Christian Fennell
... b/c I feel like walking on water
@writing
The joy, I think, in reaching to the truth in writing, is having the faith to trust that it can be found, provided one looks to pulse of blood running through the veins of thought, and not to the meaning of it.​​
Fiction is the hope of
discoverable truths.
Let me sit for a while yet longer in the quiet of an early morning.
The latest issue is out! Thank you to all who submitted, we were overwhelmed with such strong work, on all fronts.
Our Émile Luminary this issue is Montreal-based artist, Garo Hakimian. There's also art by: Ben Miller, Jennifer Caloyevas, Jeffrey Alfier, and Leah Oates.
We have fiction and poetry by: Michelle Bitting, Lawrence Bridges, Walter Weinschenk, Anon Baisch, Dominique Russell, Monique Debruxelles, translated by Laura Nagle, Kim Carson Bodie, Chantel Lavoie, Anon Baisch, Stephen Barile, Á. D. Canareira, translated from Spanish by Clare Gaunt.
Nathalie reviews Kathryn Brown Ramsperger's novel, A Thousand Flying Things, and we have an essay by Emily L Quint Freeman looking at what it was like for the gay, Jewish artist Gertrude Sandmann painting in the time of Nazis.
Thanks to all for coming on this journey with us!
https://www.thenelliganreview.com/
Issue 4
My essay in this issue of The Nelligan Review … Days of Summer.
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“The young boy watching the old man’s time drifting on that lazy, shaded river, real and gone, and there again, for that old man to pluck at and say—see, it’s right there, still all right there, when I was just boy, like you.”
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Nat's review of Kathryn Brown Ramsperger's novel, A Thousand Flying Things.
"A Thousand Flying Things is a beautiful love story. Something the world will always be in need of."
"A violent fucking poet."
- Josip Novakovich
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August 1 - October 31, 2023
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Submissions: The Nelligan Review
Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Reviews, Art, Photography
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March 8, 2023
Nathalie Guilbeault's essay, "Women and Strength" published in Centered on Taipei Magazine ... Happy Women's Day!
December 29, 2022
May 1, 2023
The good news? I'm no longer on an Interpol list.
"cash, guns, booze and whores: Desperation Never Wins"
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April 1, 2023
"Small Diptych on Orange"
by Johanne "Corno" Corneau profiled this issue by Nathalie Guilbeault
April 1, 2023
April 1, 2023
The first Émile Luminary @TheNelliganReview, Cordelia Stagno.
"Today is Women's Day. But what does it mean to be a woman? Is it a natural, psychological, biological fact? A goal to achieve? A land to defend? A question of social roles?"
December 29, 2022
December 29, 2022
2022: War Crimes
"But the relationship of morality and power is a very subtle one. Because ultimately power without morality is no longer power." - James Baldwin
For those who support Putin, or Russia, I can promise you this: you have forgotten what is worth fighting for. You have forgotten time.​
And all the dead.
For they now, too, reside in you.
October 27, 2022
Consider being a patron of the arts, and help The Nelligan Review make a difference. Art = a greater tolerance, something the world needs more of. Help us help artistic voices striving to be heard.
October 3, 2022
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Christian Fennell
Editor-in-chief,
The Nelligan Review
Montreal Publishing Company
The Real and the Imagined Trilogy:
Read it. If you like it, pay what you like. If you don't ... it's free, because, well, the important thing is to read. If you like it, tell a friend. Write a review. Or, just reach out and let me know what you think. Words on a page meant to fly, not be grounded; not by commerce; not by any deterrent.
"Deliciously twisted and addictive.
A brilliant author to discover..."
"Fennell truly has a gift with words. He can evoke a scene so realistically that I feel like I'm right there."
"Christian Fennell’s words are honest and sharp, coursing like blood in the veins."
"The author has a superb way with words that is both poetic and thought-provoking."
The Real and the Imagined Trilogy: Book Three
LOVE,
GUNS & GOD
in America
"Christian Fennell's novel presents a vivid, soul-searching account of life and death in America.
