simonmandrake

Alison

By Simon Downham-Knight I strolled over to Mike Jones’s flat on a grey, early November evening in 1991. As I walked round the corner into Gloucester Street, I had an enigmatic feeling of excitement and trepidation. Mike’s flat was in one of those big white town houses in Pimlico. It had black railings, stairs thatContinue reading “Alison”

Bring on the Lucy

A Short Story by Simon Downham-Knight “Alright, boys. This is it. Over the hill.” John Lennon – Bring on the Lucie (Freda People) I’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight years old and a vegan since I was fifteen. I fucking hate meat: the smell of it, the taste of it, the feel ofContinue reading “Bring on the Lucy”

Wishing I Had A Photograph

By Nasir Ali Hussain I’d been told by people who’d grown up with me that the place where we had lived as children and young adults had changed. Changed so much that it might as well be someplace else, with few, if any, signposts for fragments of memory to fix on to. When I wentContinue reading “Wishing I Had A Photograph”

What’s for Dinner?

By Simon Downham-Knight I recently went up to Nottingham to visit my old friend from school, David. I hadn’t seen him in about twenty years. We got chatting on Facebook after my dad died and he invited me up to spend some time with him and his family. When I got there his cat, Gilda,Continue reading “What’s for Dinner?”

The Shiny Green Lustre Of Folk Horror By Nasir Ali Hussain

“From the brown, bark trees, the green hanging leaves, the stone faerie forts to the power and fury of the horned, cloven-hoofed god.” It could be said that where science fiction is concerned with the future, and fantasy with a time that never was, the genre of the supernatural is almost always moored in theContinue reading “The Shiny Green Lustre Of Folk Horror By Nasir Ali Hussain”

This is Brenda – Part 4

A Web Series in Several Iterations Brenda & Kitty – Part 3 Brenda & Kitty – Part 3 was filmed during the time between doing The X Factor auditions and finding out that we had been busted. Kitty came up with the idea of filming at the St Werburgh’s Art Trail during the late SpringContinue reading “This is Brenda – Part 4”

The Before and After Of HeadCleaner By Nasir Ali Hussain

I tend to see my life in distinct parcels of time. Each parcel containing its own distinctive tone, flavour and character. A certain trigger event will then occur and I will find that I have entered into a new parcel of time, a new era of life. The trigger event can be a change inContinue reading “The Before and After Of HeadCleaner By Nasir Ali Hussain”

This is Brenda – Part 3

A Web Series in Several Iterations Brenda & Kitty – Part 2 We started work on Episode 2 straight after episode 1 and it was at this point that things became complicated. Our plan was to go into The X Factor, in character, and tell them that Brenda wanted to be the first trans winnerContinue reading “This is Brenda – Part 3”

The Dignity Of Violins

By Nasir Ali Hussain Nobody walks the streets at night like me. Sometimes, when it’s late and the streets are cold and empty, I go for a walk. There’s something about those tense, otherworldly silences where the only sounds you hear are those of your own feet and yet still, there’s the feeling that you’reContinue reading “The Dignity Of Violins”

This is Brenda – Part 2

A Web Series in Several Iterations Brenda & Kitty – Part 1 In 2010, I moved to Bristol after spending several years living in Japan. After a settling in period, I felt it was time to bring back Brenda. I contacted Annie to see if she would be up for some more, but she wasContinue reading “This is Brenda – Part 2”