XZ#1 – Annexe’s new online fiction series

“The idea is to dissect various genres of writing, film and drama by reconstructing them from the ground up. One story at a time.” This was the spiel we threw at writers to tell them about our new project. We expected such lofty sentences to be thrown back, tied up with a derisive sneer. However, it turns out we know some rather inventive and experimental writers!

Welcome to XZ, our new online fiction project. The aim is to get inside stories and see how different writing styles can join forces to create something fresh, but recognisable. To do this, we’re taking particular genres/styles/species of fiction and breaking them down, looking under the hood and building them back up in smaller chunks.

Each story gets six writers and each writer gets one section. They are given a bare framework to work on, everything else is up to them, and  they aren’t told what the other five writers are coming up with.

The first issue has worked out far more splendidly than we could have hoped, with a story rife with suspense and dangerous turns. It’s the classic tale of a hardboiled detective, employed by a mysterious woman to investigate a murder.

Click to dive straight in and enjoy the story, or feel free to download it at consume at your leisure.

A special thanks go to the six magnificent authors of this tale: Ben Gwalchmai, Komal Verma, Akiho Schilz, Jack Swain, Eley Williams and John Boursnell.

_______________________________________________________

Part of the project is to invite a bit of discussion from you, the reader. If you want to comment of the project in any way – maybe you have an idea about breaking the story into chapters, or you didn’t like the characters attitude, or you find yourself in sleuth-style experiences and can relate – please leave a comment below. We want to generate an active back-and-forth about the project. The most discussed topics will be added to the issue in a month’s time. 

Advertisement

It’s all sex and death! – An interview with The Alarmist

Only two issues in and The Alarmist has drawn quite the following! With the kind of first-rate writing and the distinctive aesthetic style that they’ve carved out and made their own, it isn’t surprising that The Alarmist has a readership that spans the length and breadth of the country. Nick Murray met up with Gary from Leeds and Mansour Chow, the creative duo that birthed The Alarmist, on the eve of the issue two launch to talk about being less stuffy, hidden genius and nihilistic publishing techniques.

I, a Stranger by Akiho Schilz

It’s National Short Story Week and we’ve got just the thing to celebrate. A superb piece of short fiction from Akiho Schilz. I, a Stranger is a tale of a photojournalist struggling with his humanity in a post-catastrophic world.

I, a Stranger
Akiho Schilz

I, a stranger and afraid/In a world I never made

A.E.Housman

Here is where the travellers come. Driven by hunger or fatigue or bladder or bowels: the same basic needs and desires and instincts. Or perhaps they just got lost. The sign says ‘Welcome Break’.

Highlights of the Impending Interrobang Part 2

Continuing with the highlights of our upcoming super-celebration of stories here’s another handful of incredible acts you can look forward to. Off we go!

Interrobang Festival

Like a proud mum, we’re showing off our latest creation! Interrobang is our festival, put together alongside EKO and Alexander Audio, that will be heaving with head-turning spoken word, music and theatre. For a whole day and across all three floors of The Betsey Trotwood (Clerkenwell) we will be entertaining your literary senses.

We’ve got a bookmaking workshop, a whole slew of poets, a handful of brilliant storytellers, some of London’s finest bands and on top of all of that, Annexe will be launching a series of minibooks there. That’s right! our first proper book launch will be taking place at our first ever festival! It’s a lot to take in.

Read all about it at our dedicated site.

Two Tales: Will Conway

Adding a bit more prose to the proceedings, we are joined by Will Conway. As part of Two Tales (the much loved sister of Two Poems) Will is reading his short story Transport, and a story by Ted Hughes called How the Cat Became.

We chatted to Will a little bit about the two stories and you can read all about it after the jump. 

Unexplained by Amber Massie-Blomfield

Amber Massie-Blomfield draws a portrait of an urban life haunted.

The umbrellas are removed from the stand and hidden. Her sister’s picture, the one in the silver frame, shatters, and for weeks shards of glass turn up where they shouldn’t, in people’s beds, in the cutlery drawer. Her mum’s windows are left wide open in the middle of winter, her expensive perfume bottles found in pieces on the concrete far below.

Read the story after the jump.

National Flash Fiction Day is Here!

Last year, National Poetry Day came and poets were delighted. One person who wasn’t so happy was Calum Kerr, a writer, editor and self-confessed advocate of the flash fiction form. He sought to change that and thus National Flash Fiction Day was born.

Prose Poetry Vs Poetic Prose

Eleanor Perry delves into that grey space between poetry and prose.

Lately I’ve been thinking about prose poetry. It seems to me that, as a poetic form, it’s characterised by its lack of rules, which makes it both a wonderful and difficult thing to approach as a poet; wonderful because with such an absence of parameters it’s free to be explored without limit, but difficult for precisely the same reason – boundaries can be reassuring guidelines at times, and a navigating a place without them can be a daunting prospect.

A Pigeon, A Kitchen & An Annexe: Sites of Alternative Publishing – Opening Night

Our exhibition with Pigeon, Very Small Kitchen and Ladies of the Press* opened last Friday to a massive crowd. We couldn’t have hoped for a better turn-out.
A huge thanks to everyone who came along, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve still got until March 4th. We’re also having an evening of talks on the nature of alternative and independent publishing on the 3rd at X Marks the Bökship.

And now, a few snaps from opening night: