Short stories
Unbound The VOCAL+ Fiction Awards Anthology
Book SynopsisDiscover twenty-five remarkable new voices in these award-winning stories published by Unbound in collaboration with Creatd, the parent company of digital storytelling platform Vocal. Based in the US and open to content creators and podcasters of every kind, Vocal has over 700,000 users all over the world.The stories have been chosen from over 13,000 entries submitted to the Vocal+ Fiction Awards and are by writers from round the globe who have risen to the top on the Vocal platform. Winners have been selected by well-known writer, critic and former Times literary editor Erica Wagner.Compelling narrative, vivid language, tales of family, of hope, of terror, of the worlds that await us. These stories showcase the diversity, ingenuity and imagination of Vocal’s unique voices.
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The World Doesn't Require You
Book SynopsisWelcome to Cross River, Maryland. Established by the leaders of the country's only successful slave revolt in the mid-nineteenth century, its residents thump out a beat that echoes its violent founding. Among them – spanning decades, perspectives, and species – are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God's last son; Tyrone, a ruthless Ph.D student channelling the insurrections of his forebears through a childhood game; Jim, a Robot Personal Helper desperate to escape the master who enslaves him; and James-my-man, who travels the path of the Underground Railroad year after year.Not to forget the water women who lure men to their watery graves and the screecher birds who cry out for sacrificial flesh...Contemporary and essential, The World Doesn't Require You announces the arrival of a generational talent, as Rion Amilcar Scott shatters rigid genre lines to explore larger themes of race, violence, and love – all told with sly humour and a dash of magical realism.PRAISE FOR THE WORLD DOESN'T REQUIRE YOU: 'I wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave' MARLON JAMES'A musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way' NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH'Flat-out unputdownable' LAURA VAN DEN BERG'Rion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with' NICOLE DENNIS-BENN'Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical ... With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' NAFISSA THOMPSON-SPIRESTrade Review'Rion Amilcar Scott proves himself an impressive myth-slayer and fable-maker ... The World Doesn't Require You reminds us that having to fight racism has a strange way of distorting everything one touches' New York Times Book Review.'A rich, genre-splicing mix of alternate history, magical realism and satire that interrogates issues of race, sexism and where both meet here in the real world' Los Angeles Times.'Bizarre, tender and brilliantly imagined, The World Doesn't Require You isn't just one of the most inventive books of the year, it's also one of the best' NPR.'A bleak and beautiful collection of short stories ... Scott demonstrates the skill and long-range vision of a writer we need right now. The World Doesn't Require You requires a commitment from readers, one that will be greatly repaid in literary satisfaction' USA TODAY.'Surreal, intertextual, and darkly comical stories ... Rion Amilcar Scott writes in the tradition of George Schuyler and Ishmael Reed but with a distinctive wry, playful voice that is wholly his own. With breathtaking cruelty and devastating humor, Scott adduces the whole world in one community' Nafissa Thompson-Spires, author of Heads of the Colored People.'I wandered into Cross River, not knowing a damn thing. Now I'm shuddering, gasping in wonder, reading stories over and over, and doing just about anything so that I never leave' Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of A History of Seven Killings.'A musical and visceral explosion. The book makes you laugh even as it stabs. The truth told in a completely new way' Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black.'A bold new talent emerges with this boundary-shattering collection' Esquire.'Scott joins a growing tradition of African-American authors fusing the folksy dystopian humor of George Saunders with the charged satire of Ishmael Reed and expands on it brilliantly' New York magazine.'God may have forsaken [these characters], Scott does not. The World Doesn't Require You is full of horrible, ridiculous people, but it's full of grace, too' A.V. Club.'A major unique literary talent' Entertainment Weekly.'Flat-out unputdownable' Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel.'Rion Amilcar Scott doesn't hold back or tiptoe around issues about race. He's the most courageous writer I know; and this collection is an excellent example and significant achievement. He's now made his mark as a force to reckon with' Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Patsy.'Powerful and revelatory' Salon.'Weaves incisive criticism, dark humor, and magical realism in profound explorations of belief, love, justice, and violence' BuzzFeed.'We have so far to go and so little time to get there, Scott seems to say. Maybe spending a few hours in Cross River will help build a bridge. Or blow one up, if need be' Washington Post.'An 'impressive myth-slayer' ... [Scott] shows that 'sidelining' white racist characters doesn't erase the effects of slavery' New York Times Sunday.'Thought-provoking tales that will flow from page to page, steeped in abstract mysticism' Bad Form Review.'Threading together tales of adrenaline, violence and rhythm, American writer Rion Amilcar Scott presents a stunning narrative that bestows its shine from its sharp edges ... The World Doesn't Require You reminds us of the fruitful space between the surreal, the horrific and the run-of-the-mill. Rion Amilcar Scott is a writer that we will continue to expect great things from' Glass.
