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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...

I have seen the bumper stickers on the bumper of your Toyota Prius therefore I have induced that you believe you are working here to make the world greener You should know I voted for President George W Bush twice and I would have voted for him a third time if they had let me At present there are major differences between you and I Normally I do not like people like you If you were anybody else we would have major personal issues between us which I would not let you forget and I would consistently be doing things to irritate you and get under your skin and I would probably be handing you your ass on a regular basis I do not believe global warming has been caused by humans nor do I believe we are going to run out of oil any time soon I have three Daughters who are in elementary school Maya is in the first grade Halley is in the third grade Celeste is in the fifth grade I love my Daughters in a fierce and animalistic way which I cannot describe using words so I am not even going to try for that in this letter My Daughters have been indoctrinated to believe that global warming has been caused by humans pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and that we are going to run out of fossil fuels sometime next week I allow them to continue believing in these falsities because I am a hero to them for working at a Recycling Plant I have visited their classes on the days when Fathers are asked to come in and talk about their jobs and when I say I work at a Recycling Plant the teacher and the students look upon me with supreme awe and reverence I will admit I like my girls thinking what I do is crucial to the welfare of the planet I will admit I like people thinking of me as a real hero and yes I am going to keep it that way However the fact is it would make not a lick of difference to me if I were the guy whose job it is to steer

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

May 2011

On the Relative Values of Humility and Arrogance; or the Confusing Complications of Negative Serendipity

Annabel Howard

feature

May 2011

On a distinctly drizzly Wednesday evening in February a friend of mine looked at me and said: ‘Only those who...

Art

September 2016

Sitting, scrawling, playing

Emily Gosling

Art

September 2016

Amidst the drills and concrete, white walls and big names of London’s Cork Street stands a new gallery, Nahmad Projects,...

Art

Issue No. 3

Dead Unicorns: Apocalyptic Anxiety in Canadian Art

Vanessa Nicholas

Art

Issue No. 3

David Altmejd’s installation for the Canada Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale was a complex labyrinth of ferns, nests...

 

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