Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.
Showing posts with label 'Libbon 2'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'Libbon 2'. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 March 2008

"Libbon 2" (2006)

Libbon magazine publishes short stories. It began in 2005 and comes out about once a year. I've seen issues 1 and 2, where submission was by competition. Since then, submissions have been open.

It's an A4 magazine with about 10 stories that are interrupted by little photos. I wasn't keen on the stories in issue 1 - the plot-driven stories were too predictable (having seen the twist of "Pork" from a long way off I was expecting a further twist that never came), and much of the writing was flat. "What hearts can bear" was an exception. Issue 2 was much better - all the stories at the start are better than just about anything in issue 1 - the writing's more confident. Stories like "bad love radio" don't feel the need to explain everything. In issue 2 they boldly print some reviews of Libbon 1.