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Observations by Gaslight: Stories from the World
Book SynopsisDiscover Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson through the eyes of those who knew them best. From familiar faces like Mrs Hudson to minor characters like Lomax the sub-librarian, Observations by Gaslight – told through diaries, telegrams, and even grocery lists – paints a masterful portrait of Holmes and Watson as you have never seen them before. See Irene Adler team up with her former adversary in an eerie and near-deadly enquiry. Learn of the case that cemented the friendship between Holmes and Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. And witness Stanley Hopkins' first meeting with the remote logician he idolizes. Lyndsay Faye, two-time Edgar Award nominee, debuted with Dust and Shadow, her much-admired novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. Now Faye is back with a thrilling volume of new and previously published short stories and novellas narrated by those who knew the Great Detective best. Reviewers on Observations by Gaslight: 'Faye is an expert on all things Sherlockian, she has unparalleled flair.' CrimeReads 'Meat and drink for fans of the Canon of the Sacred Writings.' KirkusTrade ReviewLyndsay Faye, one of the most exhilarating voices in fiction today, has come home to Baker Street in this essential new collection. Read at once if convenient – if inconvenient read all the same -- Daniel StashowerUnlike any Holmes collection I have ever read [...] Observations by Gaslight is so authentic and real that readers will practically be able to see the dark smoke billowing from the chimney tops and smell the lamplighter's oil as he lights each gaslight in London. Faye is brilliant and makes me wish I had thought of this idea first! * Bookreporter *Faye is an expert on all things Sherlockian, she has unparalleled flair. You think you know Lomax the sub-librarian? Well, THINK AGAIN * CrimeReads *Nuance, wit, and clever plotting make this a superior version of George Mann's Associates of Sherlock Holmes anthologies. Sherlockians will clamor for a sequel * Publishers Weekly, starred review *Meat and drink for fans of the Canon of the Sacred Writings * Kirkus Reviews *An enjoyable read... Fun to dip in-and-out when there isn't time to settle down with a full-scale novel * The Sherlock Holmes Society *
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Best Crime Stories of the Year Volume 2
Book SynopsisInternational bestselling author Sara Paretsky selects the twenty best mystery short stories of the year, including tales by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and more in this crime connoisseur's collection. Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Colin Barrett, Jerome Charyn, Michael Connelly, Susan Frith, Tom Larsen, Sean Marciniak, Stefon Mears, Keith Lee Morris, Gwen Mullins, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Reed, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Anna Scotti, Ginny Swart, Ellen Tremiti, Joseph S. Walker, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Wiley – plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past.Trade ReviewInclude[s] polished gems by big names Michael Connelly and Jo Nesbo, and plenty of smart one-act entertainments by American writers better known in their own country * The Oldie *Diverse voices, settings, and premises make this a treat for fans of literate and inventive mystery fiction * Publishers Weekly *PRAISE FOR BEST CRIME STORIES OF THE YEAR 2021: 'You may just keep going, story after story' Melbourne Observer. 'The 20 finest short stories released this year' * Get It Magazine *
£20.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Best Crime Stories of the Year Volume 3
Book SynopsisA thrilling tome of the best crime and mystery tales of the year, selected by bestselling author Amor Towles. Includes sensational short stories by Jeffery Deaver, Andrew Child and Brendan Du Bois. International bestseller Amor Towles, the critically acclaimed author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility, together with award-winning editor and founder of the Mysterious Bookshop, Otto Penzler, has selected the crème de la crème of the year's crime and mystery stories, and presented them here in one entertaining volume perfect for crime fiction lovers. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allan Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Derrick Belanger, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Joslyn Chase, Andrew Child, Aaron Philip Clark, Jeffery Deaver, Brendan DuBois, Kerry Hammond, Victor Kreuiter, David Krugler, Tom Larsen, Avram Lavinsky, Jesse Lewis, Ashley Lister, Michael Mallory, Lou Manfredo, Sean McCluskey, Annie Reed, Anna Round, Joseph S. Walker, and a special bonus story: a vintage mystery tale from the fabled literary chronicler of the American Gilded Age, Edith Wharton.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR BEST CRIME STORIES OF THE YEAR 2021: 'Diverse voices, settings, and premises make this a treat for fans of literate and inventive mystery fiction' Publishers Weekly. 'You may just keep going, story after story' Melbourne Observer. 'The 20 finest short stories released this year' * Get It Magazine *
£20.00
Canongate Books Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You
Book SynopsisFrom a comic mastermind comes this brilliant collection of stories Three teenagers believe they are witches. A woman defaces a local billboard. A bored landlord tries to influence his son's best friend. A cul-de-sac WhatsApp group discusses eggs at length. A heavily pregnant woman finds a way to time travel and a girl discovers joy on a stolen bicycle . . . Each tale paints a life in miniature and offers an escape chute from the mayhem of modern life.Trade ReviewJosie Long can REALLY write. Read these stories NOW -- DAWN FRENCHHer writing is miraculous. A dazzling debut -- JOANNA LUMLEYJosie's stories are like her comedy - beautifully observed, strange, good-hearted, unsettling and truly funny. Read them immediately -- A. L. KENNEDYI loved this short story collection. Funny, poignant, daft, and occasionally even hilariously cynical -- FRANKIE BOYLEJosie's writing is everything I love about her stand-up: sharp and smart, hilarious and incisive, infused with love for the world and the complicated people who live in it. A joy to read -- MONICA HEISEYJosie Long is my favourite comedian and when reading these stories, all the cynicism I've acquired gets replaced by the enthusiasm I felt the first time I saw her live -- JAMES ACASTERJosie Long's first collection reveals a natural gift with a frank and poignant tale; teenage experience, community WhatsApp groups and broken family units are picked apart with a wry cynicism at the weirdness and cruelty of life . . . makes for an approachable debut full of heart and hope * * Observer * *Josie's stories are tender, devastating and hilarious, often all at the same time. Opening up this book is like skinny-dipping in the brain of a genius - I never wanted to come up for air -- SOPHIE DUKERNo-one manages to mix the profound with the funny quite like Josie Long. She's not just the voice of a generation, she's it's head and heart too. Her writing is exquisite, her performances invigorating and inspirational. I could not love this woman more. She's just the best -- BRIDGET CHRISTIEI knew this book would be funny and relatable. I didn't know it would also be angry, heartbreaking and knife-sharp. I love these stories -- KIRSTY LOGAN
£16.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Best of World SF: Volume 1
