Tuesday 13 December 2011

A trio of awesome anthologies

I'm very happy to be blogging about not one but three new anthologies of short stories coming in the near future, and especially pleased to be appearing in each one.

The first is Voices, edited by Sarah Dobbs, "A collection of memoir, poetry, prose and life-writing from new and established authors. All work is set in Blackburn or written by those with a strong connection to the town." My flash, After a Long Illness, Quietly at Home, is one of my personal favourites and I'm delighted it was chosen to be part of Voices. You can listen to me reading the flash (and channelling my paternal grandmother's voice) here.

The Monster Book for Girls is being published by Exaggerated Press and carries two of my very short stories, Spirit Level and Don't Give Me That Face. The cover artwork is very cool and the whole concept was inspired by the pre-war annuals which contained wholesome stories for girls. This new anthology does not, but promises to be great fun.

In April 2012, Pangea will be published, being a collection of the best stories from the website, WriteWords. Two of my longer short stories are in this anthology, The Wedding Fair and LoveFM. I'm looking forward to the promotion and launch of Pangea, in Bristol, with readings at Foyle's and elsewhere.

It's great to be in the company of writers I love and admire, such as Andrea Ashworth, Caroline Choille, Joel Willans and Vanessa Gebbie. Here's to a trio of happy publication dates!