Mirth but I Got Bravado‘ is a wonderful piece of artwork that I won’t easily tire of appreciating. Alejandro’s inspiration for the piece was a fusion of several feelings and ideas he experienced that translated to art whilst sitting… Continue reading Winter 2023 – Art
Winter 2023 – Poetry
‘A Dragon Curled Around My Heart’ by Quinn Murphy ‘In my chest, a dragon curls, Around my beating heart. To guard it from the many Who would see it pulled apart.’ Quinn Murphy’s poem ‘A Dragon Curled Around My Heart’ was the opening piece for Spellbinder’s Winter 2023 Issue. It employs the ballad form well… Continue reading Winter 2023 – Poetry
A Guide to Photography Galleries
In April 2021, I provided a useful list of world-famous galleries for visual artists searching for some inspiration, but it occurs to me that many of these fantastic museums are painting and sculpture focused and therefore, the photographers amongst you may be wishing for something a little bit more photography specific. For this reason, I… Continue reading A Guide to Photography Galleries
Autumn 2022 – Drama
French Knickers by Patricia M Osborne Patricia M Osborne’s piece featured in our latest issue, French Knickers, proves to be a wonderful and engaging character monologue. The stage description of the character’s entrance sets the entire mood: she walks in carrying a bottle and a glass of red wine. She flops into the armchair, kicks… Continue reading Autumn 2022 – Drama
Autumn 2022 – Poetry
IVF – Eugene O’Hare praying to the God she never thought …vicious with want. … baby.don’t float away. your word…speechless When I first read this poem, it made me slightly uncomfortable. Grading poems or deciding which one should be published is a complex process. As an editor, you have a responsibility to ensure that there… Continue reading Autumn 2022 – Poetry
Summer 2021 – Nonfiction
Hamantaschen ‘Like today, last Hanukkah was another of my faltering attempts to mark a holiday we’d never celebrated as children, with gaps in space and memory filled in using the internet. I learned to pronounce the prayers from a YouTube video, and met up with my sister over Zoom each night to light a menorah… Continue reading Summer 2021 – Nonfiction