Book SynopsisTwenty-six new short stories representing the state of the art in international science fiction. 'Rare and wonderful' The Times 'The most important anthology of SF short fiction since Dangerous Visions' Adam Roberts 'Fizzes with great ideas and wonderful writing... Now this book exists, it feels absurd it didn't exist sooner' SFX The future is coming. It knows no bounds, and neither should science fiction. They say the more things change the more they stay the same. But over the last hundred years, science fiction has changed. Vibrant new generations of writers have sprung up across the globe, proving the old adage false. From Ghana to India, from Mexico to France, from Singapore to Cuba, they draw on their unique backgrounds and culture, changing the face of the genre one story at a time. Prepare yourself for a journey through the wildest reaches of the imagination, to visions of Earth as it might be and the far corners of the universe. Along the way, you will meet robots and monsters, adventurers and time travellers, rogues and royalty. In The Best of World SF, award-winning author Lavie Tidhar acts as guide and companion to a world of stories, from never-before-seen originals to award winners, from twenty-three countries and seven languages. Because the future is coming and it belongs to us all. Stories: 'Immersion' by Aliette de Bodard; 'Debtless' by Chen Qiufan (trans. from Chinese by Blake Stone-Banks); 'Fandom for Robots' by Vina Jie-Min Prasad; 'Virtual Snapshots' by Tlotlo Tsamaase; 'What The Dead Man Said' by Chinelo Onwualu; 'Delhi' by Vandana Singh; 'The Wheel of Samsara' by Han Song (trans. from Chinese by the author); 'Xingzhou' by Yi-Sheng Ng; 'Prayer' by Taiyo Fujii (trans. from Japanese by Kamil Spychalski); 'The Green Ship' by Francesco Verso (trans. from Italian by Michael Colbert); 'Eyes of the Crocodile' by Malena Salazar Maciá (trans. from Spanish by Toshiya Kamei); 'Bootblack' by Tade Thompson; 'The Emptiness in the Heart of all Things' by Fabio Fernandes; 'The Sun From Both Sides' by R.S.A. Garcia; 'Dump' by Cristina Jurado (trans. from Spanish by Steve Redwood); 'Rue Chair' by Gerardo Horacio Porcayo (trans. from Spanish by the author); 'His Master's Voice' by Hannu Rajaniemi; 'Benjamin Schneider's Little Greys' by Nir Yaniv (trans. from Hebrew by Lavie Tidhar); 'The Cryptid' by Emil H. Petersen (trans. from Icelandic by the author); 'The Bank of Burkina Faso' by Ekaterina Sedia; 'An Incomplete Guide...' by Kuzhali Manickavel; 'The Old Man with The Third Hand' by Kofi Nyameye; 'The Green' by Lauren Beukes; 'The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir' by Karin Tidbeck; 'Prime Meridian' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; 'If At First You Don't Succeed' by Zen ChoTrade ReviewAlthough science fiction imagines diverse, imaginative, and frightening futures, genre anthologies rarely achieve the brilliant range and diversity of voices of The Best of World SF: Volume 1... The anthology brings a fresh, revolutionary perspective in that its selections are intentionally curated to suggest that the horizon is both closer and brighter than Western readers might think. Vital and exciting, The Best of World SF blows the blast panels off the dusty, well-worn tropes of popular science fiction and lets in a dazzling burst of lunar light' * Foreword *This excellent anthology proves editor Tidhar's assertion that science fiction should no longer be thought of as 'white, male, and American' with 26 exemplary stories from 21 countries... Worthwhile both as a survey of international sci-fi and on a story-by-story level, this wonderful anthology should be a hit with any sci-fi fan' * Publishers Weekly *This is one of those books in our seasonal listing that warrants doing well. Some may say Lavie is doing foreign writers a favour. He's not. He's doing English-speaking readers one * Concatenation *Tidhar gives a cheerful, fannish introduction to the stories, drawn from 26 countries on five continents, and encompassing a dizzying range of tones and approaches * The Times *An excellent, lovingly curated collection that is also uniformly well translated * Financial Times *Stories like these are the ones you sometimes want to foist upon readers who claim not to like SF, and The Best of World SF: Volume 1 reminds us that such stories can come from anywhere these days, if only we get to see them. I look forward to future volumes * Locus Magazine *The variety and diversity of the material on offer is refreshing, the quality does not waver, and the translations are top-notch * Financial Times *Hopefully the little rocket on the cover will let readers know what they'll find inside this 26-story, 575-page cinder block of a collection. We're talking spaceships and nanobots, creeping horrors and astral wonders, cyberpunk dystopias and cold, empty places where no one can hear you scream. It's true the sci-fi world is always expanding, writes Israeli author/editor Lavie Tidhar in the forward, but this sort of international compendium – which includes the works of mostly non-white, non-famous authors from such far-flung homeworlds as Singapore, Brazil, Croatia, and the Philippines – is still something of a novelty in our timeline. Embrace the unknown * Philadelphia Inquirer *You can't read this and not be changed by it, which always seemed like the point of [science fiction] * Amazing Stories *This handsome volume from Head of Zeus is a major step on a 45-year journey to bring global speculative fiction to Anglophone attention... The print edition of The Best of World SF: Volume 1 is truly a thing of beauty, providing gravitas and a wider audience for the authors it collects... There are many striking stories in the collection... This anthology is just the start of a whole new game for speculative fiction authors around the world' * LA Review of Books *Fizzes with great ideas and wonderful writing... Now this book exists, it feels absurd it didn't exist sooner * SFX Magazine *Table of ContentsImmersion' by Aliette de Bodard 'Debtless' by Chen Qiufan 'Fandom for Robots' by Vina Jie-Min Prasad 'Virtual Snapshots' by Tlotlo Tsamaase 'What The Dead Man Said' by Chinelo Onwualu 'Delhi' by Vandana Singh 'The Wheel of Samsara' by Han Song 'Xingzhou' by Yi-Sheng Ng 'Prayer' by Taiyo Fujii 'The Green Ship' by Francesco Verso 'Eyes of the Crocodile' by Malena Salazar Maciá 'Bootblack' by Tade Thompson 'The Emptiness in the Heart of all Things' by Fabio Fernandes 'The Sun From Both Sides' by R.S.A. Garcia 'Dump' by Cristina Jurado 'Rue Chair' by Gerardo Horacio Porcayo 'His Master's Voice' by Hannu Rajaniemi 'Benjamin Schneider's Little Greys' by Nir Yaniv 'The Cryptid' by Emil H. Petersen 'The Bank of Burkina Faso' by Ekaterina Sedia 'An Incomplete Guide...' by Kuzhali Manickavel 'The Old Man with The Third Hand' by Kofi Nyameye 'The Green' by Lauren Beukes 'The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir' by Karin Tidbeck 'Prime Meridian' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 'If At First You Don't Succeed' by Zen Cho
£23.75
Little, Brown Book Group Lying In Bed
Book SynopsisDo you cover up or reveal it all; seek revenge or just reassurance; let the truth be naked as the day or cloaked in a night-time story? The men and women of Polly Samson's debut fiction all have stories to tell, pasts to forget, futures to forge. Manipulative or meek, used or using, all are aware of the power of truth, deception and little white lies to get what they want or sometimes what they deserve. Some are concerned with the economies of speech, those little 'kindnesses' which protect our loved ones but really ourselves; some investigate the warped logic which adults serve out to children to keep them 'innocent'; all are concerned with the beds we make and the lies we tell in them. . .
