In Bed with Melon Bread
When we were standing in the convenience store looking intently at bread, you asked me what I was thinking, and I said, ‘Melon bread has a better bedside manner than any man I’ve been with.’
Food has the power to nourish and nauseate. A woman eats flowers to cope with death, and another drinks soil to cope with life. For some it means freedom, for others, loneliness. Ghosts lurk in souls and soups. In the tastes, smells and tactile experiences of modern life, characters roam gardens, kitchens, supermarkets and restaurants in search of themselves.
In Bed with Melon Bread is a collection of short fiction about what it means to eat alone.
Reviews
‘Rowland’s prose is bold and confident, not a word out of place’
– Laura Besley, author of 100neHundred and The Almost Mothers
‘A beautiful collection of short fiction—soothing, inspiring, prose that bears reading again and again’
– R. J. Kinnarney, author of Abigail Aces Acting
Reviews
‘Rowland’s prose is bold and confident, not a word out of place’
– Laura Besley, author of 100neHundred and The Almost Mothers
‘A beautiful collection of short fiction—soothing, inspiring, prose that bears reading again and again’
– R. J. Kinnarney, author of Abigail Aces Acting
Grimmfest
In 2023, Leonie co-directed Grimmfest, Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic film, along with Dr. Linnie Blake. Their goal was to curate a transgressive, diverse and socially engaged programme that showcased the very best of horror cinema. The festival ran from October 5th-8th at the Odeon Great Northern in Manchester and included national and international premieres, panels, podcasting, performances, interviews with filmmakers and an alternative market. You can read more about the programme here.
Leonie’s work with Grimm goes back to 2021, when she participated in a panel on Japanese horror with the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. She also helped organise the Monsters and Movies symposium, which was part of the BFI’s In Dreams are Monsters season and took place from November 18th-20th 2022.
The Hungry Ghost Project
The Hungry Ghost Project was home to Hungry Ghost Magazine, which published poetry, flash fiction, creative non-fiction and visual art on the relationship between food, hauntings and consumption. Leonie founded the project in 2021 in support of Big Issue North, where profits were donated, and to give up-and-coming writers a chance to share their work. With the help of a small team, the magazine ran for two print issues and is currently on hiatus. You can read more about it here.
