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Claire-Louise Bennett
Claire-Louise Bennett grew up in Wiltshire and studied literature and drama at the University of Roehampton, before settling in Galway. Her short fiction and essays have been published in The Stinging Fly, The Penny Dreadful, The Moth, Colony, The Irish Times, The White Review and gorse. She was awarded the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize in 2013 and has received bursaries from the Arts Council and Galway City Council. Her debut novel, Pondwas published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2015 and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2016. Her second novel, Checkout 19, is published by Jonathan Cape in August 2021.

Articles Available Online


The Russian Man

Fiction

Issue No. 27

Claire-Louise Bennett

Fiction

Issue No. 27

Many years ago a large Russian man with the longest tendrils of the softest white hair came to live in the fastest growing town...

poetry

Issue No. 13

Morning, Noon & Night

Claire-Louise Bennett

poetry

Issue No. 13

Sometimes a banana with coffee is nice. It ought not to be too ripe – in fact there should...

1 The hotel lobby was both cleansed and fragrant, as was the receptionist speaking softly on the phone behind the desk The owners obviously wanted to welcome people to their establishment, to encourage them to return there for further visits or to recommend it to their friends and associates The owners wanted this to take place so that they could make money – that was the primary reason, Marguerite thought Personally, he had insufficient funds to stay at that or any other hotel – it was not just an issue of people wanting beds and the hotel providing them, along with other facilities, perhaps, such as a restaurant You really did need money or a means of payment to cover your temporary residence there It might not be your own money: you might be there to attend a conference, for instance, if you were a white-collar worker, in which case your employers may have paid for your stay at the hotel As a blue-collar worker you might be visiting a nearby factory, say, from your home in another part of the world, and you might need to stay overnight at the hotel In this latter instance, there would be a judgement by your boss (who would almost always be a white-collar worker – who would work, that is, in the office as well as occasionally, perhaps, on the factory floor) about whether or not you would be able to get back from your visit in the same day and/or whether it would be so inconvenient for you to do so that it would be worth staying over, as it is known Your boss would judge whether, for instance, you would get home after midnight, which is to say in the early hours, rather than at your normal seven or eight o’clock, back for your evening meal, perhaps prepared by your wife, always, in fact, to Marguerite’s mind, prepared by your wife, who would not have a job of her own, who could not be categorised into white- or blue-collar, who would always simply be there In the case

Contributor

August 2014

Claire-Louise Bennett

Contributor

August 2014

Claire-Louise Bennett grew up in Wiltshire and studied literature and drama at the University of Roehampton, before settling in...

The Lady of the House

fiction

Issue No. 8

Claire-Louise Bennett

fiction

Issue No. 8

Wow it’s so still. Isn’t it eerie. Oh yes. So calm. Everything’s still. That’s right. Look at the rowers – look at how fast...

READ NEXT

feature

June 2014

Hoarseness: A Legend of Contemporary Cairo

Youssef Rakha

feature

June 2014

U. Mubarak It kind of grows out of traffic. The staccato hiss of an exhaust pipe begins to sound like...

poetry

September 2012

Moscow - Petrozavodsk

Maxim Osipov

Anne Marie Jackson

poetry

September 2012

  Mark well, O Job, hold thy peace, and I will speak. Job 33:31     To deliver man...

Prize Entry

April 2016

DATE NIGHT

Chris Newlove Horton

Prize Entry

April 2016

He said, ‘Tell me about yourself.’ He said, ‘Tell me about you.’ He said, ‘Tell me everything. I’m interested.’...

 

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