Conversations

Two poems using the idea or form of a life-altering conversation.

Ramona Herdman's poem 'Every time at the end of a phone call' evokes an uncomfortable telephone conversation at the end of a love affair.
And Edwin Morgan's 'Gorgo and Beau' is in the form of a sparring dialogue between a healthy cell and a cancer cell.

Loss NW13

A lost baby, a lost love and a once world-renowned novelist now lost in the mists of time are the subjects of a story, a poem and an essay.

Kamila Shamsie's story 'Miscarriage' is set in a neighbourhood where extraordinary violence is unleashed and all the boys lose their childhoods along with the possibility of an education by being sucked in to the blood feud.

Jackie Kay's poem 'Husky' is filled with the chill of desertion and lost love.

And a lost Romanian novelist, who was once 'one of the most celebrated writers in the world' is the subject of Paul Bailey's essay 'The Stricken Nightingale'.

Too Close for Comfort

Two stories in which close relationships on the surface hide disturbing truths.

Linda, the narrator of Daren King's 'Let's Get Things Sorted', seeks comfort from her boyfriend-troubles by visiting her sister and brother-in-law. But underlying feelings of resentment and rebellion ignite, leaving three desperate people.
And in Matt Thorne's 'Mind Reader' a comfortable middle-aged couple, Dennis and Hilary, are split apart when Dennis begins to hear in his head the thoughts his wife 'would say if she could'.

Bullies

Two pieces built on men bullying women.

'Gloria', a novel extract by Kate Atkinson, is a poignant and funny portrait of a 60 year-old woman released from a long and miserable marriage when her self-important husband dies under a prostitute.
Helen Simpson⦥uro;?s short story, 'In the Driving Seat', is like a snap shot of the romantic relationship between Deborah and Andy.  Deborah sits in the front passenger seat of her own car, while Andy drives dangerously and the narrator crouches in the back.

Changing Times

A poem and a novel extract which reflect on changes to land and sea in our industrialised world.

In the novel extract 'Darkmans' Nicola Barker details a part of the rural landscape of south east England which has been lost under the Channel Tunnel high speed rail link, and the visceral sense of loss experienced by the man who chronicles it.
And in Ian Duhig's poem 'Coda', fishing-net technology progresses, but that doesn't re-stock the empty seas. 

Moments of Happiness

Three poems catch unexpected feelings of wonder and calm.

'The Lemon Trees', a translation by Ciaran Carson of a poem by the Italian writer Eugenio Montale, takes us to a place where 'the ice in the heart melts'.

 Nick Laird's 'The Angels' describes how a couple in a springtime garden delight in each other and the natural world around them.

 And in Jen Hadfield's 'Melodeon on the Road Home', a moment of contentment coincides with poetic inspiration.

Nights Out

Four stories of drinking and drifting in cities after dark.
 
In 'Early morning gutter relationship', by Emily Perkins, a couple are suddenly separated from each from while on a night out in London to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

 Neil Stewart's 'Crystal' is a sensitive account of how a young man, who has recently come out as gay, sets out to enjoy his first visit to a gay night club in Edinburgh.

 And in 'Two Pub Reviews' by Paul Ewen, there is lively description of two real central London pubs, and then, surreal imaginings.

Between Worlds

Two writers portray the state of being between worlds, one geographically and one spiritually.

John Burnside's three 'Annunciation' poems lead from the natural world across an invisible threshold into a spiritual dimension, where the soul has questions asked of it.

Azmeena Ladha's story 'Twenty Gods and the Pomegranate Seeds' passes between generations and continents. A pair of diamond earrings highlights the contrast between the lives of four generations of women in one family.

Other Worlds

Two intriguing visions of human life in an imagined future: colonising an inhospitable planet or surviving partially submerged by the sea.

Gerard Woodward's poem 'Ecopoesis' presents an imagined history of the human colonisation of Mars, where the settlers create a world that mirrors what they left behind on earth.

Peter Hobbs' story 'Deep Blue Sea' is set in a world where there's a constant struggle to stay above water. The narrator is a teller of stories who goes too far and has to attempt a daring escape.

Lessons in Life

Two young people face testing times in two moving stories.

David Mitchell's 'Hangman' is narrated by a sensitive and highly intelligent schoolboy with a disabling speech impediment.

 And in 'A Little Nest of Pedagogues' by Fay Weldon, a kind and confident Latin teacher wonders how best to help a good student whose life is altered forever by terrible events at home.