‘Summer Solstice, 4:53am’ by Danielle Gilmour ‘I move so slowly through the acresthat my legs are dewy.The waters of the estuary are coming –or going – I’m unsure which butwhichever they are they don’t need to ask’ Danielle Gilmour’s poem ‘Summer Solstice, 4:53am’ is about giving birth. This subject matter is explored with a beautiful… Continue reading Spring 2023 – Poetry
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Spring 2023 – Fiction
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
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
Art Tips – Creating from Nature
In this week’s blog post, I’ll be exploring ways in which the natural world might be able to inspire you in your art. Many of you might already paint, draw or create other forms of art using the natural world and all within it as inspiration, but hopefully you might find some tips below that… Continue reading Art Tips – Creating from Nature
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 – Non-fiction
Alone with a Book is an excellent piece of creative nonfiction which we are very proud to have published in the Winter 2023 Issue of Spellbinder. Overall, Alone with a Book is really lovely, well-written and funny, but it doesn’t stop there. In this piece, the author Stephanie Shi beautifully examined the loneliness and connection… Continue reading Winter 2023 – Non-fiction
Winter 2023 – Fiction
Like Sardines by Douglas Jern The passenger layer now reached the tops of the seat backs, and newcomers had to climb up it to get inside, and climb it they did. Nothing seemed to faze them. Before long even the luggage racks were full of people, who lay there looking bored as the train rolled… Continue reading Winter 2023 – Fiction
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