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An Honourable Death – Victoria Briggs

An Honourable Death

A woman out jogging in a park at dawn saw a smoke drift rising from a patch of blackened earth. Lying on the ground in the middle of it was what looked to be a mannequin with its legs half bent and arms raised in a peculiar, pugilistic pose.

There was a shopping trolley at the scene, adding another layer of curiosity to what must have seemed a strange tableau. The smell of fuel hung heavy in the air and, it being too early in the day for barbecues, the woman’s first thought was that somebody had been burning garbage. Continue reading “An Honourable Death – Victoria Briggs”

DOORS EDITION

DECEMBER 2018

GUEST EDITED/CURATED BY JAISHA JANSENA

Continue reading

A Song From a Straight Ally by Suzanne Fraser-Martin

I am a straight ally.

And I choose to make an oath to all that choose to hear it

I will defend the different dissonance, I will stand with

those told who to love and when to love and how to love

those told that they cannot have.

Those told that they are somehow lesser, that being gay is a joke

That being Trans* is just convenient cover for a pervert

Those told that simply being anything other than straight is not normal, Is deviant, is ‘other’

I make this oath because of the things I see

I see forty-nine threads cut short, I see the right to pee safely being ruled by fear

I see the rules of divorce still governed by straight law

I see secure employment being based on your sexual orientation

I see religion twisted into hate, I see corrective rape, I see murder

I see you, queer girl, your slip shed soul constantly bruised from unwanted advances

When a man reeking of arrogance says,

“You’ve never had a real man, bet I’ll give you a good fuck”

Continue reading “A Song From a Straight Ally by Suzanne Fraser-Martin”

#7952 by Suzanne Fraser-Martin

I have ten minutes here,

Less than ten in this press of people, before I go through those gates

to tell you that, Berlin was beautiful, a free celebration of all love

The Self-Owners, The Island, The Girlfriend, The Schwanenberg.

Then under the strict shadow of a worded paragraph I am now a number

Scratched into my skin, my name pressed into records,

between pages and pages of names.

Before Berlin was lights and love and music, gay bars and open study

Here is mud obscuring my identity,

photographed from three angles,

in grim stripes and triangles

we become homogeneous herd, corralled into camps.

Continue reading “#7952 by Suzanne Fraser-Martin”

Submissions Are Open!!! from 1st April – until 23rd April – for our third guest editor C.C. O’HANLON!!!

Burning House Press are excited to welcome C.C. O’HANLON as our third guest editor! C.C. will take over editorship of Burning House Press online for the full month of April – when he will then hand over the reins to our fourth guest editor for the month of May.

Submissions for C.C. are open from today – 1st April and will remain open until 23rd April.

C.C. will be responding and publishing your submissions on a rolling basis during the month of April – and has chosen his themes for submissions!

C.C.’s Themes are

Place: Movement, Escape, Exploration, Architecture.

C.C. has introduced the themes himself for your guidance:

“The act of journeying contributes to a sense of physical and mental well-being, while the monotony of prolonged settlement or regular work weaves patterns in the brain that engender fatigue and a sense of personal inadequacy…”

– Bruce Chatwin, from Nomad Invasions

Overall, I’m not looking to reassure, but rather, to some extent, to unsettle.

For submissions, C.C. is looking for your poetry, short stories, flash fiction, prose poems, art, collage, painting, photography – as well as non-fiction submissions: essays, reviews, commentary, features, interviews.

 

Submission Guidelines

All submissions should be sent as attachments to guesteditorbhp@gmail.com

Please state the theme and form of your submission in the subject of the email. For example: ARCHITECTURE/POETRY

Poetry and Fiction
For poetry submissions, submit no more than three of your best poems. Short stories should be limited to 1,500 words or (preferably) less. We encourage flash fiction submissions, no more than three at a time. Send these in as a .doc or .docx file, along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Art
Submit hi-res images of your works (drawings, paintings, illustrations, collages, photography, etc) with descriptions of the work (Title, Year, Medium, etc) in the body of the email. Files should be in .JPEG unless they are GIFs or videos, and should not exceed 2MB in size for each work. File names should correspond with the work titles. Video submissions can be uploaded onto Youtube or Vimeo for feature on our website. Send these submissions along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Non-fiction
Non-fiction submissions (essays, reviews, commentary, interviews, etc) should be no more than 1, 500 words and sent as a .doc or .docx file along with your third-person bio/and optional photograph.

