Villagers

When Conor J O'Brien opens his mouth and sings, time stands still, for a minute ... or three. It is wonderful and it appears so is O'Brien. From the moment he becomes visible he is captivating and it would take a soul a lot stronger than me to resist the pull of his charm. O'Brien also known as Villagers is like a lost storyteller from a different time, layered on beautiful melodies he speaks of ships and the sea and the main streets. He tells intriguing tales, and his words build stories of love lost and found, of lust and hurt, and destruction, and hope, there is, it seems, always a sense in the darkest of rhymes a glimmer of hope. When a stage in London's King Cross met Villagers they were in for a treat, as were the audience. And on a crisp October Tuesday with the first signs of Winter safely in place, not a member of the congregration could have gone home unimpressed, I am sure of this.

By Katriona Flynn

Publishing The Unpublishable

You'd think the purpose of a literary magazine would be to find the best, most 'publishable' pieces of fiction and poetry to share with the world, but The Incongruous Quarterly finds value in the 'unpublishable.' This online literary mag, just launched in July 2010, aims to promote anything that's "too long or too short, too weird, too conventional, ahead of (or behind) the times, genreless, plotless, subjectless, easily pigeonholed or impossible to define."

With pieces by Helen Dewitt ("Chart 2008"), Michael Hingston ("Comic Sans"), and Cole Robertson ("Hangover") in categories of fiction, poetry, and 'Kill Fee,' a section in which writers get to see the writing that a magazine or newspaper was going to run but did not, there's a lot to chew on. If it's unorthodox, weird, and highly entertaining, it'll be in The Incongruous Quarterly. Check it out CLICK HERE!

Text Molly O'Brien