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd Dead Men Tell No Tales and Other Stories
Book SynopsisIn contrast with the epic scope of the Rougon-Macquart novels, Zola’s short stories are concerned with the everyday aspects of human existence and the interests of ordinary people. From the cruel irony of ‘Captain Burle’ to the Rabelaisian exuberance of ‘Coqueville on the Spree’, these stories display the broad range of Zola’s imagination, using a variety of tones, from the quietly cynical to the compassionate, from the playful to the tragic. Contains: Dead Men Tell No Tales Coqueville on the Spree Captain Burle Shellfish for Monsieur ChabreTable of ContentsContains: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Captain Burle, Coqueville on the Spree, Shellfish for Monsieur Chabri.
£999.99
Clinical Press Ltd Ghost Train: An Anthology of Past, Present and
Book SynopsisWho fired the bullet in the locked room? Who is the conductor on the train? Why is Holmes lecturing about upholstery? Can a person live on a diet of cheese and Mars bars? Why is the choir singing so disturbingly well? What should you do with a killer rabbit? Explore the possible and impossible worlds of Paul R Goddard in this compendium of short stories of the unsuspecting. Suspend your disbelief and let your imagination roam: from Sherlock Holmes to Santa Claus, from Pernod the detective to Randulph the Leprechaun, from the heroic Canadian troops in World War One to the fabled pleasure dome of Xanadu, read on....
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Brilliant Careers: The Virago Book of 20th
Book SynopsisA seminal fiction collection that stretches from Gertrude Stein to Grace Paley, from Edith Wharton to Angela Carter, from Mae West to Margaret Atwood, from Zora Neale Hurston to Joyce Carol Oates. Add to this another ninety-two brilliant writers a reader can relish the thought of careering between - and all collected together in the one anthology. An international celebration of extracts that chart our time: stories of poverty and wealth, work and play, tales of changing environments - both urban and rural, in peace and wartime. A book of Virago authors with every year of the twentieth century represented by groundbreaker after literary groundbreaker. Brilliant Careers gathers all the energies and circumstances of twentieth-century women writers into the one book, covering ten decades from the century closest to all our hearts, swinging from one end to the other of a hundred years of history and change via the very best of twentieth century fiction.Trade ReviewReadable and provocative * OBSERVER *The scope and variety on display here should satisfy any reader interested in great literature * SCOTSMAN *An immaculately and exhaustively researched overview of women's writing * FINANCIAL TIMES *"A writer for every year of the 20th Century': delving into its impressive list of Modern Classics, in Brilliant Careers the feminist publishing house Virago has come up with a new literary anthology of women's writing. From Miles Franklin, the represent * Vicky Lebeau, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW *
£9.99
University of Huddersfield Trouble: Grist anthology of protest - short
Book SynopsisThe latest Grist Anthology is an innovative blend of some of the most exciting and freshest voices in prose today. Protest is the distillation of a simple human experience - to witness a wrong being done, and to do something about it. The stories featured in Trouble celebrate protest, rebellion, disobedience and general bloody-mindedness in all of its forms.Table of ContentsEditorial Team; Introduction; The Flag; You and Me in Paradise; The Walk of Blood; The Unplayable; Meet, me.; Mr Laurence and Numb Nuts; Of Love and Revolution in a City; Happy Harpies; Boots; Three Conversations with Mr Sienkiewicz; A Haunting; But Have You Seen it In the Snow?; Losing Control; Last of Them; You will be free one day, my dearest India; The Only Language She Didnt Understand; The Most Dangerous Woman; Nachthexan; A State of Grace; Money Bank; The Calling; About the Authors; About Grist; Acknowledgements.
