Zoë Wells // Writer Editor Translator

Meet the Club – London Knights

(published on House of Dodge, 25/01/2022)

From launching at the same time as the coronavirus, to fighting for the top spot in the South Eastern regional league, London Knights have certainly had a colourful first few years as a dodgeball club.

It’s easy to forget among the plethora of London clubs now – Saints, Knights, and Bottoms (yes, really) – that there was once only the mighty Storm. And back then, as the only club in the largest city in the UK, there were beginning to be issues with numbers. “Pre-pandemic the only major competitive dodgeball team in London was Storm. Because of this most players in the area flocked to play for them,” explains Knights player and exec member Rosa, who spoke to us on their behalf. “Eventually as the club grew the venue started to reach its capacity, making it difficult for competitive players to have adequate training time on top of taking on people new to the sport.”

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BUCS Report – League Meet 2

[published on House of Dodge, 09/12/21]

Since the last BUCS report, two teams have held onto their leads; three have been usurped; three leagues simply didn’t meet; and two were cancelled due to hall booking problems, because, well, of course they were. It’s comforting to know that even with the relative glitz and glamour of the BUCS label, some things will always remain the same in University Dodgeball.

Let’s get into it.

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Review: “Zorrie” by Laird Hunt

[published on Bandit Fiction, 24/10/2021]

Finishing Zorrie and finding out, through his acknowledgements section, that Laird Hunt kept a copy of Virginia Woolf’s The Waves on hand throughout the writing process is the least surprising part of a novel that, generally, does not try very hard to surprise you. Zorrie is a gentle book, or at least is trying to be. It follows the life of its titular character, from young orphan through to attempted pregnancies, from wide-eyed, young adult, to stay-at-home wife, to widower.

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An Interview with Lynn Buckle, Author of “What Willow Says”

[published on Bandit Fiction, 11/07/2021]

Lynn Buckle is the author of two novels, the latest of which, What Willow Says, was published by epoque press in May 2021. She lives on the Bog of Allen in Rathangen, Ireland, where she is a UNESCO Cities of Literature Writer in Residence. She is the founder of the Irish Writers’ Center’s Climate Writing Group and has benefitted from awards by the John Hewitt Society, Greywood Arts, Kildare Arts & Library Service, and was shortlisted for the Red Line Short Story Award. She is deaf/hard-of-hearing. Bandit‘s review of What Willow Says is available here.

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Review: “What Willow Says” by Lynn Buckle

[published on Bandit Fiction, 05/07/2021]

How do you fill the gaps where no words exist? That’s the question at the heart of What Willow Says, a novel which follows the interactions of a deaf granddaughter and her grandmother as the two connect over their shared love of nature.

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The Return of National Dodgeball Leagues!

[posted on House of Dodge, 29/10/2021]

This season, there are a total of six national dodgeball leagues for adults in England. In the women’s division, there’s the Super League and League 1; for the men, there’s Super League, and Leagues 1, 2, and 3. This isn’t even counting the numerous other leagues that have already gotten underway or are starting soon, such as the BUCS University League (which we’ve covered here), Junior Leagues, Mixed Leagues, and Regional Leagues. There’s also men’s and women’s Super Leagues in Northern Ireland this year, though none in Scotland or Wales – though Carmarthen Wizards and Rhondda Dragons have been welcomed into the English Men’s League 2.

That’s a lot of leagues to keep track of; a lot of teams to cheer on; and a lot of reshuffling that can make it hard to know exactly where we stand at the start of the season. So, to help, here’s a breakdown of what to expect in each league going into this opening weekend – compiled by yours truly, with some help from the new Beverz Rating and the wise minds behind the Neutral Zone Podcast (NZP).

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BUCS Report – League 1

[published on House of Dodge, 26/10/2021]

The first BUCS dodgeball weekend has come and gone at last, and the scores are in. Some familiar faces litter the tops of all the tables, though, surprisingly, not in the orders we’ve come to expect. Off the back of two COVID affected seasons, it may be that these initial fixtures will be less impacted by historic wins and years of training, and more by the density of PhD candidates, med students, and integrated Masters students in each team.

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