The High Master and Little Billy Clough

The High Master and Little Billy Clough

by John Waddington-Feather
In the course of a highly-prolific literary career, English writer John Waddington-Feather has written an amazing outpouring of work that includes novels, plays, children’s books, sermons, essays, poems, translations, and hymns.
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Coupling

Coupling

by Alison MacLeod
Alison MacLeod was born in Montreal in 1964. She is the author of two novels, The Changeling and The Wave Theory of Angels.
Her short stories have been published by Prospect, London Magazine, pulp.net and Virago.
She lives in Brighton and teaches creative writing at the University of Chichester.
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The Will Writer

The Will Writer

by Alison MacLeod
Alison MacLeod was born in Montreal in 1964. She is the author of two novels, The Changeling and The Wave Theory of Angels.
Her short stories have been published by Prospect, London Magazine, pulp.net and Virago.
She lives in Brighton and teaches creative writing at the University of Chichester.
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The Calm Before

The Calm Before

by Denise Mina
Denise Mina was born in Glasgow but grew up around Europe as her family followed the North Sea oil boom.
Her first novel, Garnethill, won the CWA best first novel Dagger. 'Helena and the Babies' won the CWA short story of the year. After the Garnethill trilogy she wrote a stand alone, Sanctum, and then began the Paddy Meehan series.
She also writes plays and comics for DC Comics, recently finishing a year long run on 'Hellblazer'.
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Magic & Childhood: three tales of innocence from Israe

Magic & Childhood: three tales of innocence from Israel

by Etgar Keret
Israeli writer Etgar Keret has been praised for his surreal, funny and fiercely serious stories, which are collected inMissing KissingerThe Nimrod Flip-OutThe Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God and Jetlag.
He is also the joint author, with Samir El-Youssef, of Gaza Blues, an attempt to bridge the Arab-Israeli divide with fiction.
These three stories were published in Prospect magazine and also appear in Missing Kissinger.
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St. John of the Miraculous Lake

St. John of the Miraculous Lake

by Rebecca O'Connor
Rebecca O’Connor was awarded the Geoffrey Dearmer prize for ‘Best new poet’ in 2004, and was shortlisted for the New Writing Ventures Poetry Award in 2005. She received a bursary from the arts council in Ireland to complete her debut novel He Is Mine and I Have No Other, and her short story ‘The Mayfly’ was an award-winner in the 2003 Virago/Marie Claire short story competition.
She was a writer-in-residence at the Wordsworth Trust in 2005 (her collection Poems was published by them in 2006), and she recently edited a book of Irish women’s short stories calledScéalta. She works as a fiction editor at Telegram in London.
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How the Tiger Got Its Stripes

How the Tiger Got Its Stripes

by Nicholas Hogg
Nicholas Hogg was born in Leicester in 1974.
After graduating from the University of East London with a psychology degree, he travelled widely, living in Japan, Fiji and America. He is now settled in London teaching literary skills to refugees.
Winner of the New Writing Ventures prize for fiction in 2005, and twice shortlisted for the Eric Gregory award for young poets, he has recently completed his first novel, Show Me the Sky.
More of his work may be read on his website.
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Smile Mannequin, Smile

Smile Mannequin, Smile

by Courttia Newland
Courttia Newland was born in 1973 in west London. He is the author of four novels, has co-edited three anthologies (including IC3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain) and is a co-founder of the Tell Tales collective, a short story initiative. He was Chair of the judges for the 2005John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (awarded in 2006).
The 12 stories in Music for the Off-Key delight in the dark, the grotesque and the uncanny.
'Smile Mannequin, Smile' is reproduced by kind permission of the author and Peepal Tree Press.
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An Anxious Man

An Anxious Man

by James Lasdun
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Men of Ireland

Men of Ireland

by William Trevor
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The Ebony Hand

The Ebony Hand

by Rose Tremain
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It's Beginning to Hurt

It's Beginning to Hurt

by James Lasdun
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The Safehouse

The Safehouse

by Michel Faber
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The Flyover

The Flyover

by Rana Dasgupta
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The Library

The Library

by Romesh Gunesekera
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My Daughter, the Fox

My Daughter, the Fox

by Jackie Kay
Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh in 1961. Her first collection of poetry,The Adoption Papers (1991), was published in 1991.
Her first novel, Trumpet, published in 1998, was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize. Why Don't You Stop Talking, a collection of short stories, came out in 2002.
Jackie Kay has also published a novel for children, Strawgirl(2002) and, most recently, a new collection of poems entitledLife Mask (2005).
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An Afternoon

