Is it really Zuckerberg’s power that we should fear, or the uncontrollable nature of a product that seems to govern itself? The Social Reckoning | dir. Aaron Sorkin | Reviewed by Devarya Singhania Social media has gotten dangerous. I know, shocking! Besides the flood of news updates we receive, from data leaks to increased advertisement […]
Death Cab for Cutie @ Victoria Warehouse, reviewed by Peter Wild
Still cute, but maybe stuck in time? Death Cab for Cutie @ Victoria Warehouse | 19th September 2026Reviewed by Peter Wild My Death Cab journey starts a little over 20 years ago – at some point between their 2003 album Transatlanticism and their 2005 major label debut, Plans. My love affair with REM had been […]
Rebecca Perry, May We Feed the King, reviewed by Edward Heathman
The moral questions that May We Feed the King raises, not only about the divine right of royals, but the nature of governing bodies, and moreover, the power a community can wield over the individual, truly make for an indictment of our time. Rebbecca Perry | May We Feed the King | Granta Books: £15.00Reviewed […]
John Ironmonger, The Angel of St Piran, reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells
Ironmonger’s sublime exploration of morality and humanity. John Ironmonger | The Angel of St Piran | Fly on the Wall Press: £18.99Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells Big moral questions lie at the heart of John Ironmonger’s The Angel of St Piran. The novel confronts readers with the contradictory ways humans relate to the […]
The Enemy @ Blackpool Winter Gardens, reviewed by Sam Cassells
Nostalgia and crowd favourites: a gig for the people. The Enemy @ Blackpool Winter Gardens | Friday 28th August 2026Reviewed by Sam Cassells Blackpool Winter Garden’s Olympia Exhibition Hall was the ideal backdrop for the familiar indie Midlands tones of The Enemy front man, Tom Clarke, who promised to rock it and have a ‘f*cking […]
David Rose, Heimat, reviewed by Paul Kavanagh
Why does the writer have to be subservient to the reader? David Rose | Heimat | Nightjar Press: £3.75Reviewed by Paul Kavanagh ‘All my memories gather ’round her,’ sings John Denver. David Rose sings too, but he doesn’t sing Country Music. But the sentiment is the same. It is older than the written word, older […]
Shuntarō Tanikawa, Coca-Cola Lessons, reviewed by Samuel Philip Kielstra Ortega
At its core, Coca-Cola Lessons illustrates the musings of a poet whose identity listlessly exists between the past and present. Shuntarō Tanikawa | Coca-Cola Lessons | Prescott Street Press Price: £20Reviewed by Samuel Philip Kielstra Ortega Coca-Cola Lessons is Shuntarō Tanikawa’s 1986 poetry collection, translated by William I. Elliot and Kazuo Kawamura. In this collection […]
Great Lake Swimmers & Jente Pironet @ YES Manchester, reviewed by Peter Wild
An evening full of ‘quietly jaw-dropping’ moments. Great Lake Swimmers & Jente Pironet | YES Manchester | 9th May 2026Reviewed by Peter Wild We find ourselves in YES, a building that was once an auction house, to check out Great Lake Swimmers, a Canadian trio touring their ninth album, Caught Light. But first, in support, […]
Shaun Wilson, Malc’s Boy, reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Wilson’s masculine autofiction wrestles with inherited violence and literary form in equal measure. Shaun Wilson | Malc’s Boy | Conduit Books: £12.99Reviewed by Joseph Hunter I’ve never been much of a one for fighting. Most of the men I know are the same. I’ve had fights, but mostly when I was very young, and none […]
Patrick Charnley, This, My Second Life, reviewed by Nicola Healey
Recovery from a severe heart and brain trauma leads to rebirth in the form of a beautifully-narrated renewed appreciation of life. Patrick Charnley | This, My Second Life | Hutchinson Heinemann: £16.99Reviewed by Nicola Healey After nearly dying from a cardiac arrest, leaving him with a brain injury, twenty-year-old Jago Trevarno, the narrator of Patrick Charnley’s […]
The Drama (dir. Kristoffer Borgli), reviewed by Devarya Singhania
The past returns to distort a relationship in this dark romantic comedy. The Drama | dir. Kristoffer Borgli | Reviewed by Devarya Singhania Maybe you should ask everything on the first date if you’re planning on marrying the person. Or just don’t decide whether you’re going to marry them based on a couple of dates. […]
Henry Hoke, Open Throat, reviewed by Devarya Singhania
In defending the mountain lions of Los Angeles trying to hunt humans, the novel compels the reader to question whether, in fact, humans deserve it Henry Hoke | Open Throat | Picador: £9.99 Reviewed by Devarya Singhania What if you could communicate with the thing trying to kill you? Could you convince it not to? […]
Gorillaz @ Co-op Live Arena, reviewed by Peter Wild
