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Nicole Flattery

Nicole Flattery's criticism has appeared in the GuardianThe Irish Times and the LRB. Her story collection Show Them A Good Time was published in 2019. Her favourite Chantal Akeman film is News From Home.



Articles Available Online


Chantal Akerman’s ‘My Mother Laughs’

Book Review

October 2019

Nicole Flattery

Book Review

October 2019

There’s a scene in the documentary I Don’t Belong Anywhere, about the Belgian filmmaker’s Chantal Akerman’s life and work, where she discusses her only...

Book Review

August 2018

Lorrie Moore's ‘See What Can Be Done’

Nicole Flattery

Book Review

August 2018

Lorrie Moore writes in her introduction to See What Can Be Done that, at the start of her career,...

Rivers Solomon’s SORROWLAND is a gothic horror tale that shows how injustices imposed on Black Americans change us Sweeping and expansive in its ambition, it’s a novel that crosses genres and ideas, resulting in something darkly enchanting and oddly salient SORROWLAND is anchored by an intriguing central character: Vern, a young woman who is haunted and on the run after leaving a Black separatist cult She is 19, and pregnant; the father of the child is the leader of the cult She hides out in a nearby forest, where she gives birth to twins, Howling and Feral As the plot unfolds, Vern is hounded by the US government, individuals connected to the cult and supernatural creatures A mysterious fungus is growing inside of her, resulting in a slow metamorphosis that is intertwined with the past She finds herself fleeing from it all    The significance of Cain, the base of the cult and the compound where Vern grows up, is an analogy for ideas of Black liberation Cain is a cocoon of sorts, a shelter fashioned from movements such as the Black Panthers to tackle the injustices of slavery, racism and inherited trauma Its founders intended to make a world free from the influence of white society, specifically designed to facilitate Black independence Removed from the functions of capitalism, Cain fosters Black cultures while protecting its people Its inhabitants rely on their own ingenuity for survival and live off the land Its children are named after great historical figures such as Harriet, Malcolm and Martin There are no policemen in Cain, Solomon’s nod to the growing call for abolition in modern times But there is a flaw in its ideology: it is suffocated by an archaic Christian influence Girls are not educated in the same way boys are, queerness is considered a major problem created by white men Women are encouraged to submit to their husbands and heterosexuality is the norm Solomon does a fine job in animating the repressive elements of Cain, spotlighting an inherent problem shared by movements that claim to have a solution for human survival: it

Contributor

January 2018

Nicole Flattery

Contributor

January 2018

Nicole Flattery’s criticism has appeared in the Guardian, The Irish Times and the LRB. Her story collection Show Them A Good...

Carmen Maria Machado’s ‘Her Body and Other Parties’

Book Review

January 2018

Nicole Flattery

Book Review

January 2018

I’m reluctant to admit this but it’s often easier for me to write about a book I hated rather than a book I loved....

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poetry

October 2015

Two Poems

Robert Herbert McClean

poetry

October 2015

Another Autumn Journal Chaos (AKA Do Not Put This to Music Because You’re How Fish Put Up a Fight)...

feature

August 2017

What Makes A Gallery Programme?

Pac Pobric

feature

August 2017

Of his art dealer, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Pablo Picasso once wondered, ‘What would have become of us if Kahnweiler hadn’t...

poetry

July 2012

Fig-tree

John Clegg

poetry

July 2012

He trepans with the blunt screwdriver on his penknife: unripe figs require the touch of air on flesh to...

 

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