5+ hour, 36+ min ago (307+ words) If these stories are horrific, they also capture glimmers of Palestinians finding their own quietude " even in the face of genocide Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories is a blistering collection by the trailblazing author Ghassan Kanafani, featuring works he crafted across the 1950s-60s. In these pressing translations by Hilary Kilpatrick, Kanafani homes in on the lives of Palestinians in diaspora, flight and exile after the Nakba in 1948 " considering cruel ironies of survival in incisive prose. The eponymous novella explores the terrible journey undertaken by three Palestinian refugees of disparate ages " Abu Qais, Marwan and Assad. They leave a refugee camp in Iraq to find new work in Kuwait to support their families " enduring indignities as they cross borders, in increasingly absurd, emasculating encounters. If these stories are horrific, they also capture glimmers of Palestinians finding their own quietude…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (907+ words) After a seven-year hiatus, drag artist Jonny Woo's anarchic alternative to the Royal Variety is back " and bigger than ever Jonny Woo at the Soho Theatre Walthamstow. Credit: Simon Phipps. This year's Royal Variety Show will once again deliver its popular if dependable mix of beaming choirs, national-anthem-belting sopranos and dancing dogs. Just a few stops up the Victoria line, rehearsals are underway for something a little less stately. At the UnRoyal Variety " opening today (13 November) at London's Soho Theatre Walthamstow " drag legend Jonny Woo will burst out of a giant bottle of poppers to launch a three-night riot of comedy, music and performance art. "It's this big," the renowned performer tells Big Issue, holding his hand up to his chest to mime a giant vial of the chemicals, a legal drug popular on the gay party scene. "I come…...