é-zine // belonging // editorial

 

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Welcome to the époque press é-zine on the theme, Belonging. This is now our 15th edition and we are delighted to once more bring you a great selection of creative work for you to savour – and if you do like what you find then please consider giving us a small caffeine treat to help keep us going with our future editions via our ‘Buy us a Coffee’ button.

In this edition we feature a screenplay by Megan Bell, who was the winner of the époque press 2023 University of Brighton Prize for Best Creative Dissertation. Womxn explores modern the identity of women, including women of colour and queer women, who have more stories to tell beyond their trauma. The characters exist alongside their trauma and reflect the power of belonging and women’s solidarity.

Rachel Sambrooks’ short story, Holding Hands, is about the lengths characters will go to for a sense of belonging, when acceptance and love is stronger than the need for survival.

In Giraffe Families, Judy Darley explores the ways families can provide a sense of belonging and a reminder of who we are, even during the most challenging times. I’m fascinated by the frailty and unfathomable strengths of human beings, what makes families tick, and how what matters most is always love.

Victory Suite, by Pauline Gostling, also explores familial belonging through the enduring love the character Dave has for his dead wife. Despite memories of his infidelity and shame, he imagines her with him still.

Nicola Wiggins, in Rhyme Time, looks at how first-time motherhood is like stepping into another dimension, and how a sense of belonging and the unexpected kindness of strangers can make a huge difference.

Jia-An Lee looks at belonging in relation to our memory, in the short story A Tale From The Wooden Box. Which questions whether we can still call a place home if we do not recall our past there.

The sense of home and belonging is also explored by Jayson Carcione in his short story, The Contessa, where a man adrift returns home to a creepy, crumbling estate where he is haunted by the past.

In Moriah Heights, by Paul Rabinowitz, the sense of belonging is presented as a state of mind that is attainable as long as one remains open and curious.

In terms of poetry, we have three poems by Tamiko Dooley. Forged looks at the desire of children to belong to the adult world. Hollow is about the sense of belonging as part of a transition to secondary school and Invitation looks at the transition from childhood to adulthood and how people can feel pressured to belong.

We have the video poetry, On Durham’s Heritage Coast, by Sarah Leavesley, which looks at how the beauty of a tourist area can also be tinged with darkness, how an areas past can be very different to it’s present and how to truly belong in any place means coming to terms with a region’s history.

Anna Battersby is welcomed back with four new video poems written since the death of her father in January 2024. These poems explore dreams, philosophy and psychology and they are imbued with a deep sense of solace, connection and belonging.

In Hainesville (Wonder.Years), Sam HaiNes has created a fascinating video collage inspired from life experiences growing up on the streets of pre-Giuliani New York City, a thriving city of derelicts, criminals, lovers, hustlers and ordinary people just getting by. It is tinged with feelings of nostalgia, regret and the faded sense of belonging, that all summarize ‘A life once lived’.

Finally, we are also delighted to feature the photography of Alice JL Pierre, whose images portray a relationship where both individuals, who come from households where two different cultures had been brought together, are still learning about each other, learning how to lean on one another, with a complicity and understanding of the complexity of their situation. The subject’s own sense of belonging is rooted, not in a specific place, but in the relationships they encounter.

So, sit back - look, listen, read and enjoy.

Adam & Sean