Submissions are open from 1st March til 24th March – and will reopen again on 1st April for our third guest editor.

BHP online is now in the capable hands of the amazing C.C. O’HANLON – Friends, send him your best!

 

C.C. PIC

 

C.C. O’Hanlon is a relentless traveller, polymath and occasional diarist. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Ernest, Minor Literatures and The Learned Pig. It has also been included in several anthologies and ‘best of…’ collections. Born in Sydney, and raised nearly everywhere else, he has lived for the past five years in Berlin. He is now en route to somewhere else.

Submissions Are Open!!! from 1st March – until 24th March – for our second guest editor Amee Nassrene Broumand!!!

Burning House Press are excited to welcome Amee Nassrene Broumand as our second guest editor! Amee will take over editorship of Burning House Press online for the full month of March – when she will then hand over the reins to our third guest editor for the month of April.

Submissions for Amee are open from today – 1st March and will remain open until 24th March.

Amee will be responding and publishing your submissions on a rolling basis during the month of March – and has chosen her themes for submissions!

Amee’s Themes are Masks // Transformations // Cosmos // Personal Myth.

Amee has introduced the themes herself for your guidance:

cosmostree.jpg

Wrestle with illusion, seek truth. See your various aspects as masks; consider their individual appearances & reflect upon why they’re shaped as they are. We all have masks; what are yours? Play with this idea, infuse it with mystery. Perhaps make yourself a new mask, one that taps into important yet hidden aspects of your life or mind. Create something that intrigues you, not as a product but as a catalyst for personal transformation. Make something magical; give yourself chills. Mark it with the fire that comes from grappling with your own consciousness. “We are made of star stuff.” –Carl Sagan. Create work inspired by astronomy or cosmology. Contemplate time & the universe & how it all began. Consider the origins of matter & your place in All This. Note the night sky, the turning earth, auroras, eclipses, & the solar system; contemplate nebulae where stars form over eons, contemplate supermassive black holes brooding like giant spiders in a great intergalactic web. Forge a connection to the vastness; create a personal myth that integrates your own mind / dreams / experiences / family / heritage / community / culture / local plants or animals or natural landmarks with the universe at large. Become a drop swimming in an ancient & sublime night. Astrophotography welcome!

GENERAL SUBMISSIONS: If you have work that doesn’t fall into any of these categories, submit it anyway! Hybrid, experimental, & highly imaginative work encouraged. My taste in all media is eclectic but tends towards the strange (in both subject & style). I love clarity, complexity, intelligence, genuineness, introspection, mystery, risk, & symbolism. If it’s too weird for the average literary journal, send it my way; if you walk to the beat of your own drum, I want to hear from you.

NOTE: I especially encourage submissions from women, POC, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, the neurodiverse, and other traditionally marginalized groups.

* * *

For submissions, Amee is looking for your poetry, short stories, flash fiction, prose poems, art, collage, painting, photography – as well as non-fiction submissions: essays, reviews, commentary, features, interviews.

 

Submission Guidelines

All submissions should be sent as attachments to guesteditorbhp@gmail.com

Please state the theme and form of your submission in the subject of the email. For example: MASKS/POETRY

Poetry and Fiction
For poetry submissions, submit no more than three of your best poems. Short stories should be limited to 1,500 words or (preferably) less. We encourage flash fiction submissions, no more than three at a time. Send these in as a .doc or .docx file, along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Art
Submit hi-res images of your works (drawings, paintings, illustrations, collages, photography, etc) with descriptions of the work (Title, Year, Medium, etc) in the body of the email. Files should be in .JPEG unless they are GIFs or videos, and should not exceed 2MB in size for each work. File names should correspond with the work titles. Video submissions can be uploaded onto Youtube or Vimeo for feature on our website. Send these submissions along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Non-fiction
Non-fiction submissions (essays, reviews, commentary, interviews, etc) should be no more than 1, 500 words and sent as a .doc or .docx file along with your third-person bio/and optional photograph.

