Seen from Here: Writing in the Lockdown

by Tim Etchells (Editor), Vlatka Horvat (Editor)

Seen from Here: Writing in the Lockdown is a collection of stories, flash fiction, poems, autofiction and conceptual writing gathered during the April and May Covid-19 lockdown, bringing together UK-based writers, poets, performance makers and artists.

Published in a PDF format by Unstable Object, an imprint launched by Tim Etchells and Vlatka Horvat for this occasion, the book is available to buy on a pay-what-you-choose basis, with 100% of proceeds to be donated to the Trussell Trust, a UK food bank charity.

The writing in Seen from Here is extremely diverse – spanning enigmatic fiction, poetry, powerful autofiction, prescient language artworks and compelling performance texts. While some of the work reflects directly or indirectly on the lockdown experience and the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, other pieces offer glimpses of past events, other realities and fictional landscapes. All but one of the texts included in the collection are previously unpublished and most are newly written, emerging from the isolating state of the lockdown to form a hallucinatory portrait of the concerns, intimate realities and fragile fantasies of the UK in the pandemic zone of 2020.

Unstable Object, June 2020.

ISBN: 978-1-8380422-0-2

382 pages

The book is edited by Tim Etchells and Vlatka Horvat and designed by David Caines.

Contributors: Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Caroline Bergvall, Aisha Mango Borja, Season Butler, Hester Chillingworth, Augusto Corrieri, Will Eaves, Tim Etchells, Rachel Genn, Chris Goode, M. John Harrison, Vlatka Horvat, Wendy Houstoun, Sophie Jung, Andrea Mason, Harun Morrison, Courttia Newland, Katharine Norbury, Lara Pawson, Deborah Pearson, Fernando Sdrigotti, Maria Sledmere, Marvin Thompson, Selina Thompson, Rupert Thomson, Chris Thorpe, Tony White, Eley Williams, Aaron Williamson, Jacob Wren.

382 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Tim Etchells is an English artist, writer, and educator whose work spans performance, fiction, visual art, installation, and critical writing. He is best known as the artistic director of Forced Entertainment, an experimental performance company he helped found in 1984. His practice explores language, presence, repetition, and the dynamics between audience and performer, often blurring boundaries between theatre, literature, and conceptual art. Etchells has published fiction including Endland Stories, The Dream Dictionary for the Modern Dreamer, and The Broken World, and has written widely on contemporary performance for publications and institutions. As a visual artist, he has created text-based installations, video pieces, and large-scale public artworks. He has taught internationally and holds a professorship in Performance and Writing at Lancaster University. Etchells has also collaborated with numerous artists and makers across disciplines, developing works for theatres, galleries, and public spaces. Recognized for his innovation and influence, he has received major awards and residencies and continues to shape contemporary performance and interdisciplinary artistic practice.