Publisher's Synopsis
Three new novellas from South Korea, North America and Éire.
Two Lives
by Ja' Licia Gainer
Joanna thought she would always struggle to trust men.
From an unwell mother to a father battling addiction, Joanna was lost in a sea of panic, fear and worry.
Dante believed he would never be able to open up to another person again, either.
From an unwell mother to a father who battled with addiction, Dante had fallen into a world of dissociation and anger.
But when these two lives collide, they find that through their love and time together, some wounds can heal.
Overcoming their problems was never going to be easy. But through each other, Joanna and Dante will certainly try. The two lives of Joanna and Dante meet head on, both for better, and for worse.
From Ja 'Licia Gainer, a writer based in Missouri, comes a tale of love, family and betrayal.
The Ground
by Siné Kang
"To read is to perform. I have many names, however, that cannot be true. The title of this text has been changed many times, and these are the names I can still recall: 'Drinking milk', 'Look!', 'The Breath', and 'Sin'. I am afraid of making mistakes. It seems mistakes are omnipresent, and the phobia about making a mistake is never discontinued. I am afraid I am alone."
So starts Sine Kang's existential tale of a mother and son. Sine's work delves into the ideas of hatred, knowledge, the world, perfection, and the concept of words themselves.
With confidence in the written word, Sine's masterful work rouses the readers mind in concepts and thoughts that will preoccupy a mind long after the work has been completed. Through witnessing the discussion between a mother and son, a son's whose voice is ignored, and a mother whose ignorance is forced, we come to understand that the long discussions of Mother and Son on the page is merely an example of the discussions we wish to have with our friends, our loved ones, and ourselves.
Siné is a poet and playwright in South Korea. She lives on an island called Namhae-gun. And she invites you to read along.
What's the Moose Munter?
by Sean McNulty
Munter lives for his dreams, but lately his dreams have been provoking him.
Living out his days in the city of Dublin, forgotten and anonymous, he is haunted by an alcoholic past, the pigeon-faced girls of his life, and the ghost of a Japanese rock star.
While investigating this ghost, Munter meets and befriends Nobuko, a bereaved woman with a fierce drinking problem of her own. Their adventures bring them to late cafes and pub quizzes, as they roam the streets with the pale and the pole-axed, with God, Chinese philosophy . . . and a moose - whatever that is.
Could Nobuko be Munter's ticket out of exile?
But when his new ally disappears one night under mysterious circumstances, Munter must face up to all the demons he left behind.
What's the Moose, Munter? is a ghostly bittersweet tale of lonely souls... and their slime-green cans.