Submissions are open from 1st March til 24th March – and will reopen again on 1st April for our third guest editor.

BHP online is now in the capable hands of the amazing Amee Nassrene Broumand– friends, send her your best!

 

Submissions Are Open!!! from 1st Feb – until 21st Feb – for our first guest editor Florence Lenaers!!!

Burning House Press are excited to welcome Florence Lenaers as our first guest editor! Florence will take over editorship of Burning House Press online for the full month of February – when she will then hand over the reins to our second guest editor for the month of March.

Submissions for Florence are open from today – 1st February and will remain open until 21st February.

Florence will be responding and publishing your submissions on a rolling basis during the month of February – and has chosen her three themes for submissions!

Her Themes are Languages, Letters, Lists. Continue reading “Submissions Are Open!!! from 1st Feb – until 21st Feb – for our first guest editor Florence Lenaers!!!”

Burning House Press welcomes Florence Lenaers as our first guest editor!

From 1st February 2018 and for that whole month Burning House Press online will be edited by our very first guest editor – the amazing Florence Lenaers!

More info on submission details forthcoming – stay tuned – and a massive welcome to Florence to BHP!!! Prepare to send Florence your work…

Updates…

Coming soon for 2018 on BHP – guest editors/open submission calls/and books books books…

Drawing is an outlet: Jasmin Nur Dina

“Jasmin started drawing in a sketchbook a few months ago,
specifically to describe her life’s story.”

Continue reading “Drawing is an outlet: Jasmin Nur Dina”

‘Pairty’ by A.G. Kayman

Pairty

 

Goat an invite fae the boy up the stair. A wee pairty he wis huvin fur his birthday, an he wondered if Ah fancied comin up fur a couple o beers. At first Ah thought, Christ, a room fu o folk Ah dinnae ken, drinkin, gettin pished, mibbie talkin aboot fitba or politics or that. Ah cannae be daein wi aw that cairry oan. Continue reading “‘Pairty’ by A.G. Kayman”

‘Relax’ by A.G. Kayman

Relax

‘Ye’re so fuckin tense,’ he says. An in ma heid Ah’m like, whit the fuck, if ye want tae make somebdy less tense then the worst thing ye kin say is ‘Ye’re so fuckin tense’. Ah mean, whit guid is that gonnae dae?

Ah actually feel like sayin that tae him, bit Ah dinnae want tae end up back oan the rock ‘n’ roll, so fuck that fur a game o soadjurz. Jist huv tae grin an bear it Ah suppose – minus the grin obviously.

‘Seriously, man, jist relax,’ he says. ‘Ivryhin’s easier when ye relax, take it fae me.’

Ah take a deep breath an look at the flair. ‘Yes, chef,’ Ah say.

‘Look at me when ye’re talkin tae me,’ he says. Continue reading “‘Relax’ by A.G. Kayman”

‘1st Weekend’ by Terence Corless

1st Weekend

 

Billy and Ian are walking along opposite sides of the high street in Cambridge, pretending to throw an imaginary ball across the cars that glide by in the darkness. It’s really windy so if there was a ball, it would have flown off in the wrong direction by now, but these boys don’t seem that concerned by the laws of reality at the moment – the party in their fuzzed up heads is much better than what’s going on out here. Continue reading “‘1st Weekend’ by Terence Corless”

‘Short Stories’ – Gabriel Feld

 

 

 

 

ShortStories_I-II

 

ShortStories_III-IV

 

Continue reading “‘Short Stories’ – Gabriel Feld”

The Arsonist Magazine Launch Party Thursday 22nd June 2017 @ The Chameleon Arts Cafe Nottingham (- in pictures words and film)

arsonistlaunch22.6.1711arsonistlaunch22.6.1717arsonistlaunch22.6.1716arsonistlaunch22.6.1715arsonistlaunch22.6.1710 Continue reading “The Arsonist Magazine Launch Party Thursday 22nd June 2017 @ The Chameleon Arts Cafe Nottingham (- in pictures words and film)”

The Arsonist Magazine Editon 01 Now Available For Purchase!!!

