Short stories and poetry: written by three Irish writers, two living in Wexford and one in Dublin who worked together virtually during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. All writing is fictional, some relating to the virus and its effects, others reflecting different topics inspired during the time. Writing the book provided the writers with an escape and they took comfort in the task.We hope it provides insights into a unique time and living during a global pandemic but mostly that it...

This book promotes the notion of second chances and the importance of human services within the communities most affected by crime and the criminal justice system. Recognition of the fallibility of humans and the necessity of redemption is the first step to change our attitude toward guilt and punishment. Barring citizens with criminal records from obtaining housing, employment, education, and public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps is not only unjust but unproductive for a human soc...

Murder in Maspalomas is a novel which starts in Dublin where Matt, an ordinary contract accountant finds himself contacted by the Sullivans, a notorious drug gang who are chasing a debt.The gang are led by Anto, a thirty something who came from a broken family, he broke it. His enforcer, Ciaran is his second in command and a right nasty piece of work who carries a piece wherever he goes. Rocky, in his early twenties wants to be Ciaran and wants to get tooled up. He carries some men...

Dean Worcester’s Fantasy Islands brings to life one of the most significant (but under examined) figures in the history of U.S. colonialism in the Philippines. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Worcester, a scientist who had traveled twice to the Philippines on zoological expeditions, established himself as one of America’s leading experts on the Philippines. Over a fourteen-year career as a member of the U.S. colonial regime, Worcester devoted much of his time and en...

Speaking at a 1913 National Geographic Society gala, Hiram Bingham III, the American explorer celebrated for finding the “lost city” of the Andes two years earlier, suggested that Machu Picchu “is an awful name, but it is well worth remembering.” Millions of travelers have since followed Bingham’s advice. When Bingham first encountered Machu Picchu, the site was an obscure ruin. Now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu is the focus of Peru’s tourism economy. Mark Rice’s hi...

On paper, things looked good for Mark Rice-Oxley: wife, children, fulfilling job. But then, at his 40th birthday party, his whole world crumbled as he succumbed to depression...How many men do you know who have been through periods when their lives haven't seemed right? How badly askew were things for them? Many men suffer from depression yet it is still a subject that is taboo. Men often don't visit the doctor, or they don't want to face up to feelings of weakness and vul...

Frederick Greenwood was born on the 25th March 1830 in Kensington, London, the eldest of eleven.His working career began at a printing house and his literary career with small pieces in periodicals of the day. In 1853 he contributed a sketch of Napoleon III to ‘The Napoleon Dynasty’ volume.His work ‘An Essay Without End’ was published by Cornhill Magazine and with it an introduction to its editor, William Makepeace Thackeray. In 1862 Greenwood became its joint editor and la...

On paper, things looked good for Mark Rice-Oxley: wife, children, fulfilling job. But at his 40th birthday party, his world crumbled as he succumbed to depression. Many men suffer from depression yet it remains a taboo subject. By telling his story, Mark Rice-Oxley hopes to enable others to tell theirs. This is a memoir that is brimful of experience, understanding and hope for all who read it.

Israel Zangwill was born in London on 21st January 1864, to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire.Zangwill was initially educated in Plymouth and Bristol. At age 9 he was enrolled in the Jews' Free School in Spitalfields in east London. Zangwill excelled here. He began to teach part-time at the school and eventually full time. Whilst teaching he also studied with the University of London and by 1884 had earned his BA with triple honours in philosophy, history, and t...

Franz Kafka was born on 3rd July 1883 in Prague, then in Bohemia, the eldest of 6, into a middle-class Jewish family.Life for the young Kafka and his passion for literature was often made an ordeal by his over-bearing and domineering entrepreneur of a father.In 1889 Kafka was sent to the Deutsche Knabenschule, an elementary school in Prague. His father would only allow him to be educated in German-speaking schools and even went so far as to limit visits to the synagogue to ...

A wise man once said ‘The safest place for a child is in the arms of his mother’s voice’. This is a perfect place to start our anthology of female short stories.Some of our earliest memories are of our mothers telling us bedtime stories. This is not to demote the value of fathers but more to promote the often-overshadowed talents of the gentler sex.Perhaps ‘gentler’ is a word that we should re-evaluate. In the course of literary history it is men who dominated by opportunit...

Elizabeth Stevenson was born in Chelsea in London on 29th September 1810.Both parents embedded their strong Unitarian beliefs into Elizabeth who rebelliously was often reluctant to display these religious convictions.The early death of Elizabeth’s mother saw her sent away to be brought up by her maternal aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire.Her father now remarried but Elizabeth spent most of her childhood in Cheshire away from her father and his new family but was supportiv...