‘Your Mother Imagines You Dead’, by Bethany Marcel Read it here in about 5 minutes. Thinking about why I love it… I don’t have children, but I do have anxiety, so can appreciate what the protagonist experiences in this story – the all-consuming, exhausting, worry. This line in particular speaks to me: ‘Anxiety believes ifContinue reading “A flash fiction story”
Author Archives: Mina Ma
My top 10 of 2022
I’ve been busy with work and life in 2022, so haven’t had time to update my blog, but I have still been reading! Here are some of my favourites from my 2022 reading: Deaf Republic, by Ilya Kaminsky What I love about this poetry collection, apart from the language, is the way it plays withContinue reading “My top 10 of 2022”
How I wrote it
My short story ‘Medusa Takes a Bath, and Becomes a Monster’ was performed by Grace Cookey-Gam at a Liars’ League event in London in August 2022 – you can watch it here, or read it here. I began writing this story in response to a call for submissions for Medusa-inspired stories. I love the GreekContinue reading “How I wrote it”
How I wrote it
My short story ‘Wild Love‘ was published in Makarelle’s winter 2021/22 edition, which was on the theme Love is Love. I wrote this story during my MA in Creative Writing. How it came about was, I wanted to challenge myself to write something in the romance genre. I considered this to be a challenge becauseContinue reading “How I wrote it”
A short story I wrote
‘Medusa Takes a Bath, and Becomes a Monster’, by Mina Ma My short story will be performed at the next Liars’ League event, which is on the theme Women and Girls. Event details here.
A protest poetry collection
Deaf Republic, by Ilya Kaminsky A coherent selection of the poems from this collection has been published in The New Yorker. I’m going to talk about the first 3 poems, which you can read in less than 10 minutes. In relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and everything else happening inContinue reading “A protest poetry collection”
A short protest story
‘Lather and Nothing Else’, by Hernando Tellez Read it here in less than 15 minutes. In relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and everything else happening in the world today that shouldn’t be, thinking about how we can use literature to protest… Tellez was a Colombian journalist and author, who livedContinue reading “A short protest story”
A short protest story
‘Saboteur’, by Ha Jin Read it here in about 15 minutes. In relation to the 2022 Winter Olympics, thinking about how we can use literature to protest… Jin was born in China. He was studying his PhD in America when the Tiananmen massacre occurred, and, disillusioned, decided to remain in the US, where he nowContinue reading “A short protest story”
A short protest story
‘Children of the Sea’, by Edwidge Danticat Read it here in about 30 minutes. In relation to the 2022 Winter Olympics, thinking about how we can use literature to protest… Danticat was born in Haiti, to Haitian parents, but later became an American citizen. Her short stories (I haven’t read any of her novels) generallyContinue reading “A short protest story”
A short protest story
‘Condensed Milk’, by Varlam Shalamov (trans. John Glad) Read it here in 6 minutes. In relation to the 2022 Winter Olympics, thinking about how we can use literature to protest… Shalamov spent almost one-quarter of his life in Russian gulags (forced-labour camps), for being critical of, and protesting against, his own government. This story presumablyContinue reading “A short protest story”
Mina Ma 