The Remains, Sally Barrett
They were in a cubicle, the three of them. Alise pulled down her hotpants and tights and sat on the toilet. Have I wet myself said Alise. She touched her clothes. I can’t tell if these are dry or not she said. I can’t go said Alise. She got up and pulled her clothes up. Charlotte sat down.
‘The Remains’ is a poetry of place, or, more precisely, of places: contingent, awkward, and unregarded, shaped by how we think about them and how they make us feel. It is also a poetry of particularity, attentive to what is there and what isn’t, to what seems to matter and what doesn’t, discovering in the process that everything does.’ - Tom Jenks
‘The specificity of toilets and toileting with an unblinking eye – from mock academic paper (actual papers also ranked: Izal bad, Cushelle good) and a think piece on Marcel Duchamp disenchantment, to memoir and an unflinching interview with Auntie Margaret. An Oulipian overheard with a brilliant footnote chimes with a Twyford colourway experiment delivering on-the-money phrasing, while ‘Michael Portaloo’s Wardrobe’ creates ingenious thought bubbles of mismatched sayings that should enter everyday usage. Champion.’ - Sarah-Clare Conlon
Signed in the shop on the 30th of April 2026.
