When is a shopping centre not like a shopping centre? Easy! When it’s the site for fiction, prose, poetry, drama and art photography. But not as frequently as you might think, surprisingly enough. Ewan Morrison (writing in The Guardian) makes the point that there are few works of fiction set in shopping malls. This state of affairs Morrison regards as ‘a disturbing omission in literary history, given we live in a world that is rapidly homogenized by these structures.
Circle & Square, a new publication hot off the press, can now be added to the canon of shopping centre literature. Brim filled with prose, fiction, drama, poetry and photography...
"Louise Phillips, one of Circle & Square’s guest writers, uses flash fiction to bring her main character (‘Layla’) into the car park of a shopping centre, having fled from an abusive husband. It’s early morning and the vast empty space further heightens that sense of isolation and alienation. Phillips uses the setting eerily well, as one would expect from a best-selling crime novelist..."
Dermot Bolger says of Circle & Square... “To open Circle & Square is like entering the sort of fascinating café which every shopping centre should ideally possess: a cornucopia of engaging voices and fascinating stories that any reader would happily eavesdrop on. This is an anthology where a shopping expedition or a Luas journey can also bring you on a succession of intriguing and inventive voyages into the past and future. Prepare to be entertained.”
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
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