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Creator's Conversations with Grae J. Wall

Hey book lover! Your favourite blog kmgreads completed a successful year on 25th January. When I started it, I didn't expect that I would continue it for a year. But your love and support made everything possible and I promise you that I will put more efforts to provide you with better content. To enjoy this happy moment, I invited poet, lomographer and songwriter Grae J. Wall . He is from St Albans, UK. Grae J. Wall's latest poetry book The Sound of Revolution was released on 7th December 2020. Kangkan: Music, poetry and photography -these three things have always been fascinating us, the humans and you are living the life among them. How does it feel? Grae: Quite organic I suppose, I really did just fall into the world with an innate need to create and capture and share. My mum was a poet and I was inspired by the poems she would send to the letters page of our local newspaper. I inherited my grandad’s old Kodak Brownie when I was six or seven and then aged about 11 I saw ...

Creator's Conversations with Dr. Gail Aldwin

Hey booklover! Renowned novelist, poet and scriptwriter Dr. Gail Aldwin is our guest in today's Creator's Conversations . Before we start, let me introduce her to you. Gail Aldwin is a Dorset-based writer. Her debut coming-of-age novel The String Games , about a child lost on a holiday in France, was voted a finalist in The People’s Book Prize and was shortlisted in the Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize 2020. Gail loves to appear at national and international literary and fringe festivals. Prior to Covid-19, she volunteered with VSO International at Bidibidi in Uganda, the second largest refugee settlement in the world. Kangkan: How many hours a day do you dedicate to writing? Gail Aldwin: Writing takes many forms for a published author including notes and planning for future projects, research, editing, writing articles and blog posts. I’m often asked to review the books of others, provide feedback on writing … and answer interview questions, as I’m doing now. In 20...

A review of On Borrowed Time by Graeme Hall

What could be more amazing than starting a new year with a fiction book (that too before its release date)! A few weeks ago, Isabelle Kenyon sent me On Borrowed Time written by Graeme Hall and told me to share my reading experience with you. The book is released on 11th January 2021. It has almost three hundred and sixty-six pages and twenty-five chapters excluding the prologue and the epilogue. The story of On Borrowed Time revolves around six characters- Sam, Emma, Kate, Alice, Yeung Kwok-wah and Susan Khoo. The prologue is set in August 1997's Hong Kong and it started with the break-up story of Sam and Emma. Emma broke up her relationship with Sam just because her visa was expiring. The author beautifully portrayed Sam's feelings on the day when Emma was going to fly to the UK. The first chapter takes back the reader to one year earlier Hong Kong and describes Sam and Emma's life from two different angles. Sam worked at McShane Adams, the law firm with his two colleag...

A review of the chapbook Medusa Retold written by Sarah Wallis

I am a huge fan of Greek mythology, and Medusa is one of those characters whom I want to explore from different angles. Isabelle Kenyon and I often share our book-reading expectations. When she came to know my hunger for exploring Medusa, she told me that her press ( Fly on the Wall Press ) recently published a chapbook where Medusa is portrayed from a different perspective. The name of the book is Medusa Retold and it is written by Sarah Wallis . I immediately requested her to send me the book so that I can share my thoughts with you. Unboxing video of Medusa Retold:   Medusa Retold is a long-form poem. There are thirty pages in this chapbook. The central character of the poetry is Nuala who lives in a modern seaside town. Nuala is brought up by a single mother. Being a loner, her emotions, likes-dislikes differ from others. Athena is Nuala's best friend and they spend time in a band together. If you are wondering how this contemporary character can reflect our ancient Medusa, y...

A review of Valedictorian of the Bottom Feeders written by James F. Miller II

In 2020, I read a lot of poetry books but only a few could impress me. The poets who made my 2020 special are James F. Miller II ( Ghost in the Reflection, Letters to Erin ) and Steve Denehan (Days of Falling Flesh and Rising Moons). I never thought that I would get another chance to read these poets' work this year. But it happened and Jimmy sent me his latest chapbook Valedictorian of the Bottom Feeders published by Planet Productions Poetry & Press . He asked me to do a review of this book, and I thought why I shouldn't share my opinion with you! Valedictorian of the Bottom Feeders has forty-two pages, and it contains fifteen poetries. While writing this review,  "if you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry" -this famous quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is striking in my head. I think I should not reel out any of the poetries in this review. I hope the poet or the publisher will also avoid revealing anything to the readers. My suggestion to the poet or t...

Of Necessity and Wanting by Sascha Akhtar Release Update

Hey book lover! Today I am bringing a Release Update for you. The book is published by 87 Press and the name of the book is Of Necessity and Wanting . It is written by Sascha Aurora Akhtar. A little more about Of Necessity and Wanting : This fiction work was published on 14th October 2020. It is a collection of lyrical, atmospheric stories of varying lengths set in urban Pakistan. The book is divided into three sections and there are 240 pages in this book. At its forefront are the concerns of people who are lower down on the metaphorical ‘chain’ of status and power, especially in the context of their symbiotic relationship with those they see as ‘other,’ ‘ privileged’ or 'fair.' What reviews are saying: Mohammad Hanif: "Sharply observed & tightly spun. Sascha has the eye of a poet & the ear of a wanderer. She writes precisely & lyrically. It’s a thing of beauty." Nik Perring: "There is a familiarity in Akhtar’s characters that reminds us that, who...

Creator's Conversations with Steve Denehan

Today's Creator's Conversations is a part of the blog tour organised by Fly on the Wall Press . Today we will interview Steve Denehan . Steve lives in Ireland and he has written two chapbooks and two collections. He won Irish Times' New Irish Writing award for two tims. His poetries are featured in Westerly, Acumen , Into The Void and Poetry Ireland Review . He was nominated for Best of the Net , Best New Poet and was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize . His latest poetry book Days of Falling Flesh and Rising Moons with Golden Antelope Press was released on October 14th, 2020. I have not done any editing to the conversation we had. Now let's begin the interview. Kangkan: Nowadays, people prefer watching a video rather than reading a book. Looking at the rising demand of the videos, do you think that the video industry is going to obliterate the book industry? Steve : I think both can happily exist alongside each other. To me watching a film or series is mor...