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Posts Tagged ‘short stories’

Those who have attended workshops with Kathy Page over the years might like to know that she has a new book of short stories out, Paradise & Elsewhere, described by her publisher as ‘a collection of dark fables at once familiar and entirely strange’. The book – as a physical object – looks and feels beautiful and the writing is as sharp as a knife.

The book has already attracted warm praise from established names like Amy Bloom and Barbara Gowdy. ‘The unforgettable prose is moody, shape-shifting, provocative and always as compelling as a strong light at the end of a road you hesitate to walk down…but will’ (Amy Bloom) and ‘Kathy Page is a massive talent: wise, smart, very funny and very humane’ (Barbara Gowdy). And a fantastic review of the book has just appeared in the Winnipeg Review: ‘the stories in this collection are realistic, feminist, apocalyptic, fairytale, cautionary tale, origin story, mystery. She’s got it all, and she is unapologetic about delivering the goods.’

It’s all true! More information on her Canadian publisher’s website, here Biblioasis

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Throwaway Lines is a lovely idea – short stories inspired by discarded notes and messages. The  project was initiated by Andy Hayes, who attended last year’s short story workshop with me and Alexei Sayle. It’s produced in association with the writers’ collective 26 –  also a site worth investigating if you don’t know about them.

For 26 days this month, they’ll be publishing stories based on scraps of handwritten paper that Andy has been collecting from London’s streets over the past couple of years. There are three stories to read so far, including one by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg – an example of early 20th-century flash fiction: ‘Half a sheet of foolscap’.

It’s live right now at this link: Throwaway Lines. Take a look!

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The Short  Review has news of the Edge Hill Prize – the UK’s only literary award for published collections of short stories. Titles on the longlist reveal an intriguing mix of major publishers such as Penguin, Random House and Bloomsbury, and very small independents like Tindal Street, Impress Books and Salt (the latter has just been told it has lost its Arts Council funding). The shortlist will be announced in May. Click on any of the titles in orange to go to the Short Review website for the review of that particular book.

Edge Hill Longlist:

• Martin Bax – Memoirs of a Gone World (Salt Publishing).
• Alan Beard – You Don’t Have to Say (Tindal Street Press).
• Peter Bromley – Sky Light and Other Stories (Biscuit).
• Jo Cannon – Insignificant Gestures (Pewter Rose Press).
• Roshi Fernando – Homesick (Impress Books).
• David Gaffney – The Half-life of Songs (Salt Publishing).
• Vanessa Gebbie – Storm Warning, Echoes of Conflict (Salt Publishing).review coming soon
• James Kelman – If it is Your Life (Penguin).
• Andre Mangeot – True North (Salt Publishing). review coming soon
• Jay Merill – God of the Pigeons (Salt Publishing).
• Magnus Mills – Screwtop Thompson (Bloomsbury).
• Graham Mort – Touch (Seren).
• Nik Perring – Not So Perfect (Roast Books).
• Susannah Rickards – Hot Kitchen Snow (Salt Publishing). review coming soon
• Michele Roberts – Mud, Stories and Sex and Love (Virago).
• Polly Samson – Perfect Lives (Virago). review coming soon
• Helen Simpson – Inflight Entertainment (Random House).
• Fiona Thackeray – The Secret’s in the Folding (Pewter Rose Press).
• Tom Vowler – The Method and Other Stories (Salt Publishing).
• Susie Wild – The Art of Contraception (Parthian).

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Iota Magazine, a long-established poetry magazine, is currently publishing its first fiction/non fiction issue and welcomes submissions of short fiction in any genre, including life writing and memoir, for its second issue.

Please send short stories of between 2000 and 6000 words or proposals (150 words) for features or essays to fiction@iotamagazine.co.uk
The closing date for the third Fiction & non Fiction issue is 31 July.
http://www.iotamagazine.co.uk/Submissions.html

Brittle Star is a great little magazine of poetry and short fiction published three times a year – without a penny of subsidy –  by an indefatigable team of editors, among them Louisa Hooper who took part in last year’s Novelists’ Club. They will be launching issue 28 on Wednesday 30 March 2011 at the Barbican Library, Silk St, London, EC2Y 8DS.

There will be readings of poetry and short stories,  refreshments, a chance to meet the editors, and – most importantly – the opportunity to get the latest copy hot off the press. The event is free, but you need to book tickets through the Barbican Library (020 7638 0569) as numbers are limited.