Author Archives: jananson

Alida Gersie’s Earthtales (review)

Posted on February 6, 2019

Alida Gersie’s celebrated Earthtales is, in large part, a collection of traditional tales that have to do with the earth and its creatures. Most are from cultures that have been endangered by the imperialism of Western modernity, which by the … Continue reading →

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Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Magic Lands

Posted on January 20, 2019

  The Magic Lands is the paperback title of Kevin Crossley-Holland’s British Folk Tales. It’s a better title in that the collection covers Irish tales as well as ones from England, Scotland, and Wales. The Irish stories do tend to … Continue reading →

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Cecil Collins and the Holy Fool

Posted on January 10, 2019

I have a hazy memory, from my early twenties, of attending an exhibition of work by William Blake and also Cecil Collins at the Tate. It can’t have been an exhibition of major works, because what I remember are works … Continue reading →

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In the Chinks of the World Machine

Posted on August 22, 2018

In the Chinks of the World Machine provides a committed but very readable picture of the achievements of serious science fiction by women at the time of its publication in 1988. Sarah Lefanu was in a privileged position to write … Continue reading →

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Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination

Posted on August 10, 2018

The monochrome cover of Dark Horizons is very dark, and its subtitle is Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination, but the agenda of editors Raffaella Baccolini and Tom Moylan in this collection of essays is as much about utopia as … Continue reading →

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Myths and Legends of the Pacific

Posted on July 12, 2018

When it comes to myths and legends of Australasia, A.W. Reed is a ubiquitous author – and equally ubiquitous as his own publisher. Myths and Legends of the Pacific extends his range across the whole of the Pacific, covering nearly … Continue reading →

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Mary Magdalene, the Movie

Posted on April 10, 2018

Mary Magdalene has always seemed special. It’s difficult to fit together the different resurrection appearances of Jesus into a coherent narrative, but one thing is clear in the Easter story as I received it: Mary Magdalene is the first person … Continue reading →

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