An Afternoon

by Ian Rankin
"'An Afternoon' originally appeared in a collection called New Writing Scotland 2, published by the Association of Scottish Literary Studies.
That was way back in 1984. I was 24, still at university. I'd had some success in a couple of national short-story contests. One or two of my efforts had made it into magazines and been broadcast on radio, but 'An Afternoon' represents my breakthrough into a book-length collection.
By the time I wrote it, I was starting to turn my attention to the novel. I'd probably already finished my first full-length effort (the never-published 'Summer Rites') and was maybe even thinking about 'The Flood' (which would eventually be published in 1986, the year I said my farewells to student life).
It's funny, but I'd forgotten all about 'An Afternoon' until about a year ago. I'd forgotten that, long before Rebus, I'd written another story from a cop's point of view..." Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin started life trying to create comic books, but found he had no artistic talent. He couldn't sing either, but that didn't stop him creating a pop group (The Amoebas), installing himself as vocalist (Ian Kaput), and touring the world ... but only in the pages of stolen school jotters. His lyrics for the band, however, gave Rankin delusions of poetical grandeur.
After a few years of undergraduate ramblings, he turned with some relief to the short story. One of his first was 'An Afternoon', which was published in the collection New Writing Scotland 2. He has since gone on to success with his 'Inspector Rebus' series of crime novels, having served one of literature's longer apprenticeships.
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The Daughters of the Late Colonel

The Daughters of the Late Colonel

by Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1888 and moved to London in 1908. She was a regular contributor to the journal New Age and, in 1912, also began to write short stories for Rhythm, edited by her future husband, John Middleton Murry.
Her first collection of sharply satirical short stories, In a German Pension, was published to critical acclaim in 1911. Her story, 'Prelude', based on her New Zealand childhood, was published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1918.
Bliss, and Other Stories, published in 1920, confirmed her growing reputation as a writer of modernist fiction and her short stories were the first in English to show the influence of Chekhov.
Her third collection of short stories, The Garden Party, and Other Stories, the last to be published in her lifetime, appeared in 1922. Katherine Mansfield died of tuberculosis at Fontainebleau in France in 1923.
'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' (from The Garden Party and Other Stories, Penguin) has been recommended by Jackie Kay.
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Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones

by Trezza Azzopardi
"Trezza Azzopardi's 'Sticks and Stones', was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as part of a five part series under the umbrella title 'Second Generation'.
Five British born writers who are the children of immigrants (four of them primarily novelists) were asked to contribute stories; the resulting tales were as diverse as the roots of the writers.
Marina Lewcyka, whose parents came from the Ukraine and who is the author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian wrote about a child's attempts to fit in to a different culture in 'The Importance of Having Warm Feet’; Peter Ho Davies, already well known for his published collections of short stories, some of which we have broadcast before, wrote about literally creating a second generation with his story 'Pirates' about video piracy; Rana Dasgupta's story 'The Horse' was about the power of words and Helen Oyeyemi wrote about a journey of discovery through the beautiful landscapes of her parents' homeland, Nigeria.
Trezza Azzopardi, whose first novel The Hiding Place was broadcast on 'Book at Bedtime' and shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the James Tait Prize in 2000, comes from a Maltese family who came to Wales in the 1950s.
She was a student on the Creative Writing Course at UEA and now writes and lectures in Norwich. Her second novel Remember Me was published in 2004, and she is now working on her third novel, which she has used as the inspiration for a powerful and perceptive story that throws light on a too prevelant problem for many.
Her story 'Sticks and Stones' is a perfect example of just how much can be conveyed in a mere 2000 words. She succeeds in interweaving past and present in a story which has depth, tragedy and resolution." Di Speirs, Executive Producer, Readings, BBC Radio 4.
Read Di Speirs article on the BBC and its work with the short story
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But

But

by Anne Donovan
But is a new short story by Anne Donovan, one of Scotland's most talented writers, which highlights issues faced by those who care in the community.
Anne Donovan, author of the award-winning novel Buddha Da, was commissioned to write the piece by Artlink, the Edinburgh arts organisation working within marginalised communities.
But is a fictional snapshot of a carer's life, shining a light on some of the issues, feelings, and frustrations faced by those who care for individuals with learning disabilities.
The story is informed by time spent by the author with carers of people with learning disabilities over a period of two months.
Through these interactions, Donovan gained an insight into the lives of those who care. The resulting story is an affecting and thought-provoking glimpse of the 'forgotten ones', the strong but tired legion of overstretched carers for whom caring is a round-the-clock, often lifelong, responsibility.
But, dedicated 'to carers everywhere' by Donovan, has been co-published by Artlink and Scottish Book Trust, the national agency for readers and writers.
Alison Stirling, project director at Artlink, said: "This is the first time Artlink has approached an established writer and we've been hugely impressed by the story Anne has produced and the manner in which she has brought these important issues to the fore. Our intention was to find someone to make the carers and the issues they face on a daily basis real in the minds of readers. Anne has undoubtedly achieved this in But.
"During the time she spent researching the story, Anne observed certain recurring themes and frustrations common to many of those who spend a lifetime caring. I'm sure carers will recognise and empathise with the story's narrator, making connections with their own lives, and hopefully readers will gain a heightened understanding of the circumstances it describes."
Some comments on 'But':
"This story highlights how 'the professionals' won't listen to us, they think we are being over protective. We have a knowledge they are not prepared to learn from. Perhaps this story will make them think differently." mother
"This is more than an essay. It is, in a way, a shared experience." care worker
"The article by Anne Donovan is a true reflection of how many of our
parents feel ..." head teacher
Anne Donovan is the author of the novel Buddha Da and the short story collection, Hieroglyphics, both published by Canongate.
Buddha Da was short listed for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award and has been nominated for this year's International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It received a Scottish Arts Council Award and won Le Prince Maurice Award in Mauritius in 2004.
Anne won the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Short Story Award in 1997 and was a Canongate Prize winner in 2000. She has also written for radio and the stage and has been working on the screenplay for the film of Buddha Da. She lives in Glasgow.
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The Clockwork Atom Bomb