Albarn’s high-concept supergroup coalesces in a vibrant and cameo-filled multimedia performance Gorillaz | Co-op Live Arena | 20th March 2026Reviewed by Peter Wild All the way back in 1998, Gorillaz was conceived as a virtual band by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett, as a comment on the lack of substance in […]
Don Quixote by the Birmingham Royal Ballet @ The Lowry, Salford, reviewed by Bethany Applebee
Carlos Acosta’s superb choreography shapes a joyous and beautiful production Don Quixote by the Birmingham Royal Ballet | The Lowry, Salford | 5th March 2026Reviewed by Bethany Applebee According to Timotheé Chalamet, no one cares about ballet anymore. But if he’d actually visited the ballet recently, he’d know there are plenty of people who disagree. […]
Of Monsters and Men @ Albert Hall Manchester, reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells
Haunting and lyrical: Of Monsters and Men make a triumphant return to Manchester Of Monsters and Men @ Albert Hall Manchester | 15th Febuary 2026 Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells The faded grandeur of Manchester’s Albert Hall, a former Wesleyan chapel, proved the perfect setting for the triumphant return Of Monsters and Men […]
Rob Doyle, Cameo, reviewed by Edward Heathman
Shirking the moral constraints of autofiction, this novel provides ecstatic multiple narrative planes that wrestle instead with the uncanny Rob Doyle | Cameo | Wieden & Nicholson: £20Reviewed by Edward Heathman At one point in Cameo, a narrator presented to us as Rob Doyle explains ‘I began to have what I thought of as serialised dreams… In […]
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (dir. Nia DaCosta), reviewed by Joseph Hunter
A haunting, revelatory, and satisfying continuation of the apocalyptic world Danny Boyle has created. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple | dir. Nia DaCosta | Reviewed by Joseph Hunter Danny Boyle has made the apocalypse look beautiful. It’s haunting, too: the eerie stillness of the woodlands, grown back in force over the countryside of the […]
Tony Tulathimutte, Rejection, reviewed by Devarya Singhania
Rejection provides in-depth case studies of performative males, cuckolding, finance bros, and LLMs, while leaving it to the reader, much like the internet, to make their own interpretations Tony Tulathimutte | Rejection| Fourth Estate: £16.99Reviewed by Devarya Singhania In his second novel (or novel-in-stories as it has been referred to in some places), Tony Tualathimutte […]
Sarah Ghazal Ali, Theophanies, reviewed by Ian Pople
Sarah Ghazal Ali | Theophanies | 87 Press: £14.99Reviewed by Ian Pople Ghazal Ali’s book discusses what visible manifestations of God – or a ‘theophany’ – might mean in a feminist context. She draws on both Muslim and Christian perspectives on women’s relationships with God; in particular, how those perspectives might sit in a contemporary […]
Oscar Oruche Flash 25 Fiction and Non-fiction Competition Winner
Oscar Oruche wins the University of Manchester’s Flash 25 fiction and Non-fiction Competition I am Oscar Oruche, three-quarters English and a quarter Nigerian, and am a current Undergraduate Student reading a BA (Hons) in East Asian Studies. Prior to living in the UK, I lived in Singapore, where I was exposed to Chinese culture and […]
The Chameleons, Arctic Moon Tour, Reviewed by Peter Wild
The Chameleons | Albert Hall, Manchester | 21st November 2025 Reviewed by Peter Wild It’s been a bumpy road for The Chameleons. They started out all the way back in 1983, released a clutch of anthemic, Goth-leaning albums in the vein of early U2 (see Script of the Bridge, What Does Anything Mean? Basically and major label […]
Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness, Reviewed by Edward Heathman
An unlikely friendship blossoms between different generations in this moving story that holds America’s underside up to the light. Ocean Vuong | The Emperor of Gladness | Penguin: £20.00Reviewed by Edward Heathman In his second novel, Ocean Vuong has chosen to skate over ground similar to that of his debut, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. […]
Marina Abramović, Balkan Erotic Epic, Reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Abramović’s epic reminds you that much of life is itself a performance – that the boundaries we draw between art and ‘real’ life are, in many ways, arbitrary. Marina Abramović | Balkan Erotic Epic @ Aviva Studios | 9-19th OctoberReviewed by Joseph Hunter It’s the first sentence of this review, and I already feel like I’ve […]
Best British Short Stories 2025, edited by Nicholas Royle, reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles and Sam Cassells
A timely reminder of the ability of the contemporary short form to move, shock and surprise its reader in a myriad of ways. Best British Short Stories 2025 | edited by Nicholas Royle | Salt Publishing LTD: £10.99 Reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles and Sam Cassells Twenty-three years on from the launch of the ‘Save […]