£12.35
Auckland University Press Hiwa: Contemporary Maori Short Stories
Book SynopsisHiwa is a vibrant, essential collection of contemporary Māori short stories, featuring twenty-seven writers working in English or te reo Māori. The writers range from famous names and award winners – Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Becky Manawatu, Zeb Nicklin – to emerging voices like Shelley Burne-Field, Jack Remiel Cottrell, Anthony Lapwood and Colleen Maria Lenihan. A showcase of contemporary talent, Hiwa includes biographical introductions for each writer’s work, and explores the range of styles and subjects in the flourishing world of Māori fiction. Named for Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the ninth star of Matariki, signifying vigorous growth and dreams of the year ahead, this anthology reveals the flourishing world of Māori writing today, in Aotearoa and beyond.Trade Review‘It is fantastic to see this publication confidently emerge in supremely capable hands. The new anthology shows the continuing growth of the collective and diverse voices of Māori fiction. It enhances Te Tiriti narratives of participation, protection and partnership by treating our stories as enduring and visible taonga. It will be both a great resource and a great read. E kore e hekeheke, he kākano rangatira.’ (Robert Sullivan); ‘The reo Māori stories in Hiwa are a welcome addition to Māori language literature. We have some amazing translation work being completed, but there really is another whole wealth of narrative lying in work produced solely through the medium of te reo Māori. We desperately need original fiction in Māori for adults to read, and the four reo Māori stories in this anthology respond to that well. There are excellent contributions in Māori across a range of themes – coming of age, parenting philosophy, drama and action, and young urban Māori.’ (Vini Olsen-Reeder); ‘After reading Hiwa I felt elated, as if I had just been in conversation all night with some of the funniest, smartest and wisest people around. This anthology sparkles, delights and moves. It gives insight into the many faces of who we are as Māori, coming together as a very satisfying whole.’ (Briar Grace-Smith)Table of ContentsShelley Burne-Field Jack Remiel Cottrell David Geary Patricia Grace K. T. Harrison Aramiha Harwood Whiti Hereaka Emma Hislop Witi Ihimaera J. Wiremu Kane Earle Karini Anthony Lapwood Colleen Maria Lenihan Nic Low Tina Makereti Bec ky Manawatu Atakohu Middleton Kelly Ana Morey Paula Morris Pamela Morrow Airana Ngarewa Zeb Nicklin Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall Rawinia Parata Ngawiki-Aroha Rewita Alice Tawhai Nick Twemlow
£999.99
Spinifex Press Getting Your Man
Book SynopsisGetting your man, getting the right man, is not always easy. But women whether they be pieceworkers, housewives, artists, business women or farmers, know just how to get their man. In the tradition of Thelma and Louise, women’s revenge drives these stories.Trade Review"There is romance with a feminist message and a crime twist... Just right for reading on the beach." --Renata Singer, "Sisters in Crime"
£12.30
Spinifex Press Speak the Truth, Laughing
Book SynopsisRose Zwi’s stories embrace people from different countries and cultures drawn together by a common humanity. Her characters range from a political activist who is house-arrested, to the child of immigrant parents caught between two cultures; from a city-educated woman returning to the arid homeland of her tribal grandfather, to a Rabbi and his wife in an East European shtetl; from a solitary dingo in a small Australian town, pursued to its inevitable end to a farmer obsessed with returning his land to its natural state.
£11.35
Otago University Press The Black Horse and Other Stories
Book SynopsisTwelve short stories by one of New Zealand's best-loved poets are collected here. Set in the south, they are spare pieces of prose, showing an eye for detail and for the ironies of life.
£11.16
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Monday Night Man
Book Synopsis'Monday Night Man' is a back alley view of East Vancouver netherworlds. Horst Nunn, Ray Bunce, and Boyle Rupp are a trio of middle-aged, underemployed, intelligent "plungers" striving for redemption through humour and long shots at the track.
£9.49
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Sub-Rosa & Other Fiction
Book SynopsisA wonderful hybrid of post-modern genre-bending and conventional narrative-an exploration of a state of mind rather than a description of events. This work deals with subjects as varied as memory; rewriting notions of history; erotic latitude; the blurred border between sleep, dream and reality; isolation; loss; pleasure and change.
£9.49
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Gas Tank & Other Stories
Book SynopsisFrom the author of 'Stupid Crimes', 'Krekshuns' and 'Stand in Hell' come more fictional wanderings. 'Gas Tank & Other Stories' casts disparate characters into tumultuous scenes of moral terror, testing their courage, energy, and capacity to endure. 'Gas Tank' is not a pretty book. You won't find romance. You won't laugh until your sides ache. You may not recommend the book to your mother. But you won't be able to put it down." - The Vancouver Sun
£9.49
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Airborne Photo
Book SynopsisDrinkin' rye and water with Grandma. Guns in False Creek. Frat boy homies from the North Delta ghetto. Samuel L. Jackson. Phantom Lord & Metallica. A kid who's got the hots for his mom...'Hunh'? That's right. It's all here in this collection of immediate, lean and visceral short fiction from Clint Burnham. "Stripped down language of the street (in this case, Vancouver streets) propels these hard-edged tales that feel like a punk mix of Tarantino and Bukowski." - The Province "Burnhamuses language vividly, has an observant eye and the ability to turn current events in to fiction." - Broken Pencil Magazine
£10.44
Anvil Press Publishers Inc The Inanimate World
Book Synopsis'The Inanimate World' is an affecting suite of stories, with a novella-length piece at its core. The stories within 'The Inanimate World' traverse both rural and urban landscapes, exploring the terrain of the personal as much as the geographic. They span the time period of 1980 to the present, providing relevant insights into the private lives of people living through rapid social transformation and an unstable changing economy. Sincere, germane, and tender tales of longing-for love, understanding, acceptance, and peace. "The stories have a narrative stability not often found in first collections, the writing is sure and mature, and there, and there's a range of approaches on display, from experimental to intimate to epic." - Malahat Review
£10.44
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Tight Like That
Book SynopsisWhen jazz musicians of the '30s and '40s were gettin' down, when things were really cookin' they'd say, Yeah, make it tight like that. It meant things were good, as good as they could get. It's a good thing in fiction, too. The stories in Jim Christy's latest collection span time and space, taking us from the depression-era Deep South to the modern-day Vancouver commute. Private eyes. Old drunks. Yuppies, hippies, and everyone in between gets the trademark Christy work-over. He roughs 'em up until they show their mettle. His characters inhabit a world where one wrong move, no matter how small, can set in motion the direst of consequences. Luckily, they don't let it get in the way of having a fine old time. Compelling, transforming, this collection makes you long for the days when a cup of coffee cost a dime, and dignity wasn't for sale. "Right from the start of this new collection, Jim Christy makes clear his mastery of the anecdotal punchline story. He writes like he boxer he might have been: a couple of quick, hard jabs to knock down yoru guard, followed by a one-two combination that leaves you staring at the lights for the full 10-count. ...You gotta like it when it's tight like that." - Vancouver Review
