Essays & Comment

Hunters of the untamed idea

Something from the deep archives, with an unashamedly idealistic venture into the meta-realms of creative writing

Nov 2 •

"That sounds like science fiction"

An avid reader of science fiction he may be, but when it comes to being a writer, Mark Cantrell is not so sure he's earned his place among the genre's…

Aug 2 •

Mourning is Broken Once Grief Erodes

Two years after the death of his father, Mark Cantrell shares this personal essay to mark the anniversary and celebrate a life lived

Mar 17 •

Programming the soul of truth

We live in an age of carefully crafted untruths – where every medium wrestles to ‘recalibrate’ our perceptions

Mar 1 •

Sticks and stones and ‘othering’ names

Citizen Zero: Language is a vital tool for keeping the poor and powerless in their place

Dec 14, 2024 •

Learn to navigate if you want to gaze at the stars

Dragged kicking and screaming from the archives, here's a fanciful exploration of a writer's emerging self-awareness in craft

Aug 31, 2024 •

This is our Primal expression

Here's an old piece of writing that somehow feels like a riposte to today's obsession with generative AI 'creativity'

May 31, 2024 •

Wasn’t Ash just an electric fall guy?

When it comes to the murderous behaviour of our fictional AI creations, the real villain is often far too human

Feb 23, 2024 •

An overdose of criticality

That damned internal critic never fails to demand a journalistic 'right-first-time' approach to creative writing; it can be sorely testing...

Jan 26, 2024 •

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