New story with Ether Books

I've just had word that a tiny story of mine, The Lovely Phelan Ladies, is now live on the Ether Books app. You can read the story here if you download the Ether app - this is one for those who have an iPhone, iPad or Android phone. It's a brilliant app - there's stories by the likes of Hilary Mantel on there. You have to pay to download longer pieces, but flash fiction (like my story) is free. This particular piece was originally published in The Hat You Wear, the ebook made by the folk behind last year's Manchester Independent Book market, so it's great to see it get a new lease of life. Ether also previously published Mum's The Word, my Bristol Prize winner from 2010, so big up the Ether team for taking me on twice.

Donald Antrim reviews

Catching up with myself a bit here - back in March I also reviewed some Donald Antrim reissues. Ace books if you want to try something on the mad side of literary.

BS Johnson review

I reviewed a bunch of BS Johnson books lately. Picador have reissued some old ones and brought out a new prose anthology. Good news for the fans.

The Manchester Review

I've been working at The Manchester Review as an assistant editor (alongside editors-in-chief John McAuliffe and Ian McGuire) since last December. I'm delighted to announce that the latest issue (my first!), Issue Ten, is now live, and features the work of amazing writers such as Emma Martin, Marli Roode, Anne Compton, Connor O'Callaghan, Janet Wolff, and many more. Please read, and share the link, and, if you're a writer (poetry, fiction or non-fiction), submit to us! The next issue is scheduled for October 2013.

well, hello!

It's been ages, hasn't it? I've been doing politics/PhD/rock-climbing (!), and generally getting behind on stuff. But, in terms of news, I've got a flash piece coming up in the next issue of The Penny Dreadful, which is very exciting as it's (a) print! and (b) Irish, and in the last issue they had the likes of Roddy Doyle, so it looks like a pretty damn fine publication altogether, and I can't wait to see it when it's out. I also contributed recently to the Sein und Werden Exquisite Corpse, which you can see if you give that link a click. Always a mad experience. I'm carrying on with my one-graphic-novel-a-month project (reading, not writing) and this month it's Maus, which I'm very much enjoying. I'm not being a very good book reviewer at the moment (embarrassingly far behind on the review schedule), but what I have read (a lot of BS Johnson) has been as excellent as you'd expect. As always I'm on the hunt for good examples of short story cycles (aka composite novels) so carry on recommending stuff to me, please! And, to round up this hodge-podge apology-post, I'm thinking of maybe perhaps running an online short story course this summer, if there's sufficient interest; perhaps a six-week thing with weekly writing exercises, stories to read, and critiques, for circa £70 per person. Drop me a line if it sounds like a thing you'd go for. Ciao for now!

Stuart Nadler review

My review of Stuart Nadler's Wise Men is live at Bookmunch. (I didn't like it.)

This blog is dead bare these days, isn't it? My excuse: ongoing and very time-consuming campaign to save our local library. Update, though: we have (sort of) saved our swimming pool! Manchester City Council have included some clauses in the new agreement that I really, really don't like, but our local councillors are going to work on that, and it's going to stay open for the two years until the new facility is built. The campaign group is now squarely focussed on the library. Plus there's the bedroom tax to fight, and the whole wider anti-cuts, anti-austerity movement. And my PhD. And childcare. And so on.

Still, I've read some good books lately in amongst all the craziness.

Happy Easter!