The website of writer and poet Daniel Bennett
I've gone through one of those regular, and probably necessary, periods when I've stopped having much regard for poetry, especially my own. Fortunately, my teaching forces me to keep my hand in, and I'm always grateful to my students, whose dedication and enthusiasm ends up being infectious, and pulls me back in, when otherwise I … Continue reading Recent Poems
It's taken three years, but I've finished my novel, East City Real. It's really pleasing to reach this point, not least because there was a time, not so long ago, when I thought I'd never write another novel, let alone a novel of science fiction. I've never taken so long over a first draft before, … Continue reading East City Real
I'm very pleased to have launched a new paperback edition of my crime novel My First London Dream, now available here. The novel follows the adventures of hack actor and accidental detective Billy Vehement as he searches South London for the missing filmmaker Felix Link. My First London Dream is the first in a series … Continue reading My First London Dream
My story 'Vines' is currently free to read on Interzone Digital, beautifully illustrated by Alex Maniezo. 'These were the late days after the Work Lottery, what we thought of as a great rebalancing. To align society along a spirit of fairness, the population earned a set wage, and we found ourselves ascribed our lifelong careers … Continue reading Vines
Interzone 294 is now out and I'm hugely pleased to have my story 'The Coming of The Extroverts' included alongside lots of amazing work. Thanks also to Alex Maniezo, who also did the artwork for my story 'Vines', for another great illustration.
My story 'The Coming of the Extroverts' will be published in the issue 294 of Interzone, coming out later this year. Very pleased to be involved with this excellent magazine as it moves to its new home, and equally pleased to be included with lots of other fabulous writers. I'm especially excited by this story, … Continue reading Interzone 294
'Everyone else thinks it's a dump; a horror show; an asylum. That just serves to keep out the curious. Behind closed doors at the back ends of estates, in crumbling mansions in Clarkson and modern flats on the main street, in solitary bedsits and grim flats above chip shops there are hidden some of the … Continue reading Airdrie
My year so far has been caught up with sleep deprivation and illness, an inevitable Covid infection turning the last weeks into a zombie state of dead time, old cartoons and black-and-white films on Youtube. I can't believe half of 2022 has slipped away from me. The early months of the year had also seen … Continue reading Interzone Digital
Very pleased (not to mention grateful) for the following review of my little science fiction book, Requiem For An Astronaut. 'I liked everything about this [book]. Bart is a perfect narrator with a calm, observant, slightly jaded point of view that doesn’t lapse into cheap cynicism. His style is relaxed and his musings reveal much … Continue reading SF Crowsnest Review
I'm very pleased that my first science fiction novella, Requiem For An Astronaut, has been published by New Con Press. Requiem is set in the environs of East City, the location for my recent SF stories, and features a scientist, Bart, and his search for the lost astronaut Joan Kaminsky. An excerpt follows below. 'I … Continue reading Requiem For An Astronaut
Absence Club 