John Singleton

X-Ray, Chicken Angel, Lights Out and Cough Cough are the only four children left in the institution known as the Bin. X-Ray and his friends may have terrible things wrong with them, but they're no fools. They know that things have been getting worse since Dr Dearly was put in charge. They have to get out - but how? Along comes hard-case Nail in his dodgy van with his posh bolshie girlfriend, Natalie. All Nail wants is to make some quick money and get off with Nats, but suddenly he has four weirdo stowaways. The children want to find the mythical Sky Boat to sail away from all their problems, but does it exist and will they survive until they reach it? X-Ray's voice is perfect and the way he and the others have created their own world based on their own experience is utterly believable. You long for them to break out and be liberated, even though you suspect the consequences will be terrible.

Angel Blood

John McGahern (1934–2006) believed that fiction could act as a window on the world. Such windows, however, frame our fields of vision, alter and shape our perspectives. Far from being static, the artist’s perspective must continually evolve. This book provides a literary analysis of John McGahern’s artistic and poetic vision – his ‘ways of looking’, examining the shifting focus of this vision: how and why it develops, what effects such developments have on the work’s forms and how these forms evolve, at what times and in response to what stimuli. This volume demonstrates that such developments mirror an analogous social expansion during the latter half of the twentieth century and argues that McGahern’s literary spaces relate to his efforts to realise a more accommodating form to envelop the structureless society. While the number of critical studies on McGahern has increased markedly in recent years, research still tends to fall into the well-established camps of social realism or literary aestheticism. This text aims to explore the common ground between the material context and social worlds of each work and the hermeneutics of a ‘traditional’ literary investigation. It traverses such divides through close readings of McGahern’s work, with attention to the topopoetical production of images of the house, the home and the family unit. The book ultimately shows how attention to McGahern’s literary spaces provides a greater understanding of the aesthetic, vision and form of each novel and allows us to understand those aspects relative to the social, cultural and political undercurrents of the works individually and collectively.

Ways of Looking

John McGahern

Mary Luckhurst

The Creative Writing Handbook is a new kind of textbook which will prove an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to develop and improve their writing. Written by professional writers and teachers it covers all aspects of the writing process, from drafting first thoughts to shaping them into polished and publishable work. In a series of lively and stimulating chapters all major areas of writing are explored, from journalism, play-scripting and screen writing to short fiction, autobiography, poetry and experimental prose. The Handbook combines an approachable and accessible style with an informed and perceptive view of creative writing and its place in our contemporary world. The Handbook offers the new writer a whole range of creative ideas, sound advice and open-ended tasks for exploring experience, mastering technique and thereby releasing the full potential of the imagination. The workshop descriptions are full of invaluable ideas on how to run group sessions and offer a rich fund of suggestions for developing writing beyond the classroom. The emphasis throughout is on the play of the imagination, on the discipline of crafting and on the inventive and original use of language. Above all it's about making words work, and making them work well.

Techniques for New Writers

The Creative Writing Handbook

Veronica Chambers

At twenty-four John Singleton became the youngest filmmaker and only African American ever to be nominated for Best Director (and Best Screenplay) for Boyz N the Hood, his debut feature film. Only a year after receiving such sensational acclaim for that debut, Singleton has returned to the Hood. His new film, Poetic Justice, which stars Janet Jackson and features the poetry of Maya Angelou, gives voice to young African-American women.

Filmmaking South Central Style

Poetic Justice

Daniel Singleton

Do you crave a deeper level of friendship? John Singleton's journey with LifeLine Church reveals the secrets and sacrifices required to truly love one another with the love of Jesus. With over forty years of experience in leading churches in the UK and beyond, John is well able to illustrate the learning he has picked up along the way with real-life stories: some amusing, some ridiculous, all heartfelt. With lessons on thankfulness, integrity, serving, soft-heartedness, hospitality, relationship and much more, this is essential reading for church leaders, planters and anyone keen to take their relationship with God beyond the Sunday meeting. Whether you're starting a new church or stuck in a rut in your old one, following Jesus Christ is not about a one-off event - it is about journeying together with God. This book follows the journey of a church and its leader as they strive to fulfil their purpose on Earth: to love God, love each other and demonstrate what Jesus is like to the world around them.

A Heart Set on Pilgrimage

Robert Millward

In this 1998 book, experts in British industrial history analyse the causes of nationalisation in the 1940s.

The Political Economy of Nationalisation in Britain, 1920-1950

This is a companion to The Creative Writing Handbook - now in its second edition. It is very much aimed at the individual writer, based on the idea that real writing comes from within and that writing is a craft, skill with determination, art with attitude. The book is filled with useful ideas and inspiring techniques for exploring and exploiting resources available, both within and without. It focuses on three major areas - the writer's roots (family, class and gender), the writer's resources (memory and language) and the writer's art (form and technique). Chapters focus on many topics, including how memory shapes a writer's material, the pro-creative force of words and the ambiguities of art and artfulness. Many examples of established writers' works are cited to give the fledgling writer much practical help.

The Creative Writing Workbook

This revised and updated edition of The Creative Writing Handbook now includes new chapters on writing for stage and radio and on writing screenplays for film and television. Written by professional writers and tutors, it covers all aspects of the writing process, from drafting first thoughts to shaping them into polished and publishable work. In a series of lively and stimulating chapters, all major areas of writing are explored, from screen-writing to short fiction, from autobiography to experimental prose. The Handbook offers new and experienced writers a whole range of creative ideas, sound advice and open-ended tasks for exploring experience, mastering technique and thereby releasing the full potential of the imagination. As most taught courses in creative writing are in workshop form, each chapter includes invaluable ideas on how to run group sessions and offer a rich fund of suggestions for developing writing beyond the workshop.

John Singleton

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