Carol Rumens's poem of the weekBooksPoem of the week: After the Dragonflies by WS MerwinA luminous depiction of these beautiful creatures conceals a stark warning of environmental catastrophe
After the Dragonflies
Dragonflies were as common as sunlight
hovering in their own days
backward forward and sideways
as though they were memory
now there are grown-ups hurrying
who never saw one
and do not know what they
are not seeing
the veins in a dragonfly’s wings Read More...
Crime fictionReviewAn archetypal story of female oppression in the myth of Japan's creationIn bestselling Japanese crime writer Natsuo Kirino's first novel to be translated into English, Out, four women working the nightshift in a bento factory help their co-worker cut up and dispose of her unfaithful husband's body; the women subsequently fall out over the insurance money. Another of her novels, Grotesque, centred on a prostitute and her sister, both of them struggling against the subordinate role of women in Japan, searching for a way to have control over their lives. Read More...
Bristol city guideBristol holidaysGrand townhouses, pubs with rooms, characterful B&Bs … Bristol has hotel and guesthouse options for those who want to be close to the city or enjoy its villages and countrysideNumber Thirty EightThe West Loft Suite, on the top floor of this elevated Clifton townhouse, is one of the city's finest rooms – like a mini apartment, with super king-size bed, copper bath tub and views front and back. Read More...
