Robert Rea

London

Freelance Writer and Producer at Freelance

Journalist, formerly BBC News for many years, now writer/producer for hire. Chelsea fan, reluctant runner (see blog below), celebrity queue-er. Went viral once

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Articles

Let Us Now Praise Giant Men | Exploding Piston Inevitable

1 month ago | southwestreview.com | Robert Rea

Let Us Now Praise Giant Men is a basketball column by Liam Baranauskas. This edition is about euphoria, Charles Willeford, the picaresque narrative, someone else’s dreams, and the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Dream House is an art installation in a third-floor walk-up in Tribeca, a collaboration between composer La Monte Young and multimedia artist Marian Zazeela.
Traducir las palabras talismánicas de Frank Stanford | Una conversación con Patricio Ferrari

Mar 19, 2025 | southwestreview.com | Robert Rea

Por Sylvia Georgina Estrada“Electrizante”, “mítico”, “un verdadero poeta”, así han descrito, a lo largo de los años, al estadounidense Frank Stanford. Frank fue un hombre peculiar, capaz de deslumbrar a los maestros de la Universidad de Arkansas para luego dejar los estudios universitarios en pos de la escritura y de la vida.
Taxonomizing a New Genre: The High Lonesome

Mar 6, 2025 | southwestreview.com | Elizabeth Nelson |Robert Rea

By Elizabeth NelsonWhat is the High Lonesome sound? Most historians associate the coinage with the music of the bluegrass titan Bill Monroe, whose keening twang and tales of love both hard-earned and hard-lost do seem to represent a kind of genre of one. But if the notion of the High Lonesome sound is meaningfully inextricable from Monroe’s music, it has persisted since he’s been a long time gone. Charlie Daniels released an album called High Lonesome in 1976, and Randy Travis did the same in 1991.
Let Us Now Praise Giant Men | Watching the Penguins Play

Jan 30, 2025 | southwestreview.com | Robert Rea

Let Us Now Praise Giant Men is a basketball column by Liam Baranauskas. This edition is about fantasies, voids, assholes, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. I was on the subway when my friend Dan texted photos of me and Randy on a day trip, accompanied by the message “RIP.” I wasn’t sure at first if the obvious meaning was correct. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Randy in a long time.
President-to-Be as Flâneur, New Orleans as Bolt-hole, and Novelist as History’s Gap Filler

Nov 13, 2024 | southwestreview.com | J. R. Ramakrishnan |Robert Rea

By J. R. Ramakrishnan On the New Orleans neutral ground where Conti crosses Basin Street stands a statue of the Mexican president Benito Juárez. The bronze monument, a gift of the Mexican government, bears the inscription “Peace is based on the respect of the right of others” (“El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz”), from Juárez’s manifesto declared upon defeating the Second Mexican Empire in 1867.
Incubator Noir | Eli Cranor’s Broiler

Nov 7, 2024 | southwestreview.com | Travis Woods |Robert Rea

By Travis WoodsIn the final scene of Blood Simple, the noir-pulped 1984 debut of desperation (criminal, sexual, rural) from the Coen brothers, the film’s leisure-suited detective and part-time hitman lies gunshot and bleeding beneath a bathroom sink.
The Guest List | Thou

Nov 1, 2024 | southwestreview.com | Robert Rea

The Guest List is a regular book column that surveys the reading habits of our favorite musicians. In this edition, Jimmy Cajoleas talks with Bryan Funck, the vocalist for the metal band Thou and co-owner of the New Orleans record store Sisters in Christ. The band’s latest album, Umbilical, was released earlier this year by Sacred Bones Records. Jimmy Cajoleas: What are you reading right now?
No Good Nights | Brian Evenson's Good Night, Sleep Tight

Oct 30, 2024 | southwestreview.com | Andy Davidson |Robert Rea

By Andy DavidsonDay after Labor Day, I got a call from my dad back in Arkansas. Mom’s sick, she’s fallen, she’s in a rehab hospital for fourteen days. Implicit was the question: “Can you come?” I made arrangements for my classes and drove twelve hours from Georgia. I hadn’t been home in almost two years. On the way, I drove through the east Arkansas Delta town where I’d spent a few years of my childhood. We left there when I was seven, but I have strong memories of that place. First memories.
The Sweetest Flowers from the Void

Oct 29, 2024 | southwestreview.com | R. Joseph |Robert Rea

By R. J. JosephBlack experiences are not monolithic. This sentiment is often forgotten, as it sits in opposition to offerings from publishers, content creators, and movies that present stereotypical depictions of sameness, centered on the comfort or acceptability of such messages by dominant audiences. Thankfully, Clash Books has partnered with author Gianni Washington for Flowers from the Void, a short story collection that brings much-needed variety to the horror genre.
Camilla Grudova’s Technicolor Freak Shows

Oct 28, 2024 | southwestreview.com | Robert Rea

By R. M. N. LandryFirst, the stories are gross. Filthy, grimy, soiled, gross. I would be remiss not to mention this at the top, get it out of the way fast, because your tolerance for disgust is probably going to determine whether or not you’ll enjoy the sixteen stories in Camilla Grudova’s latest collection The Coiled Serpent. These stories are so obviously and abrasively gross, so full of fecal matter and puke, it’s almost boring to comment on.