The Defenestration of Jezebel by Jack Somers The queen wore her finest on the morning of her death. The lotus silk gown, pale as the blanched beaches of Sidon. The damask linen stole, soft as moth wings, green as the…
BackStory: Five More Questions with Caroline Greene
BackStory: Five More Questions with Caroline Greene Author of Eliza Brightwen Waits for Dawn What inspired you to write ‘Eliza Brightwen Waits for Dawn’? This monologue is based on the life of Eliza Brightwen, a naturalist who was very much…
Eliza Brightwen Waits for Dawn
Eliza Brightwen Waits for Dawn by Caroline Greene When I walk out here in the night I hear all the sounds of my wakefulness: the clumsy rustle of the hedgehog, the ghoulish bark of the fox, the lonely shriek of…
BackStory: Four Questions with Hannah Hoare
BackStory: Four Questions with Hannah Hoare Author of The Sort-of-True Story of Princess Alexandra of Bavaria What inspired you to write ‘The Sort-of-True Story of Princess Alexandra of Bavaria’? I first heard about Princess Alexandra of Bavaria in an episode…
The Sort-of-True Story of Princess Alexandra of Bavaria
The Sort-of-True Story of Princess Alexandra of Bavaria by Hannah Hoare When I was a child I swallowed a glass piano. Of course it sounds preposterous; you are not the first person to snigger. As I endeavour to squeeze through…
BackStory: Four Questions with Peter Burns
BackStory: Four Questions with Peter Burns Author of Rex Nemorensis (King of the Woods) What inspired you to write ‘Rex Nemorensis (King of the Woods)’? The inspiration for this piece came, in fact, from Donald Trump refusing to accept defeat…
Rex Nemorensis (King of the Woods)
Rex Nemorensis (King of the Woods) by Peter Burns Come, curious minds, back to Old Latium, to Diana’s sacred grove on the shores of Lake Nemi. See her priest-king stalking through the gloom, eyes forever restless, hand ever-steady at his…
BackStory: Four Questions with Becky Tipper
BackStory: Four Questions with Becky Tipper Author of Root What inspired you to write ‘Root’? Years ago, in a book about childbirth, I came across a brief mention of the history of the caesarean section. Although the operation had been…
Root
Root by Becky Tipper Twelve midwives have come already. Have bustled through the sharp wind with their bundles of charms and bitter herbs. Have sighed and prayed and despaired. Frau Mueller now, her cold hands on Ilsa’s belly, prays to…
BackStory: Five Questions with Carys Crossen
BackStory: Five Questions with Carys Crossen Author of God’s Image What inspired you to write ‘God’s Image’? I discovered Eleno’s story by accident. I had Googled the Inquisition after watching a film featuring the Spanish Armada. I saw the name…