A new film-poem based on my homage to road movies. https://youtu.be/EOuGrmBN0Os
Author: Daniel Bennett
I'm a writer and poet. My first novel, All the Dogs, appeared in 2008, and was described by Niall Griffiths as 'a stirring debut, a compellingly written tract on the importance of finding a place on the earth.' My fiction has appeared in London Noir, Crimewave, Black Static and 3AM. I live in London, where, amongst other things, I teach Creative Writing for the Open University. https://absenceclub.com
Porridge
I forgot that I had two poems published on Porridge magazine in February: two of my South American poems, written during some travels a couple of years back. It seems like it might be a while before I undertake any kind of trip like that again, so it's nice to have these poems out there, … Continue reading Porridge
Snakes
We headed to the outskirts of the city to buy snakes, travelling by train to a dirt track beside a busy road. We saw them uncoiling by a long ditch that ran along the dark fields: long black snakes, muscular and flexuous, some of them two or three metres in length. Headlights picked up the … Continue reading Snakes
A Second Volume
''By the way,' the old man said, smiling guiltily. 'While you were in the park this morning, I took the liberty of borrowing this.' He reached inside his jacket and drew forth Vilar's collection of poems. 'Oh? What did you think of them?' Vilar asked. The patriarch frowned, fidgeted and coughed. 'Ah--''An honest opinion,' Vilar … Continue reading A Second Volume
A Legend of The Future
'"... The first imperial Dream Palace is being built: Who can pay for a century of living, beautiful dreams? The answer is obvious, Thondup. And the choice of dream is understandable too, from their point of view. Thanks to it, there is no danger of any frustration, of experiencing the failures threatening them in this … Continue reading A Legend of The Future
Green Fields
My poem 'Field Party' features in the Green Fields anthology published by Maytree Press, available here. Field Party The sweet trace of fodderon the breeze, the acidof spilled cider. Occasional cars tearing up the air, like the invitesnone of us had received. I don't even remember a house. What signal set us heading outto ooze like summer starlings feeding … Continue reading Green Fields
Notes on the Virus
Part of me always believed that the way we lived was too good to be true, so none of what is happening has come as a surprise. Maybe it's because I come from a family of pessimists. Maybe it's because I've started writing science fiction again, and so was prepared for the idea that the … Continue reading Notes on the Virus
Music From The Island
Scenes From The Island features an electronic musician, Tudor, who moves into the apartment building at the centre of the novel's action, and becomes integral to the tragic direction of the story. As I'm a dangerous loner with too much time on my hands (aren't we all these days?) I've put together a playlist of … Continue reading Music From The Island
Ganzer Eggs
'The Ganzer Rain Forest on Melde was deep and wide; the faintest ghost of a breeze whispered among the colossal trees, slithered through the interlocked vines, and crept broken-backed over hook-edged grass. Drops of water slid painfully down and around the tangled foliage like exhausted runners of a maze, coming to rest at last in … Continue reading Ganzer Eggs
The Pestilence
'For the past several years Asiatic cholera had shown a strong tendency to spread. Its source was the hot, moist swamps of the delta of the Ganges, where it bred in the mephitic air of that primeval island-jungle, among whose bamboo thickets the tiger crouches, where life of every sort flourishes in rankest abundance, and … Continue reading The Pestilence
Absence Club 