Each year brings droves of fresh new voices in the literary world. There are simply so many good authors that raking up a definitive list of the best would be futile. However, it would be wrong not to shine the spotlight on promising newcomers. So, without further ado, here are five fresh voices of literature …
Horror is an ever-evolving genre. Unlike the ancient entities that Lovecraft imagined so long ago, it does not lurk underneath and wait for the perfect time to put humanity in shackles anymore. No, horror terrorizes us day by day with a constant barrage of fresh voices and new ways to give us nightmares. In …
I’m sure all bookworms out there can agree with me when I say that you can never own too many books. I have a mountain in my room that I have yet to read, but I still can’t stay away from my favourite second-hand bookstores. Browsing the aisles of a bookstore is just a …
I tend to treat classic literary writers like gods. That’s not hard to do. How else would you feel when you’re reading a book that’s so full of wisdom and knowledge? However, I think sometimes it’s important to ground our literary heroes. We need to see them as the complex and flawed human beings …
In Trent Dalton’s gritty coming-of-age debut, Boy Swallows Universe, we enter the mind of Eli Bell, an eagle-eyed 12-year-old who gets thrust into a whirlwind of drugs, addiction, violence, racism, and classism. Eli’s brother, August, speaks only when absolutely necessary. For the most part, he writes cryptically in the air. Eli’s spiritual mentor is …
When I first started watching Game of Thrones (and then read it too), I was fascinated at the balance of reality and fiction. In this story, princes aren’t always kind and gallant. Princesses get rescued by monsters. Good men die, and the villains prosper. We root for protagonists who turn into a villain. We …
If you’re a writer or you’ve studied creative writing, chances are you’ve come across the expression ‘Show, Don’t Tell.’ In literature and poetry, this is called ‘Sensory Imagery’ — the use of different expressions and figurative language to evoke a sensory experience in the reader. When authors use the imagery in their writings, they provide …
A few years ago, when my creative writing teacher was explaining the use of literary devices in novels or poems, she showed us the above picture. Yes, that’s a before-and-after shot of a movie scene — a fantastic example of special effects (SFX) and visual effects (VFX) in cinematography. So, the tutor asked us to …
Established authors have said it before and we’ll say it again: Novel writing methods or structures aren’t an exact science. So, you’re not bound to the rules. You’re welcome to stray from the path they present. They are simply there to help you discover your narrative’s footing or provide you with a basic blueprint. …
We all have our favourite short stories — that’s why any discussion over what makes the greatest short stories of all the time can take hours (or, in some cases, a lifetime). Can there ever be one list we all can agree upon? Something that would glance upon all tastes, all eras, all countries, …