£9.50
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Knucklehead & Other Stories
Book SynopsisA debut collection, these stories are set in the corporeal world of adult endeavour: the mall, the office, the subdivision. It's these settings that W. Mark Giles exploits: locking his sights on eerily familiar characters, excavating their fears, intimacies, and the dark machinery behind their actions. He taps into our collective longing for moments of clarity and awe, recognizes our thwarted potential for wonder, and sees our secrets played out in cruelty. A strangely unified collection, unsettling and surprising, 'Knucklehead' resides where the lines between real and imagined blur. Giles's penetrating view and unsentimental honesty shape these stories and push the reader's expectations of the"ordinary." These are mature and compelling narratives that encapsulate everything great about short fiction. They freeze a moment, but upon closer examination reveal something more, a message that resonates long after that story has been read. " 'Knucklehead' is a solid debut." - Quill & Quire Winner of the W.O. Mitchell/City of Calgary Award
£9.50
Anvil Press Publishers Inc A Small Dog Barking: & Other Stories
Book SynopsisFollowing the success of his novel, 'The Dreamlife of Bridges', Robert Strandquist makes a much-awaited return to the short story form. As always, Strandquist's works explores relationships both familial and sexual, and plumbs the unspoken communications where things go haywire. This collection is more eclectic than his first collection, 'The Inanimate World', covering themes of nature, of building and destruction. Settings are extreme or post-apocalyptic and walk the line of magic realism. Despite the sometimes-alien landscapes his characters inhabit, there is always the motif of adults navigating the riparian paths of longing, love and loss. "The writing is so beautiful, the language shining, enlightening a sacramental universe ... It is not the smallness, nor the dog, but the barking that is important, the raging against the coming of the night." -Prairie Fire "Strandquist's prose is spare and precise, studded with startling, evocative images. ... Strandquist has a wildimagination and an awe-inspiring mastery of language and form ...'A Small Dog Barking' is an excellent collection, well worth reading and rereading." -Books in Canada "Strandquist once again proves he's incapable of writing a dull sentence." -The Vancouver Sun
£11.39
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Sugar Bush & Other Stories: Stories of Sex,
Book SynopsisThe stories in 'Sugar Bush & Other Stories' deal with gender relations, love, and sex in a frank way. Most of the pieces feature female protagonists who navigate their young adult years in some questionable ways. They make some ill-advised choices, which are driven by their naïve quests for "individuality," while at the same time having an almost pathological need to be loved by everyone-especially men. While the stories in 'Sugar Bush' are intended for an adult audience, they employsome of the conventions of the young adult genre. They are simple, straight-ahead narratives. Part breathless teenaged confessional and part wistful and wiser looks back, 'Sugar Bush' is the first collection of short fiction by award-winning author, Jenn Farrell. "Populated by eccentrics, 'Sugar Bush' is a collection of coming-of-age stories. What makes them unique and engaging in what is often an overwrought genre is Farrell's humour and sense of irony."
£11.39
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Suburban Pornography
Book Synopsis'Suburban Pornography' is contemporary literature, which documents Canadian urban life in a raw and naked manner. The prose is stripped-minimalist, direct, urgent, unflinching. The stories revolve around ordinary characters and problems-people stuck in bad relationships or jobs. Some yearn for something just beyond their grasp, something authentic to knock them out of their malaise. Their frailties and obsessions are front and centre. They are garbage men, bus drivers, waitresses, soupkitchen clients, and neighbourhood perverts-tired and busy, too weary to contemplate-from social conditions that sanction only mere existence in redemption's agony and fleeting glory. " 'Suburban Pornography' surpasses a generic understanding of a tell-it-like-it-is literary form, born from American 20th century fiction, and delivers a unique Canadian voice offering a universal reflection of troubled humanity." - Discorder "What makes 'Suburban Pornography' so memorable is the brutally honestsnapshots of the inner-city ill-privileged and sad-sack suburbanites who fuck, suck, bleed, bruise, cruise and search for love among the loveless." - Xpress
£13.29
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Black Rabbit: & Other Stories
Book Synopsis'Black Rabbit & Other Stories' is a debut collection of great intensity and versatility. The stories range from the fantastic to the gritty, from urban dystopias to worlds of dreamlike possibility. Even in their frequent explorations of brutality, the author remains honest and true to the motivations of his characters and the machinations of the worlds in which they find themselves. These are sure-footed narratives that move with a pre-destined deliberation into a universe that is oftenfraught with desperation and apparent hopelessness; but, ultimately, we find ourselves on a path to redemption, an acceptance of what is, in the final analysis, an incomprehensible matrix. Existential and reflective, brutal and honest, these are stories that will leave you questioning the essence of existence, your own humanity, and the humanity of those around you. This is deft storytelling from a talented new voice. "Difalco is at his strongest when writing about relationships - focusing upon the inherent drama of tight-knit Italian families, couples on the rock, or even corpulent characters' relationships to food and their own bodies. Let's continue to hope he continues to mine the strange lives of his particular brand of disenfranchised heros. In all that roughness, there are diamonds." - Quill & Quire "These are thoughtful, enigmatic stories drawing the reader in with sharp detail, poetic phrasing and recognizable characters. Though we're dealing with thugs, prostitutes and crack heads, they are all folks you'll feel uncomfortably at home with. That's Difalco's magic: scrape characters from the bottom of society's bowl and reveal them in literary daylight as powerless dreamers, failed mothers, caged creatures." - Front & Centre
£11.39
Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd Eagle's Reflection: and Other Northwest Coast
Book Synopsis
£10.44
NeWest Press Bix's Trumpet & Other Stories
Book Synopsis
£14.39
NeWest Press Crisp
Book SynopsisCrisp confronts the unspeakable parts of memory, meditating on characters caught in isolation and struggling to make sense of grief, disappointment, and the occasional dinner party gone wrong. The characters in Crisp''s stories don''t always make sound decisions: a grieving widow pursues a priest, an unhappy wife whittles her husband to bits, and a nostalgic man has a one-night stand with a whale trainer. Ranging from the mystical to the eccentric, Gray masterfully uncovers human reactions to loneliness and unrest through tales about relationships, secrets, and a longing to connect.
