Holly Pester

Comic Timing

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Kate Clanchy

Courttia Newland

Jacob Ross

Kit de Waal

David Constantine

Alexei Sayle

Juliet Jacques

Maggie Gee

Stuart Evers

Martyn Bedford

Joanna Quinn

Laura Hird

Matthew Holness

Michelle Green

Sandra Alland

Andy Hedgecock

Francesca Rhydderch

Whatever happened to British protest? For a nation that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses - who also contribute afterwords - these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction.

Stories of Resistance

Protest

Go to Reception and Ask for Sara in Red Felt Tip

Welcome to Cafés! Somewhere to eat and forget about work, where we can meet friends and not think about love, where we can meet lovers and be too nervous to eat. In Holly Pester’s unique lyric, the café becomes a structure of fantasy and language exploring life at the pressurized edges. It becomes a form – a canto or a verse – unearthing what this space promises us in terms of freedom and thought, and what it holds back. In each iteration, the café remakes itself through the people who pass through it. A worker tries to run a café franchise. A lover sits in the corner, waiting. A woman mourns a friendship while contemplating age and childlessness. An artist tries to launch an art café and hosts an open mic. Both a stylish political intervention and an elegy for communal space, Holly Pester's newest collection reaffirms her as one of the most exciting poets of our time.

Cafés

Sara Maitland

Whatever happened to British protest? For a nation that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses – who also contribute afterwords – these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction. Protests include the Peasants Revolt, Poll Tax Riots, Anti-Iraq War Demo and many more...

Holly Pester

Books

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