Passionate observations of life in different strata of the American psyche drive a story that is a raw inspection of the violence and confrontations of both a nation and the individual.
Ultimately, Love, Guns & God in America is a study in reality, adversity, shifting perspectives, and the courage to change."
- Midwest Book Review
Print:
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Ebook:
The Real and the Imagined Trilogy: Book Two
THE FIDDLER
in the Night
Christian Fennell's, The Fiddler in the Night, is a return by the author to the raw, abstract, and visceral landscapes set forth in his critically acclaimed collection of short stories, Torrents of Our Time.
In his debut novel, Fennell takes the reader on an orphaned teen's journey through the darker recesses of rural America--horrifying, yet compelling--where he tries to stay one step ahead of a ruthless killer. A tragic love story unfolding against a background that is both real and imagined, making this novel as memorable for its language as for its non-stop and blistering storyline.
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"In essence, the author has created a work of art in word form."
- The US Review of Books
"Fennell’s haunting and poetic prose takes readers through the Godforsaken terrain of rural America on a wild ride to its stunning and heartbreaking conclusion."
- San Francisco Book Review
"This dark coming-of-age story will impress readers with its distinctive writing and intense, at times violent, story."
- Booklife Reviews
Print:
The Real and the Imagined Trilogy: Book One
TORRENTS of Our Time
Christian Fennell's debut book, Torrents of Our Time, brings together a collection of 22 stories, most of which have appeared in international literary journals and anthologies. A gifted storyteller with a wide-ranging audience, Fennell challenges the weakness in the heart of all our “truths," while illuminating our dreams and our fears. These are stories that reside in the broken places of us, a stunning dance between our flaws and the beauty and joy of who we are, in this place now. Taken as a whole, Torrents of Our Time is a lyrical and page-turning narrative of love, loss, and pain.
"These stories bemuse, unsettle and surprise in equal measure. Whatever expectations one might have of a book of dark, realist short stories set in rural America, this collection defies them, and instead weaves an elegant song of sadness, dark humour, and strangeness."
- Neon Books UK
"Many of Fennell’s stories, which employ different narrative techniques, create effective tension and suspense."
- Kirkus Reviews
"This book is simply Douglas Adams but written for small-town America. This is a Hitchhiker’s Guide to small-town America."
- Book Heaven
Print:
Ebook:
CHRISTIAN FENNELL
Christian's books are published by Montreal Publishing Company. He is the editor-in-chief of The Nelligan Review.
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"Words used to be art. In their creation. In the act. And thus the words were art in their very being. Forget the reader. Just don't forget the impetus. Christian Fennell never did. One of the rare few."
- Shaan Joshi, Editor-in-chief, The Prague Revue
“Christian Fennell writes stories to savour. Sharp, salty and sly, they come at you sideways with a shot of poignancy when you least expect it - and a twist of humour when you most need it.”
- Katy Darby, Director, Liars' League London
Editing Services:
Since working as the Fiction Editor at The Prague Revue, I've been doing development editing for both fiction and non-fiction books. Recently, I've completed an edit on Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and The Village Voice journalist Robert Coe's upcoming book SURVIVORS OF A FUTURE THAT NEVER HAPPENED, as well as Nathalie Guilbeault's 2nd Edition of her book INHALED.
If you have a book you'd like me to take a look at, use the contact form here.
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Book Reviews:
If you are working in the commercial or literary fiction space, and would like your book reviewed, get in touch here.
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Christian is a proud member of
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"If you have no critics, you’ll likely have no success." - Malcolm X
NEWS:
Media coverage for Nathalie Guilbeault's novel, INHALED, and Christian Fennell's novel,
LOVE, GUNS & GOD In America.
June 22/22, 7 - 9pm @Pub Burgundy Lion, Montreal, QC
Thank you to everyone who turned out to help launch
LOVE, GUNS & GOD in America and Nathalie Guilbeault's INHALED