£13.29
Brindle and Glass Publishing, Ltd The Five Hole Stories
Book Synopsis
£18.89
Anvil Press Publishers Inc The Devil You Know
Book Synopsis'The Devil You Know' is the follow-up volume to Farrell's acclaimed debut collection, 'Sugar Bush & Other Stories'. The stories in 'The Devil You Know' deal with the familiar, yet ever-engrossing, territories of sex, love, work, birth, and death. Life's defining moments are explored through the eyes of female characters, from children to teens to adults. Family relationships, particularly between mothers and daughters, are a central theme of this collection. All families have secretsand things unspoken, but eventually these dark truths come to light, often in surprising and transformative ways. "Farrell effectively forges her image as a bad-ass version of Alice Munro. Like Munro, she's a short story writer who focuses on the lives of girls and women in small-town Canada, but Farrell's characters get high on mushrooms and dabble in BDSM." - The Georgia Straight There are points in Jenn Farrell's amazing collection that I felt like I was listening in on the most intimate conversations of strangers-I was rapt with attention, but almost guilty for being privy to such intimacy. 'The Devil You Know' treads familiar territory-small town ennui, adolescent love, grief and self-destruction-but does it with such emotional acuity that it doesn't feel familiar at all, it feels extraordinary. - Catherine Hanrahan author of 'Lost Girls and Love Hotels'
£12.34
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Shag Carpet Action
Book Synopsis'Shag Carpet Action' is Matthew Firth's boldest and brashest collection of stories yet. Centred on the novella "Dog Fucker Blues" this collection examines what it's like to be down but not quite out in the 21st century. The book examines people clinging to the edge of physical, mental, sexual, psychological, and financial survival, bordering on the brink of ruin. This new collection continues Firth's deep mining into the bowels of Canadian life. From there he unearths tales of some of Canada's forgotten people who survive with their wits and guts during these harsh times. Behind the covers of 'Shag Carpet Action' are stories about rival garbage collectors warring over a possible strike; suburban lust and yearning involving the creative use of a son's Spider-Man toy; the travails of a man who has a vasectomy but then finds that there are more painful events to deal with on his agenda; shameless and bombastic people who just don't care who overhears their conversation-and on it goes. Absurd, raunchy, funny stories whose sharp, salty characters are boldly credible and wonderfully rendered by one of Canada's most adventurous and courageous writers. "Matthew Firth is one of my favourite writers. I wait for new Firth books with all of the same sense of need and anticipation that I once felt while waiting for my heroin dealer to show." - Tony O'Neill, author of 'Sick City' "Matt Firth is the literary incarnation of the boy your mama warned you about. These short stories, as tightly clenched as an angry fist, are not for the faint-hearted. Firth will probably never win any big prizes, because he cock-punches the kind of pastoral/historical claptrap that passes for literature among wine-drinking book clubbers." -Jenn Farrell, author of 'Sugar Bush and Other Stories' and 'The Devil You Know' "Firth's strength lies not simply in provocatively deploying overt sexuality, but rather the way he leverages bald carnality to make broader, potent statements about thehuman condition." - Quill & Quire
£13.29
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Valery The Great
Book Synopsis'Valery the Great' is a crackling, electric collection of dark humour that follows the bizarre and beautiful lives of its eccentric protagonists. Sometimes sweet and gentle, sometimes sharply sarcastic, the unique narrative voices of this collection are always powerfully touching. In the title story, a young woman from New Brunswick uses figure skating as a way to fill the void left by her deceased father, and ends up as a Russian circus performer who dances on ice with two skating bears. We also meet an unlikely swim-team member, a crude and ineffective search and rescue volunteer, and Sparky, an ancient boxing trainer who recalls the tumultuous life of his childhood friend, a dwarf named Maurice. Throughout 'Valery the Great' we find characters who need to escape their lives, and in the attempt find alternate ways of living. they float outside of the harsh and unromantic everyday existence and into an alternate reality that allows them dreams of solace and fulfilled potential. McCluskey expertly mixes the dramatic with the deadpan to create a very readable and exciting collection, filled with characters who are connected by their longing to be heard. "It may say something about Canada and Canadians that one of our canonical twentieth-century novels was called 'Beautiful Losers'. ...it's the many unique characters and settings that stay with the reader and make this collection well worth reading. Not all of McCluskey's losers are beautiful, but there is real beauty in 'Valery the Great,/i>." - Prairie Fire "Masterfully crafted short stories expose remarkable qualities of ordinary people ...This whole collection is about the unusual. These are stories about people who are ordinary, people who don't stand out in the crowd and yet somehow, they do extraordinary things - although not necessarily good extraordinary things. McCluskey understands that somewhere in the hearts of us all is the desire to be recognized for what we do. Deep down, we want our lives to be special. This is an eclectic, darkly comedic collection, entertaining in their content and hard hitting in their message." - The Halifax Chronicle Herald
£14.39
Baton Wicks Publications Dermot Somers: Collected Short Stories
Book Synopsis'No one will die in this story. That is a promise, as if I controlled events, pen slicing and splicing ropes at will.' Dermot Somers' short stories have attracted international acclaim. His collection 'At the Rising of the Moon' won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature in 1994 and was awarded the Banff Mountain Book Festival's Literature and Culture Prize. This collection brings together 23 of Somer's tales. Somers is recognised as one of the finest and most original writers in the mountaineering and travel milieu. He has travelled widely and is an accomplished climber. Though rooted in his native Irish culture, his experiences in the Alps and the Himalaya work their way into his literature, along with themes of legend and myth, the undercurrent of politics and religion and the under pinner of adult life and relationships. Whilst mountains act as a central metaphor for many of his stories, Somers is equally concerned with their effect on the dynamics of human relationships. His narratives draw on the energy from both, the energy that crams a lifetime of sensation into seconds of experience and which makes his stories so compelling.Trade Review'Somers is a craftsman, and interweaves his themes beautifully throughout. Great writing, calm, authoritative and completely satisfying.' (Geoff Dutton, Climber Magazine). 'Faced with the choice of freezing to death or torching my collection of climbing books to stay warm I would read Mountains and Other Ghosts while the others cheerfully burned.' (Will Gadd, Rock and Ice Magazine).
