Just a quick note to say huge congratulations to Debz Hobbs-Wyatt who has been shortlisted in the prestigious Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Debz has been shortlisted for her short story ‘Chutney’ alongside other talented writers from around the Commonwealth. I read with Debz at Sarah Dobbs’ book launch in December (see story below) and appear alongside her in the pages of Unthology 3 from Unthank Books – so I’ve got everything crossed for her. The prize is a great one to win – last year’s winner Emma Martin, from New Zealand, is an online writing friend of mine so I was thrilled when she won. Since then, Emma has completed a short story collection, titled ‘Two Girls in a Boat’, and this is set to be published by Victoria University Press in May.

I’ve just been interviewed by the writer Michael Stewart over on his blog here so feel free to go along and have a read of that. It was lovely to chat to him about astronomy, editing and short stories as endings – an idea which sent me to bed with a headache when I tried to get my head around it, but which I (finally) realised I agreed with. You may know Michael as the 2011 winner of The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize with his debut novel King Crow. He’s also just published a collection of poetry (Couples) with Valley Press and I hear there’s more work forthcoming from him soon, including an afternoon drama on Radio 4 on May 3rd – keep in touch with his blog to stay up-to-date with all things Michael Stewart.

Very happy to say I’ve had a new story accepted for publication by The Warwick Review. ‘One Small Thing’ will be published in a future issue of the journal – I’m not sure which issue yet but I will update this post once I know. It’s nice to be in the WR again as one of the stories from my collection first appeared there a while back and it’s lovely to be making a return visit. The WR is a very attractive publication indeed, so it’s well worth taking out a subscription. The editor Michael Hulse, a poet and translator who is also currently writing a novel, has published a number of writers I admire, including David Rose, Alison Moore, Ron Rash and Nicholas Royle. Subscriptions info is available here.

Sarah Dobbs reading from ‘Killing Daniel’. Below: Sarah, Debz and I.

I had a lovely time reading at the launch for Sarah Dobbs’ novel ‘Killing Daniel’ in Salford earlier this month. I read from my story ‘The Monolith’ which features in Unthology 3 (a collection of stories from Unthank Books which also features a piece by Sarah). Fellow Unthologist Debz Hobbs-Wyatt also read her story ‘The Theory of Circles’. Sarah then read a selection of excerpts from her book – a literary thriller – and kept the audience enchanted throughout. (You can read more about the launch at Sarah’s blog here and Debz’s blog here.) I wish Sarah the best of luck with the novel – go buy a copy and treat yourself to a cracking read.
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Sarah Dobbs has invited me along to read at the launch event for her book ‘Killing Daniel’ tonight (Thursday, December 13th) in Salford. Before Sarah reads from her novel, I will be reading from my story ‘The Monolith’, which features in Unthank Books latest anthology Unthology 3 (Sarah also has a story in the collection). Another Unthologist will also be reading at the event – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt with her story ‘A Theory of Circles’. So do come along. The event takes place at the King’s Arms, Salford, from 7.30pm. It would be lovely to see you there.

The intro to the TLS review

My short story collection has been out for a year now – and, yes, it’s flown by. It’s been an interesting year. I’ve taken part in readings at literary festivals, been reviewed in the TLS (see right) and a number of other places, answered interview questions and tried to work on new writing (see my Next Big Thing answers below). And considering the anniversary, it’s rather apt that my book is now available on Kindle (see Salt’s special Christmas offer here for my collection and five other Scott Prize-winning books). So, if you haven’t got hold of a copy – I understand it’s being reprinted at the moment so physical stocks may be difficult to find – and you have a Kindle then you can download it now. Thanks to all those who’ve bought, read, reviewed and/or spoken to me about my book over the past 12 months – it’s really nice to know you have, in the main, enjoyed it. Here’s to whatever the next year brings!

I’ve been tagged by Elizabeth Baines in a blog meme called The Next Big Thing. Read Elizabeth’s post on this over at her excellent blog. I have to confess I’ve no idea what a meme is (and I’m happy to remain ignorant) but I’m very pleased to take part anyway! I therefore have to answer a series of questions on a recent or forthcoming book. I don’t really like talking about current writing but, rather than chicken out and answer questions about the short story collection, I’m going to be brave – but very vague – and talk about my novel. Here are my answers:
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Here’s a new interview with me by Roelof Bakker, the founder of the press which recently ran the Negative Press London/Foyles Short Story Competition. My story ‘Piano’ won the competition and appears on the press’s website here, so feel free to have a read of that if you haven’t already. As well as running the press, Roelof is an artist-photographer so why not check out his own website here too? I really enjoyed having a look around at Roelof’s work, in particular the ‘Snow’ video.

A picture in the green room at The Dylan Thomas Centre

It was great to read at The Dylan Thomas Festival in Swansea last Saturday (November 3rd) with fellow Edge Hill Prize shortlistees Rowena Macdonald and Zoe Lambert. After a lovely introduction from Dylan Thomas Centre Literature Officer Jo Furber, I was first up and read ‘The Rings of Saturn’, the last story in my collection. Rowena followed with sections from her story ‘Brian, McMurphy and Sally Too’ and Zoe came last with a reading of her story ‘Down Duchy Road’. Instead of a formal q and a in the auditorium, it was nice to go into the bar with members of the audience and chat more informally – answering questions about our inspirations and backgrounds over a glass of wine or two. The three of us then had to dodge hailstones as we headed away from the centre and into the early evening. I kept an eye out for Mr and Mrs Pugh from ‘Under Milk Wood’ while I was there but sadly didn’t see them. Perhaps next time, you never know…

The cover of ‘Still’

Something nice happened this week – I won a competition with my first ever piece of flash fiction.
I entered the Negative Press/Foyles short story competition for stories inspired by a photograph from artist-photographer Roelof Bakker’s art project ‘Still’ (other photos and the stories inspired by them appear in a book called ‘Still: Short Stories Inspired by Photographs of Vacated Spaces‘, which is available to buy now). Ten writers were shortlisted in the competition, including my good pal Gill Blow, and it was very nice to find out this week that I’d won. You can read the story and also see the photograph that inspired it on the Foyles website here. The competition was judged by Roelof Bakker, Foyles local marketing manager Lisa Bywater plus authors Nicholas Hogg and Evie Wyld (both of whom contributed to the ‘Still’ book). And Evie Wyld said some very nice things about the story too: ‘It was the voice that attracted me and Nicholas Hogg to this one. Her story is strong and understated at the same time.’
My piece, ‘Piano’, can be seen in the Foyles cafe gallery as part of a ‘Still’ exhibition until the end of November.