Lackington's

Alexandra Siedel’s poetry is breathtaking; haunting, whimsical, and witty. I’ve been an admirer of it for years. It was only back in February, when I finally had the pleasure of meeting her, that I realised that she also writes short fiction. Not quite sure how I missed that, but I have since put things to rights. 

It’s usually possible to tell in their short fiction, when a writer is also a poet. This is very apparent in Alexandra’s "The Master of Hourglasses", which appears in the current issue of Lackington’s. 

The story contains beautiful images, arresting turns of phrase, characters who who linger in the reader’s mind, making themselves - though not necessarily the reader - quite comfortable there. It’s a stunning and unsettling tale of masks, identity, trades, a girl and a god. 

Do check out Alexa’s blog: Tiger in the Matchstick Box where she’s written about the interesting publishing path this story has taken. You can also find out more about her and her writing.

Issue 16 of Lackington’s, with the theme: Trades is now available.

Also, I wanted to mention that Lackington’s has recently started a Patreon page. Money will go toward paying their writers and artists fair prices. Do take a look, it's a wonderful journal with high quality speculative fiction and art.