£12.34
COMMA PRESS Tiny Deaths Fourth Annual Meeting Geneva May 79
Book Synopsis
£12.57
Comma Press Lifting the Piano with One Hand
£10.16
£13.97
Bene Factum Publishing Ltd Stories of the Stranger
Book Synopsis
£9.99
Caffeine Nights Publishing The Major Crimes Team: Volume 1: Lines of Enquiry
Book Synopsis
£7.76
Momentum Books Descend other stories
Book Synopsis
£6.83
Arkbound Enduring Words: A Collection of Creative Work by
Book SynopsisArising from a National Writing Competition in 2022-3 on the theme of 'Endurance', this collection of works by serving prisoners relates both to the deepest of human tragedies and the greatest of triumphs. Contributors describe what endurance means for them; not just of the prison system, whose efficacy this collection brings into question, but of the lives that led them there. Victor Frankl, the psychologist and Jewish WWII concentration camp survivor, is referenced independently by two contributors. In his words: "He, who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how."The 'why's' in this collection are sometimes obscure, sometimes inspiring, and always heart-rending. Sometimes, it is Nature's touch or vision that helps the authors endure. Often, it is meaningful relationships with others. Readers can extend such meaningful connection further, by receiving these touching passages with a spirit of compassion and a desire to understand.
£9.49
Dark Skies Publishing Everyday Kindness: A collection of uplifting
Book SynopsisEveryday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by L J Ross and published through her imprint, Dark Skies Publishing. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to be read daily, through the course of a year, to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others. Featuring authors across the spectrum of literature, some international bestsellers and award-winning writers amongst them, this is a unique collection of words to inspire hope, in direct response to the Covid-19 crisis. All proceeds from the book will be donated to Shelter, a charity that helps millions of people a year struggling with bad housing or homelessness. Authors include: LJ Ross, Adam Hamdy, Alex Smith, Alexander Gordon Smith, Alison Stockham, Anne O’Leary, Barbara Copperthwaite, JD Kirk, CL Taylor, Caroline Mitchell, Chris McDonald, CK McDonnell, Claire Sheehy, Clare Flynn, Darren O’Sullivan, David Leadbeater, Debbie Young, Deborah Carr, Emma Robinson, Graham Brack, HM Lynn, Heather Martin, Holly Martin, Ian Sainsbury, Imogen Clark, James Gilbert, Jane Corry, Jean Gill, JJ Marsh, Judith O’Reilly, Kelly Clayton, Kim Nash, Liz Fenwick, Louise Beech, Lousie Jensen, Louise Mumford, Malcolm Hollingdrake, Marcia Woolf, Mark Stay, Marcie Steele, Natasha Bache, Nick Jackson, Nick Quantrill, Nicky Black, Patricia Gibney, Rachel Sargeant, Rob Parker, Rob Scragg, SE Lynes, Shelley Day, Casey Kelleher, Sophie Hannah, Leah Mercer, Victoria Connelly, Victoria Cooke, Will Dean.
£12.34
Myriad Editions Cora Vincent
Book SynopsisA chance break in a West End theatre production forces a derailed actress to confront her demons.
£8.07
Myriad Editions The Haunting of Strawberry Water
Book SynopsisA gripping tale of post-natal depression, this short story reads like a modern retelling of The Yellow Wallpaper.
£8.07
Comma Press The Dressing-Up Box
Book SynopsisThe characters in David Constantine’s fifth collection are all in pursuit of sanctuary; the violence and mendacity of the outside world presses in from all sides – be it the ritualised brutality suffered by children at a Catholic orphanage, or the harrowing videos shared among refugees of an atrocity ‘back home’. In each case, the characters withdraw into themselves, sometimes abandoning language altogether, until something breaks and they can retreat no further. In Constantine’s luminous prose, these stories capture such moments in all their clarity; moments when an entire life seems to hang in the balance, the past’s betrayals exposed, its ghosts dragged out into the daylight; moments in which the possibility of defiance and redemption is everything.Trade Review'This fifth book of superb short fiction confirms an extraordinary talent' - The Times; 'It will reward the effort' - The Irish Times; 'Inventive... incredibly moving' - The Daily Mail; 'Subtlety marks every tale in this intelligent, unshowy and often moving collection.' - Ian Sansom, The Guardian
£999.99
Comma Press Rivers of the Unspoilt World
Book SynopsisDescribed as one of the as one of the UK's finest short story writers, Constantine intricately interweaves fictional characters and events with the real to create new ways of seeing and connecting our past, present and possible futures. With extraordinary patience and precision, these stories centre on moments, conversations, meetings that feel like small details picked out from a larger tapestry. From the academic in Paris, researching and processing the atrocities of the 1871 Paris Commune, to the young biographer who tries to befriend the ailing poet Hoelderlin, the characters in this collection are united by an urge for connection, a desire to better know themselves - and the world around them - to counteract a loss of hope and belonging.
£11.77
Comma Press The BBC National Short Story Award 2022
Book SynopsisThe BBC NSSA is one of the most prestigious prizes for a single short story, with the winning author receiving GBP15,000, and four further shortlisted authors GBP600 each.
£10.97