The Arsonist Magazine Edition 01 – available to purchase here

Image of The Arsonist Magazine Edition 01
Flammable materials from 32 incandescent international poets writers artists and photographers.

Featuring the best poetry, flash fiction, photography, art, interviews and features from around the world, including the UK, Japan, Canada, USA, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Sweden:

stephanie roberts – Saquina Karla C. Guiam – Penny Goring – Adrianna Robertson – Anneghem Wall – Dawn Fredericks – badpoem – Dean Lilleyman – Antony Owen – Aina Izzah – Bruno Neiva – Paul Hawkins – Keith Ford – Joseph Ridgwell – Dhiyanah Hassan – C. R. Resetarits – Rob True – Sophie Pitchford – Jamie Thrasivoulou – Martin Appleby – Liz Zumin – Siddharth Dasgupta – Ben Williams – Caitlin Meredith – Adam Steiner – Jim Gibson – V.M. – Fredric Nord – Mark Goodwin – Hiromi Suzuki – Trevor Wright – Howie Good

The Arsonist Magazine Edition 01 is a 92 page full colour/b&w matt/gloss perfect-bound A5 magazine (this is a limited edition and, being the inaugural print publication from Burning House Press, is sure to be a collectible item)

 

The Arsonist Magazine Edition 01 – available to purchase here

 

Arsonist Contents Page

LAUNCH EVENT FOR THE ARSONIST MAGAZINE EDITION 01

The Arsonist Magazine Edition 01 will be officially launched on Thursday 22nd June at Nottingham’s Chameleon Arts Cafe!

The magazine has been printed, is looking fantastic, and will soon be available from our online shop.

pixlr_20170611105600346

The launch event is free entry, and will feature an open mic, and readings by contributors from the magazine, headlined by Derby’s finest, Jamie Thrasivoulou!

Really hope to see you there – copies of the Arsonist will be available for purchase on the night – see you there! XX

‘Shoot Out At The Neon Express’ by Simon Woodward

Some cold Jan morning Cruz and I were sitting at a Neon Express coffee bar, mouthing off about BlackGenie’s latest album cover; mirrored vinyl shining through star shaped perforations in the polyplas sleeve, a mini constellation in the shape of the BG’s glyph. Cruz strongly disagreeing with the criticism that I’m laying down on the lack of artistry “…any one can just cut a bit of the sleeve out to show the vinyl underneath, but what’s the story… you know ?. This album is about something, so why don’t they make a picture of it ?, this isn’t album art it’s packaging design man…!” after gulping his stale Mericano Cruz casually wiped his mouth and replies “you think with your eyes too much bud…”, sighing I put the album down on the counter and reach for my quadro espresso. “you know what I’m saying Cruz, I know you do…” Continue reading “‘Shoot Out At The Neon Express’ by Simon Woodward”

“Tell me what you know.” – by Jonathan Taylor

the following story contains content relating to self-harm which could be triggering to some readers

 

“Tell me what you know.”

 

“I don’t know anything.”

            “Tell me how you feel then.”

            “Honestly, I don’t feel anything. Please. Please don’t. Fucking hell. Please don’t do that.” Continue reading ““Tell me what you know.” – by Jonathan Taylor”

‘First Class Stamp’ by Nick Black

First Class Stamp

 

Terence Stamp in ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’, that’s who I think of as the doctor pokes about my ancient lady bits. Terence Stamp in his cavalry outfit on a hillside, jacket red as rose hip. It’s a nicer picture, that, than the top of this doctor’s head, all mottled like the backs of my hands. No, it’s worse, more like the bottom of a teacup with the floaty bits left. He wants to be careful with that. Continue reading “‘First Class Stamp’ by Nick Black”

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