Charlie Willis – The Poor Print

Kittens

by Charlie Willis Her Uncle Ronnie had found them. He came to their front door on that rainy winter’s evening cradling a bundle of ragged clothes. They were in the other room watching television when they heard the knock echo out into the hall. Her mother groaned, and summoned just enough energy to lift up […]

Artwork

The Poor Print: Redesigned Header

by Charlie Willis

Artwork

Jack and the Beanstalk

Charlie Willis’s illustration of a scene from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ is part of a collection of black and white drawings entitled ‘Of Strange Folk and Monsters’. The collection as a whole was announced as a runner-up of Oriel College’s Gower Memorial Prize on 3 November 2016, and can be found in its entirety on The […]

Artwork

Of Strange Folk and Monsters

Charlie Willis’ collection of black and white drawings was recently announced as a runner-up of Oriel College’s Gower Memorial Prize. She says, ‘My inspiration for these pictures was the work of Arthur Rackham and traditional European fairytales. In these photographs of my original drawings I wanted to convey a thoughtful stillness and a sense […]

Prose

A Way of Doing Things

by Charlie Willis Michael McManus had a way of doing things. He would get up at six minutes past eight o’clock no matter whether it were a Sunday or his birthday or a cold day in the depths of January. Sometimes, depending on the time of year of course, this meant that he was […]

Prose

Smoke and Mirrors (a short fiction)

by Charlie Willis They had a tiger at the circus. And when she wasn’t on stage inside the big red and yellow tent, she lay in a foul-smelling cage by the edge of the field, panting. The girl didn’t believe in tigers. A black and orange cat as big as a horse? It was absurd. […]

Prose

‘Self-confidence’ – A Poem

by Charlie Willis Self-confidence Nothing you have done wraps its chains around your ankles and drags you away from a sunset streaked with gold, and nothing you have done takes you by the hand and leads you along a lucky path to freedom. For we are all picking things up and trying things out, and […]

Culture, Prose

Translated Titles: What’s in a Name?

by Charlie Willis The title of a work of art is more than a simple tool of identification, more than a punchy headline to woo potential readers. It is often one’s first contact with the work of art, the style of the author, and the tone of piece. ‘The moment that counts most for me […]