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barry_x's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
And so we have another excellent issue of Lumpen, the journal for poor and working class writers. This has been out since the Spring but it has taken me a long time to get to it due to the monstrous size of the ‘to-be-read’ pile but as always, it’s a pleasure once I get around to it.
The theme of this issue is ‘Joy and Desire’. The editorial is a strong start, and instantly made me reflect on the suggestion that a lot of white men are more likely to feel an affinity to ‘working class’ when they are not whilst persons of colour are less likely to when they are. It’s something I reflect on often with my own working class roots but acknowledging that I am relatively comfortable now. Indeed, just in the last few days I have been involved in some discourse about ‘the working man’ and the descriptions of said ‘working man’ are really descriptions of a person with a certain mindset and almost always a white, middle aged or retired perspective.
I tend to look forward to the poetry and fiction in Lumpen, but in this issue some of them didn’t really hit the spot with me. I wonder if it is the mental space I am in, or my inability to relax or enjoy things at the moment. The essay and memoir section had some wonderful gems in it though.
J.E. Carter’s exploration of their family history and learning about her grandfather who she never knew was beautiful. I really appreciated the exploration of a man who had challenges and difficult things to address but also managed to live on and love a family dearly. The piece reminded me of my own father, adopted at a young age and struggling to maintain relationships with his birth and adopted family he nevertheless loved his children fiercely with a protective ring around us. It touched my heart reading this thinking about my own upbringing, and that those we have lost still live with their smiles in their photographs.
Kenn Taylor’s piece about expectations of working class people and how they are treated when they don’t meet those norms was pretty powerful. I loved how he dropped ‘Pulp’ lyrics in, and exposed the fetishization of the poor (gosh knows, every working class activist has met middle class people pretending to be poor). I really liked this because I recognise this notion of authenticity when organisations permit or hire working class people. I don’t have first hand experience but I imagine certain professions feel very worthy when they can drop in that they’ve hired someone from the council estate. As an aside, when I started work where I am now, a long time ago I was a ‘success’ of a government scheme and I was expected to ‘parade’ with the great and good for a photo opportunity – I refused, recognising it as exploitation.
I also loved xChris’ piece about a friendship with a person and undertaking actions together. It is a piece about love, friendship, male bonding and my heart ached reading it. I’d love to feel that bond with a friend like that and that deep love. It reminded me of times gone by to be honest and people I used to know. I raised a metaphorical glass to all those wonderful people who for a time made things feel special.
Lumpen can be purchased from https://www.theclassworkproject.com/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, and Mental illness
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