Stories of Mental Disturbance

It often feels to those who suffer from mental illness that words cannot convey their experiences. The twenty voices in this issue of the London Reader take up that challenge in creative writing. If there are any words that come close to capturing our mental states, it is the climactic sentence of a short story, the concluding line of a sincere confession, or the final metaphor of a sharp poem. Within these pages, writers and poets, essayists and lyricists, psychologists and sufferers, lay bare their experiences with mental illness, showing us both its ugly and its sympathetic side, with their Words from Within.

What is mental illness? It is different for each of us. It is being awake all night and feeling the buzz of a neon sunrise without looking. It is a ransom note demanding you give up normality in exchange for your life. It is sitting at an empty shoreline and deciding whether to swim or give in. It is a troubling phone call from a close friend that could be the last. These images come from the emotional and captivating stories and poems within the pages of this volume.

Featuring…

Interviews with award-winning novelists Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook, and Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from renowned writers like Beth Aviv, Amy Bee, and Alexis-Rueal, award-winning poets like Fern G. Z. Carr and Leland James, psychologist Alberta Nassi, sisters Rebecca and Carinya Sharples, and many others whose work has been inspired by their or their loved ones’ struggles with mental illness.

The creative writing of Words from Within: Stories of Mental Disturbance brings to the page both the pain and the perseverance of the everyday and the extreme experiences of those who suffer from mental illness.

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The London Reader is a cooperative magazine. Your donation supports the writers, artists, and collaborators who made the issue.

Subscribe to either the Print or PDF edition of the London Reader to receive four great issues per year

This issue of the London Reader brings you heartbreakingly personal stories of experiences of hate from around the world. From stories of escaping genocide or mass-murder, to dealing with hate in the home, the classroom, or on the street, the Hate Speech Monologues deals with the ugly realities of prejudice in the wider world, but it carries with it the hope that hate can be overcome.

Each of the pieces selected for this issue of the London Reader was originally performed on the stage. They were written from personal experiences and presented by the writers. These storytellers come from all over the world, but shared a stage together in Budapest as part of the original ‘Hate Speech’ Monologues. This issue of the London Reader presents some of the most powerful and compelling narratives and poems performed at the ‘Hate Speech’ Monologues in celebration of its fifth anniversary. This issue stands as a tribute to the power of stories to build connections and to stand up to hate.

Subscribe now to access to the most recent issue. To read a previous issue, donate whatever you want, and receive a download link to the PDF:

The London Reader is a cooperative magazine. Your donation supports the writers, artists, and collaborators who made the issue.

Subscribe to either the Print or PDF edition of the London Reader to receive four great issues per year

As we check our smart phones after every ping, we fail to concentrate on any one thing for more than a few minutes. In an age where we turn the lens on ourselves more than towards our lovers, is it still possible to love each other? In this new millennium, where we right-swipe for the next date, look for love in online match algorithms, and check new messages both during dinner and between the bed sheets, are we still capable of loving? Or are we forever held prisoner by the short-lived act of falling in love, over and over again?

The fiction, poetry, and interviews in Love 2.0 depict a multifaceted vision of romance in our modern era. This issue features a new collection of minifiction by Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Jeff Noon and creative writing by April Pierce, Rob Hartzell, Shalini Adnani, Liza Dezfouli, Eleanor Gall, Kathleen Latham, Carter Vance, and more. Together they explore, challenge, and ultimately redefine the experience of falling in love for the 21st century. The issue also presents interviews with Jeff Noon and author, columnist, and prolific tweeter Dana Schwartz and asks them their thoughts on writing and romance in the modern era.

In Love 2.0, nineteen different writers share their diverse stories and perspectives on romance and relationships in our increasingly digital age. What does it tell us about love? And what does it tell us about ourselves?

Subscribe now to access to the most recent issue. To read a previous issue, donate whatever you want, and receive a download link to the PDF:

The London Reader is a cooperative magazine. Your donation supports the writers, artists, and collaborators who made the issue.

Subscribe to either the Print or PDF edition of the London Reader to receive four great issues per year

Home is the where the heart is,
but the heart may be far from home…

In the 21st century — in which nearly 70 million people are forcibly displaced and 244 million live outside their country of birth — home is a more elusive concept than ever, and it is one that is often entwined with feelings of loss. In this issue of the London Reader we hear from under-represented voices from around the world as we explore themes of belonging, migration, identity, and lost homes. Through the photography, poetry, short stories, and writing of refugees, migrants, and others, we will take you on an extraordinary journey through the lives of people who are all, in their own way, trying to find “home”.

“Home: Stories of identity, belonging, loss, and migration” features an interview with two-time Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji and an interview and excerpt from author and aid-worker Saleem Haddad. The issue also presents an excerpt from Selina Siak Chin Yoke’s first novel as well as short fiction and poetry from Beena Nadeem, April Pierce, Eleanor Gall, and others. In addition to showcasing photography from rural Afghanistan, Winter 2016 is a Special Extended-Length Issue that features the artwork and stories of Syrian children from the Akré refugee camp in Iraq, whose program will receive 10 percent of the revenue from this issue.

Subscribe now to access to the most recent issue. Because Home is a previous issue, you can donate whatever you want, and receive a download link to the PDF:

The London Reader is a cooperative magazine, so your donation goes directly to support the writers, artists, and collaborators who made the Autumn 2016 issue.

Subscribe to either the Print or PDF edition of the London Reader to receive four great issues per year

and the Dystopian Moment

The London Reader, Volume One

// The economy and climate are collapsing. Borders are being built up. Yet everyone is connected moreso than ever before. CEOs and squatters with smartphones are conjoined in the consensual mass hallucination. Relationships are right-swiped, and exes hack each other’s accounts. Cryptocurrencies buy research chemicals on the darkweb. Social media pages become memorials to the dead. Hashtags spark revolutions. Mass surveillance is both the business model of the internet and business as usual in the perpetual war on terror. Is this cyberpunk? Is this dystopia? Who cares?

// This is #cyberpunkNOW

// This volume of the London Reader features interviews with the founders of Cyberpunk—William Gibson and Bruce Sterling—and Sci-Fi author Kim Stanley Robinson, as well fiction by Ike Hamil, Stephen Arseneault, George Bartlett, and more. #cyberpunkNOW focuses on short stories, minifiction, poetry, and art that explore the deep-reaching personal, social, and political implications of technology on our lives, re-examining society through the lenses of cyberpunk and science fiction.

// #cyberpunkNOW is dedicated to the memory of Lukas Mariman, 1972-2016.

// Check out #cyberpunkNOW…

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