Beat the Dust is the space for writers with 'kiss my shades!' attitude to flex their literary muscle and showcase their latest work. It's for readers who like inventive, hard-hitting, intelligent and thought-provoking writing. We are continually on the look-out for new poetry, short stories, novel chapter ones, flash fiction and plays so send your work to us at any time. The space is updated the first week of each month. August will be devoted to the work of one featured writer. The September issue though will be a return to the usual format so get writing and submitting. To view the submission guidelines and to send a submission, see the links below right.
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Tim Wells' ten tunes |
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Beat The Dust asked Tim for a bit of info about himself and so he said he'd dip his hand into the ‘All Killer, No Filler’ record box and talk about the first ten tunes he pulled…
Nothing Can Stop Me – Gene Chandler
A real floor filler from Gene Chandler ‘the woman handler’. A quintessential Northern Soul classic written by Curtis Mayfield from opening fanfare to solid beat, as with so many working class classics; a song about overcoming. I had a skinhead girlfriend who was a mad soulie, she used to change into hot pants and loafers halfway through an all-nighter and this was just the sort of tune that would have her gliding majestically across the dance floor. More please…
Shame, Shame, Shame – Jimmy Reed
London always had a bit more R&B to its selections than the Northerners. This is typically Jimmy Reed; lazy, loping and insistent. Jimmy Reed was an outstanding alcoholic, he even sounds drunk when he sings, but also an epileptic and illiterate. Like so many of us, taking that pain out on the dance floor…
Love Is All Right – Cliff Nobles
This is the vocal cut to its better known flip, ‘The Horse’. Earl Young really makes this record with a blistering break. I picked this up, along with a pile of other belters, on a recent poetry and records foray to Noo Yawk City.
To see the rest of Tim's ten tunes including pics of chicks with discs, go here.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Poetry
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
keep the faith |
| Excerpt: |
This smile on my face
Ain’t from steering a desk
All workday long.
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The Wu Tang Clan interviews Mark Colbourne |
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Method Man: “Wu-Tang Clan comin’ at ya.”
Mark C: “Right you are then, chaps. Who wants to kick off with a question?”
GZA: “First of all, who’s your A&R? A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?”
Mark C: “No, it’s a lovely old fellow called Derek, and what he can’t do with a lamb chop isn’t, quite frankly, worth doing.”
RZA: “Do you think your Wu-Tang sword can defeat me?”
Mark C: “Probably not, if I’m honest. I’m looking at it now and it’s withering a little beneath the lights.”
Inspectah Deck: “But I’m still depressed and I ask what it’s worth?”
Mark C: “Stumped if I know, old boy. Still – chin up. No point moping.”
ODB: “Watch your step, Kid.”
Mark C: “Will most certainly do, Mr Bastard. All the best!”
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Short story
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
the art of donald mcgill |
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My world is colour-washed and ink-outlined. Conversation blurts in snippets. A flash of brisk retort. The baker’s daughter offers me her hot cross buns. She claims they’re plump and warm. I run. I flee. Shouts from the outside appear in my dreams. They warn that I’m obscene. They campaign that I wit...
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Michael Blackburn interviews himself |
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Q) What is the most disgusting thing you're ever done?
A) A 'pokey'. I worked in a hospital between school and university. I won't explain, but it involved surgical gloves.
Q) What's the cleverest thing you think you've ever said?
A) 'Sacrifice your pride on the altar of expedience.'
Q) Why do you (still) write poetry?
A) Because it's pointless and has no financial value. And it's short.
Q) Why are you not writing a novel?
A) Because novels are obvious. And long. And life is short.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Poetry
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
the seventh of july |
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‘Their clamor for a millennium is shot through with a hatred for all th...
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Freddy N interviews Steve Ely |
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Freddy N: Why are you so wise?
Steve Ely: Thank you, Freddy. That would be a by-product of a lifetime of full-on geektensity, enabling me to run the gamut in both breadth and depth.
Freddy N: Why are you so clever?
Steve Ely: Thank you, Freddy. I fence daily, both sabre and foil. The cut and thrust prepares one most adequately for the ... well, the cut and thrust.
Freddy N: Why do you write such excellent books?
Steve Ely: Thank you, Freddy. I eschew the conventional virtues and cleave to the violence of love.
Freddy N: Why are you a destiny?
Steve Ely: Thank you, Freddy. Because every day is a good day to die.
Freddy N: Thank you, Herr Stephanus. Alles das ist.
Steve Ely: Freddy, may I now ask you a question?
Freddy N: Zweifell - certainly.
Steve Ely: Who poxed you up, the Genoese rent boy or the Swabian whore?
Freddy N: First one, then t'other. But the one I really loved was that Clydesdale in the piazza Carlos Alberto.
