Description
Issue VII features short stories, creative nonfiction, poetry and flash fiction. These stories centre around the theme of identity and the idea of sonder – the realisation that passersby have a mind as complex as your own.
Including contributions by:
- Sue Rainsford
- Martins Deep
- Kayla King
- Ian Ledward
- Sahar Ahmed
- Claire O’ Brien
- Robert Coakley
- Colm Brennan
- Lea Mc Carthy
- Kirsten Mosher
- Aisling Cahill
- Epiphany Ferrell
- Justin Rigamonti
- Cian Dunne
- Valerie Hunter
- Patrick Kruth
- Sam Martone
- E J Delaney
- Chris Kuriata
- Justin Clement
- Olivia Payne
- Don Noel
- Robert Coakley
- Isa Robertson
Chris Kuriata –
Finished reading my issue of Sonder this weekend.I liked the opening story, as well as the valuable interview afterwards with Sue Rainsford. I love stories that manage to span such huge lengths of time in just a few pages, that seems to give me a glimpse at how the oceans or rock forms might view our brief civilizations.
I liked the brutality of Patrick Kruth’s The Shuddering Creak of Time. The mood created in this made everything feel cold and damp.
Love the clear and distinct voice of an individual in Kayla King’s The Indictment of Robert Frost.
Aisling Cahill’s Cartography captures the lack of control that can overwhelm you in the midst of the medical world. The line “You were once a tourist moving across the land of the sick… The ticket’s still clutched in your hand” resonates strongly with me. I also liked the slurred reality of Ian Ledward’s Dark Hours. These two stories pair together nicely.
I like how strongly Justin Clement collects the vibe and the sounds of the market in Windmills. Feeling that setting so vividly enhanced the anxiety of the narrator feeling out of place.
I love the push-and-pull I experienced reading Don Noel’s Extraordinary, as I kept going back and forth between pleasantly amused and deeply concerned.
Love the poignancy of Colm Brennan’s Far Side of the Moon, and the idea “the infinite space before sleep is where I can find him.”
Robert Coakley’s The Hungry Bog as great choice to close the issue on. Filled with detailed images, many describing the bodies visceral. It starts humorous before exploring the inevitability of decay, which is an idea I find great comfort in, because any repulsion is undermined by the perfection and precision of the process.
I enjoyed reading this collection, and I am very proud to have my own work included amongst so many wonderful settings and characters. Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part.
— Chris Kuriata