Short Non-fiction

Maurice is a short three part children’s story by a writer who remains best known for the gothic horror of Frankenstein. I came upon Maurice by accident and I can hazard a guess that I am not the only gothic fiction reader who wasn’t aware…

In a secluded spot in the south of Thailand, not too far from the port town of Surat Thani, is the Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage Center. Founded in 1989, Suan Mokkh has been home to a silent retreat, which over the last few…

You're here on Headstuff having a poke around, so I'm going to assume that you love to read and learn about new things. May I ask you something personal? Why do you read? And what criteria do you use to select the books you read? All…

The first thing I read by Ernest Hemingway was a short story called 'Hills Like White Elephants'. I had never read anything like it before. It kind of changed everything for me. I threw away my thesaurus that day. Okay, I lied; I didn't…

Punch magazine shared several qualities with US publication The New Yorker; it was celebrated for the quality of its cartoons, it featured humorous writing from contributors known on both sides of the Atlantic (most notably PG Wodehouse)…

It’s often the most intimidating aspects of stars that are emphasised. We hear all over about light years and a hundred solar masses and super novae. Stars have become distant, violent heavenly bodies – removed from us, dangerous.…

The watcher sees 1:53 of a 17-minute film. It is on http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/taliban-release-video-of-bergdahl-handover-to-us-military-1.1820205 and other websites,…

The recent state visit by The President of Ireland to Britain highlights many facets of the relationships between the peoples of the two adjacent western European islands. No, it's not much. Just a place and some memories and time…

With colleges becoming increasingly expensive and the flaws in the system shining ever bright; on top of also slaving away during the night, working jobs you hate to keep your head tipping just above the water, it’s easy for the mind to…

Thomas Edison once said “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” and I reckon that’s a pretty good way of looking at this particular ‘f’ word. I personally don’t cope so well with failure. I cry, a lot. But tears…