Nathan Kernan, A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler, reviewed by Ian Pople
A complete and compelling account of a masterful American poet Nathan Kernan | Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler | FSG: £25.00Reviewed by Ian Pople James Schuyler’s poetry contains extraordinary descriptive precision. His Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, The Morning of the Poem, concentrates on the everyday, the accretion of events. Nathan Kernan suggests: […]
‘ANEW Way to Peel an Orange’, Castlefield Gallery, reviewed by Caleb White
A brilliant project. Thoughtful, playful, human. Aesthetically and thematically solid. No notes. ‘ANEW Way to Peel an Orange’ | Castlefield Gallery | 3 August –19 October 2025Reviewed by Caleb White This review comes with a series of caveats. As I write this, I am sitting at the frontdesk of Castlefield Gallery, working a voluntary shift. […]
Santiago Yahuarcani, ‘The Birth of Knowledge’, The Whitworth, reviewed by Caleb White
A powerful and sobering display of art, deeply connected to an intriguing cosmology and a brutal history. Santiago Yahuarcani | The Birth of Knowledge | The Whitworth | 4th July 2025 – 4th January 2026Reviewed by Caleb White In the midst of dissertation writing, I have taken time out to visit the new exhibition at […]
The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years, The Manchester Museum, reviewed by Caleb White
The Manchester Museum have successfully created a place of wonder. A simple and charming experience. The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years | The Manchester Museum | Saturday 19 July – Sunday 14 September 2025Reviewed by Caleb White In spite of how busy life can become, I still manage to find the time to […]
Henri Cole, The Other Love, reviewed by Ian Pople
A complex and rewarding collection that observes the fragility of love and nature in an increasingly delicate world. Henri Cole| The Other Love | Farrar, Straus and Giroux: £12.00Reviewed by Ian Pople Henri Cole is one of those major American poets who, somehow, does not have a publisher in the UK. The Other Love is […]
Sheena Kalayil, The Others, reviewed by Joseph Hunter
A fascinating love story plays out during the end-days of the DDR. Sheena Kalayil | The Others | Fly on the Wall Press: £12.99Reviewed by Joseph Hunter The inciting incident in The Others, Sheena Kalayil’s stirring and sad fourth novel, involves the discovery of a body. A young German man has drowned in an attempt to […]
Gastón Fernández, Apparent Breviary, reviewed by Astrid Meyer
A quietly striking collection where readers are left to meditate upon the enigmatic traces of Fernández’s words, and where they might point. Gastón Fernández | Apparent Breviary (trans. KM Cascia) | World Poetry Books £19.99 Reviewed by Astrid Meyer Apparent Breviary, written between 1980-1981 by the Peruvian poet Gastón Fernández, translated from the Spanish into […]
Witold Wirpsza, Apotheosis of Music, reviewed by Dylan Stewart
Wipsza’s dream-like poems are absurd, but if you pay attention to the material from which these dreams are made, you’ll find them lingering with you in unexpected ways. Witold Wirpsza | Apotheosis of Music | translated by Frank L. Vigoda | World Poetry Books: £18.99Reviewed by Dylan Stewart Witold Wirpsza was a Polish poet who […]
Ethel Cain, Nettles, reviewed by Edith Powell
Ethel Cain’s preview single delivers everything steadfast listeners were hoping for; creating a spellbinding, bittersweet world of catharsis, melancholy, and reluctant hope. A masterful addition to a tragic story. ‘Nettles’ | Ethel Cain | Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love YouReviewed by Edith Powell ‘Nettles’ is Ethel Cain’s debut single for her upcoming sophomore album, […]
Stuart Maconie, With A Little Help From Their Friends, reviewed by Chris Connor
Maconie dives into the lives that shaped the Fab Four, bringing fresh perspectives to the infamous legends Stuart Maconie | With A Little Help From Their Friends: The Beatles Changed the World. But Who Changed Theirs? | HarperNorth: £20.99Reviewed by Chris Connor The Beatles story is, of course, well entrenched into public consciousness, and interest […]
Corinne Fowler, Our Island Stories, reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles
Fowler unearths the hidden legacies of slavery, capitalism and exploitation that make up contemporary British relationships with the countryside Corinne Fowler | Our Island Stories: Ten Walks through Rural Britain and its Hidden History of Empire | Penguin Random House: £10.99Reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles Our Island Stories, Corrine Fowler’s follow-up to Green Unpleasant Land […]