A Pot of Usefulness by Jane Lomas ‘D’you fancy a cuppa, love?’ Bill calls from the back door. He takes the battered, tannin-patinated pot from the shelf: a leaving present from the lads. He’d worked at the steelworks since he…
BackStory: Five Questions with Anita Goveas
BackStory: Five Questions with Anita Goveas Author of Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand What inspired you to write ‘Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand’? I was writing a presentation about women in science, and it made me think about all the women who…
Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand
Frau Roentgen’s Left Hand by Anita Goveas The thumb is indistinct, mid-sized and slender. If it were a tree limb, it would reveal I was fifty years old. It can’t sense I have twenty-eight years before I die of intestinal…
BackStory: Five Questions with Nick Black
BackStory: Five Questions with Nick Black Author of Wheel of Fortune What inspired you to write ‘Wheel of Fortune’? A combination of vague thoughts coming together. I saw a fallen tree a few weekends ago and wondered if the first…
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune by Nick Black Oh yeah, life’s been nothing but sweet for Jasper since he invented that flat round rolling thing of his. He has respect from the elders. A cave higher up the cliff, further away from…
BackStory: Five Questions with Diane Simmons
BackStory: Five Questions with Diane Simmons Author of A Long Way Away What inspired you to write ‘A Long Way Away’? My brother was in a TB sanatorium in 1959/60 – just before I was born and it was always…
A Long Way Away
A Long Way Away by Diane Simmons Dear Mummy and Daddy It is realy horrible here. The journey took AGES and AGES and I blubbed and the lady took my pear drops away so I didn’t choke. Visiting is…
BackStory: Five Questions with Rob Walton
BackStory: Five Questions with Rob Walton Author of Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards What inspired you to write “Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards”? I’ve always been interested in the Olympics, and especially the Marathon. As a child, my…
Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards
Three Hundred and Eighty Five Yards by Rob Walton Some say Conan Doyle is only here because the organisers offered him a good seat to watch the athletics. Others say he is here on behalf of the Daily Mail. I…
BackStory: Five Questions with Nick Lord Lancaster
BackStory: Five Questions with Nick Lord Lancaster Author of On The Ethics of Book Burning What inspired you to write ‘On the Ethics of Book Burning’? The piece actually describes a true story. I bumped into it one day while…