The Clockwork Atom Bomb

by Dominic Green
Dominic Green's story first appeared in Interzone (IZ) magazine, issue 198, May/June 2005. It topped the 2005 readers' poll as the most popular of the year. Dominic's earlier story, 'Send Me a Mentagram', (IZ 192) was reprinted in the 21st edition of The Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois; 'The Clockwork Atom Bomb' will feature in the 2006 collection.
The story has also been shortlisted for a Hugo Award, in the category of the best SF short story of 2005. The Hugos - the science fiction equivalent of the Oscars - are based on the votes of science fiction fans worldwide.
In 'The Clockwork Atom Bomb', a UN weapons inspector discovers that an African nation is making alarming use of future technology.
Dominic Green comes from Bakewell, Derbyshire, and now lives and works in Northampton. He is an alumnus of Wellingborough School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
Dominic writes short stories and novels but success with the latter has eluded him to date. He hopes his new popularity will help him find a publisher for his novels so that he can follow in the footsteps of Interzone alumni Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter and Greg Egan.
Many thanks to Interzone for granting permission to reproduce 'The Clockwork Atom Bomb'.
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A Tray of Ice Cubes

A Tray of Ice Cubes

by Gerard Woodward
"This is a great example of the Kafka-esque and the surreal - which you only really get in such pure form in short stories; you simply couldn't sustain it for a full novel.
It's also a great example of how not explaining is often far better better than explaining. In fact it may be beyond anyone's exact explanation.
Short stories excel through the things they don't tell you, the gaps in information; the darkness that bookends them so narrowly, making what you do get more vivid.
In this case, you not only don't know what quite happens at the end, you're left with an image which is couldn't be any stronger and couldn't be any more cryptic. I'd love to ask visitors to the site to suggest an explanation for this final image.
As the publisher and editor of the story, I have my theories, but I'd really like to know what people think ..." Ra Page, Comma Press
Gerard Woodward is the author of three award-winning collections of poetry, Householder, After the Deafening and Island to Island, and a new collection, We Were Pedestrians. He has also written two novels, August (shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Prize 2001) and its sequel, I'll Go to Bed at Noon, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2004.
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Something Light

Something Light


by Jack Wallsten
Jack Wallsten was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983, which makes him young enough to still harbor delusions of a music career but old enough to have a back-up. Right now he is a photographer/film editor for a small production company, where he has worked since August 2005.
He mostly writes in English, the simple reason being that the people he writes for, or imagines himself talking to when he is writing, don't speak Swedish. He spent two years studying Communication on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; if he has anything resembling a personal style he got it there under the sunlight and in between drinks (and vague memories of lectures and tutorials).
He says about 'Something Light': "This particular piece is a lullaby, I was looking for the rhythm, quiet reflection and melancholy I get whenever I read 'The Harvest' by Amy Hempel. The most common question I get asked about it is what's true and what's made-up. But I'll never tell."
Well, what do you think? e-mail us at story@booktrust.org.uk
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With many thanks to Aesthetica Magazine for granting permission to reproduce 'Something Light'.

Aesthetica is a cultural arts magazine that covers new writing, art, music and film in each issue. It has been described by Mslexia Magazine as "sleek, energetic, progressive and destined to be one of the leading publications for the cultural arts in 2006" by Mslexia Magazine.
Aesthetica was initially started to publish new writers and artists, but its intended audience has since become much wider. Aesthetica combines high quality arts news, reviews, and interviews alongside those more established in their field.
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Deep Blue Sea

Deep Blue Sea

by Peter Hobbs
Peter Hobbs grew up in Cornwall and Yorkshire, and lives in London. The Short Day Dying, his first novel, won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.
He has also published a collection of short stories, I Could Ride All Day in My Cool Blue Train (Faber, 2006), from which 'Deep Blue Sea' is taken. One of his stories was included in Picador’s New Writing 13 anthology (2005), edited by Ali Smith and Toby Litt.
Peter has recently been reading the following collections, from which he particularly recommends:
'Charlie in the House of Rue' from Robert Coover's A Night at the Movies (Dalkey Archive Press, US)
The title story from Tom Bissell's God Lives in St Petersburg(Faber)
'Hanalei Bay' from Haruki Murakami's Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Harvill Secker)
The title story from Claire Keegan's Antarctica (Faber)
'Deep Blue Sea' is reproduced by kind permission of the author.
Peter Hobbs is published by Faber
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