Author Archives: hecubapublishing

Now that the razamatazz of the Oscars is over for another year, it’s good to look back and reflect on what was achieved.  The fact that many of the films nominated had gay content shows how advanced we have become … Continue reading →

For anyone interested in the lives of quiet desperation that certain writers lead before having their work accepted for publication, the town of Hayes in Middlesex, England, has something to offer.  In a quiet corner of Hayes village, not far … Continue reading →

Some writers stay with us forever.  The Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is one such. Whenever I read his prose poem ‘Freedom to Breathe’ I find myself renewed both in mind and spirit. And since I cannot do justice to it in my own … Continue reading →

I’ve always loved Elizabeth Bishop’s poem The Fish not just because it’s so technically well-crafted, but also because in the poem Bishop supplies us with a totally different perspective on what it means to go fishing. In Bishop’s poem, the initial reaction … Continue reading →

Je suis Charlie, je suis heterosexual, je suis homosexual, je suis bisexual, je suis transexual The above are labels invented by society to describe the sexual identity of the various groups within that society.  It’s society’s way of differentiating between … Continue reading →

I called him Omar. The first time I saw him, he looked as if he had  stepped out of the Arabian Nights. Tall and tanned with a neat beard and wearing a bobble hat on his head, when he smiled … Continue reading →

‘All day I’ve faced the barren waste without a taste of water, cool, clear water.’ On a recent visit to the theatre, in the middle of watching a performance onstage, I was reminded of the words of the above song … Continue reading →

The recent ruling by the Supreme Court in relation to rights of access to Lissadell House highlights the deep-rooted ambiguity that lies at the heart of attitudes to Anglo-Irish relations/heritage.  Lissadell House, former home to Constance Gore-Booth or Constance Markievicz … Continue reading →

The writer Jean Rhys was born in Roseau in Dominica.  Her father, a doctor, hailed originally from Wales and her mother, a West Indian, was a creole.  Rhys came  to England during World War I when she was sixteen where … Continue reading →

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.  Let’s ask it a few questions instead of ignoring it in the hope that it will go away.  The elephant might well feel that it has as much right to be there … Continue reading →