Steve Ely: Nay lad!
Freddy H: Ecce Homo.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Poetry
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
pc |
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so its hot in class and jones this broke down peckawood hippy ass english t...
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Conflicted vigilante, Hammer interviews Darren R Scothern |
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H: Why did you do it?
D: I didn't. It wasn't me. Don't hurt me.
H: Don't lie to me. I'm gonna give you one chance to tell me what's going on.
D: Okay, I admit it. I wrote some stuff. Oww… please… that hurts.
H: What kinda stuff?
D: Stories mainly. And some poems. I didn't mean to hurt anybody.
H: Didn't you? So what did you think you were trying to do, moron? Entertain?
D: Owwwch! No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to… make a difference.
H: C'mere. I'm gonna make a difference to you…
D: No… no! Help…
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Short story
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
welcome to gehenna |
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Eddie staggered down the alley, ignoring the rain. He navigated the upturned dustbins and piles of dog shit by instinct and didn’t flinch at all when a rat squirmed over his soaking wet foot. Eddie didn’t mind the wet too much, or the cold, or the taste in his mouth right n...
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Brandi Wells interviews Sean Ruane |
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BW: What do you wear while you're writing?
SR: I wear Berlin wool work slippers and a silk robe, raffishly tied about the waist. When it is drafty in my writing quarters I wear a smoking cap. The cap is handcrafted using the latest advances in Victorian needlework. It is embroidered with red dragons and is particularly fearsome. I like opium.
BW: Who hasn't influenced your writing?
SR: Arthur Stanley Eddington has had very little influence on my writing.
BW: Have you ever eaten squid ink?
SR: I neither eat nor drink squid ink. At times, however, I do take mouthfuls and spit it at people. This usually occurs when I'm pretending to be a squid. I wave my arms quickly to give the impression that I have more than two of them. Afterwards, I yell 'hooka-hooka' and climb back into the tree.
BW: If you were a girl, would you 'do' Yeats?
SR: I wouldn't even do Yeats with your vagina!
BW: If Yeats came over for dinner, what would you serve him?
SR: Steakum sandwiches would be in play. There would also be opium and iced tea and tomatoes and pie. Yeats likes pie.
BW: Do you pick your nose when no one is watching?
SR: Yes, and for this I use either a crab's claw or the severed and embalmed gorilla's finger sent to me by my Congolese friend, Paul, in celebration of my birthday.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Poetry
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
on william butler yeats |
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1. Yeats walks into a room backwards and turns slowly.
2. Yeats likes th...
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Alan K interviews himself |
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Alan K: How are you?
Alan K: Reasonably ok, you?
Alan K: I'm asking the questions.
Alan K: Sorry, I forgot.
Alan K: I must say you look nice, why don't you treat yourself to some ice-cream?
Alan K: Perhaps I will.
Alan K: Good.
Alan K: Anymore questions?
Alan K: You've aged quite badly, what skin products do you use?
Alan K: Just a bar of mottled soap.
Alan K: Ugh.
Alan K: Yeah.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Short story
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
one's elf |
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I wonder if it’s just a mark of our youth that everything changes in the blink of an eye and then changes back again before you open them…
He could break his life up in small bits, without beginnings or ends. Men would arrive and leave; a constant string of unattachments. He would ...
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Puma Perl interviews herself |
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Left Brain: How did you get the name Puma?
Right Brain: I had a Puma knife. It’s a long story.
Left Brain: Why do you write?
Right Brain: It beats the alternative.
Left Brain: Where will you be in five years?
Right Brain: Ooh, look, you can see the moon, it’s a crescent.
Left Brain: What would you do if you won the lottery?
Right Brain: God, it’s fucking hot in here.
Left Brain: Anything else you want to say?
Right Brain: Buy my book. When I write it.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Poetry
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
billy pray |
| Excerpt: |
Billy Pray was a tough guy
He woke one morning at five
His tooth hurt...
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Jereme Dean interviews himself |
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You: I’m going to ask a series of questions.
Me: OK.
You: Toilet paper; folded or crumpled?
Me: Folded.
You: Happiness or euphoria?
Me: Euphoria.
You: Obsessive or compulsive?
Me: Compulsive.
You: Gin or vodka?
Me: Gin. Vodka is good if you like to drink gasoline.
You: Do you have a blog?
Me: Yes, go here.
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| Submission Date: |
| 01 Jul 2008 |
Category: |
Short story
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Included in Chap-book
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| Title: |
aquarium |
| Excerpt: |
I have always felt alien and outside from my fellow human beings. Like a guy watching a guy watching brightly colored fish swimming in a pet store aquarium on a grey winter day. Today is no different. I find myself standing in the doorway of a condemned house talking...
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