Edited by Jim Hinks

ISBN-10: 1905583222
ISBN-13: 9781905583225
£7.95.

BRACE – the latest in Comma’s acclaimed series of anthologies, featuring the best of the UK’s emerging short story writers.

Featuring....
Charlotte Allan, Juliet Bates, Annie Clarkson, Adam Connors, Steve Dearden, Paul de Havilland, Tyler Keevil, Chris Killen, Richard Knight , Jacqueline McCarrick, Neil McQuillian, Heather Richardson, David Rose, Guy Russell, and Guy Ware.

…Organ-playing wunderkinds, poets on government re-employment schemes, unlikely celebrity party guests…

While these stories take in a vast array of subjects and styles, they share a common attribute: they demand our participation, urging us to fill in the blanks, the spaces between the words.

They’re stories that always keep something held back - whether it’s a concealed motivation, a mysterious confederation of the familiar and the far-fetched, or an image with the eloquence to convey what a character could never articulate – it’s their very reticence that makes them so compelling.

LISTEN NOW:

Listen to readings from the Manchester launch (Cornerhouse Feb 08). Simply left-click on the links below and listen live, or right-click and 'save target' to your computer to listen to later.
Guy Ware reads an extract from 'Witness Protection'.
Chris Killen reads 'Blue + Yellow'.
Annie Clarkson reads 'Lindy'.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Charlotte Allan has mostly written plays, for stage and occasionally radio, including Only Available in Carlisle produced by Theatre by the Lake, Keswick. She currently lives in Glasgow where she works in youth theatre, walks in parks and plays the ’cello very poorly.

Juliet Bates lives in Paris and teaches at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Caen, Normandy. Her short stories have been published in a number of literary magazines in Britain and Canada.

Annie Clarkson is a poet, social worker and short story writer living in Manchester. Her collection of prose poems Winter Hands was published by Shadowtrain Books in 2007.

Adam Connors won second prize in the London Writer's Competition (2005), and was longlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize (2006). His stories have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, and his articles in Flavorpill, ItchyLondon, and Null Hypothesis. He was technical advisor to the stage show, Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, and taught Science and Agriculture in Sudan for a while.

Steve Dearden’s short stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines in the UK, Australia and Finland. He was one of six writers from the UK and Finland who collaborated on Interland, published by Smith Doorstop. He coordinates international exchanges and is a director of the Writing Squad.

Paul de Havilland lives in Edinburgh. Carousel is his third published short story. He teaches business skills.

Tyler Keevil was raised in Vancouver, Canada. He first came to the U.K. in 1999 to study English at Lancaster University. Since then, his short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines, including Cambrensis, Transmission, and New Welsh Review. He currently lives in Wales, where he is undertaking his MA in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University.

Chris Killen was born in 1981. He is currently living in Manchester. His first novel, The Bird Room, will be published by Canongate, in spring 2009. He also writes a blog: www.dayofmoustaches.blogspot.com

Richard Knight was born and brought up on the east coast but moved to Saddleworth 17 years ago where he still lives with his wife, two children and one dog. He writes both adult and children’s fiction. One of his adult stories was included in Arc Short Stories vol. 9 (Ed. Sarah Dunant and Tibor Fischer) in 1998 and his first children’s book is to be published by Barefoot Books in 2008.

Jacqueline McCarrick’s first play, The Mushroom Pickers, premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in London in May 2006. Her second play, The Moth-Hour, was short-listed for the 2006 Sphinx Playwriting Award, and was presented at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in January 2007. Her poetry and short stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies.

Neil McQuillian is from Liverpool, but is living in London for the time being. His story is dedicated to his uncle Richie.

Heather Richardson is one of three featured writers in Short Story Introductions 1 (Lagan Press, 2007). She is a former winner of the Brian Moore Short Story Award, and has been shortlisted for a number of other prizes, including Asham, Fish and the Kaos Films Short Screenplay prizes. She was also runner up in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition (2007). She lives in Belfast.

David Rose lives in London, and has had fiction published in the Literary Review, Panurge, Main Street Journal, Odyssey, Front and Centre, Zembla, Neon Lit: the Time Out Book of New Writing and the Canadian anthology Grunt and Groan.

Guy Russell was born in Chatham, lives in Milton Keynes, and works at the Open University. He has had stories in Prop and Northern Stories, and reviews poetry for Tears in the Fence. His fifteenth unpublished novel is about student animal rights activists.

Guy Ware is a recovering civil servant. He has published stories in prize collections and other anthologies and is a regular contributor to the ‘Tales of the Decongested’ story readings at Foyles book shop in London. In April, he will feature as one of Six New Voices in a new collection from Apis Books.

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