Eleanor’s Last by Nuala O’Connor Thrice, after my birthing years were ended, a babe grew under my apron. Thrice I bled them out. ‘Chew birch bark, Eleanor,’ Mother said when I mentioned I was expectant on the first of them.…
BackStory: Five Questions with Sheila Scott
BackStory: Five Questions with Sheila Scott Author of Estelle What inspired you to write ‘Estelle’? The Apollo space flights hold an eternal fascination for me. At the scientist level, the programme demonstrated the incredible capacity of the human mind to…
Estelle
Estelle by Sheila Scott ‘It was on the clipboard at the last check.’ The commander pulled open a small drawer beneath the seats and rifled through its contents, sending odd items drifting into the air around them. A camera swung…
BackStory: Five Questions with Jane Lomas
BackStory: Five Questions with Jane Lomas Author of A Pot of Usefulness What inspired you to write ‘A Pot of Usefulness’? I am currently carrying out research about Scunthorpe (the town where I was born and lived until I was…
A Pot of Usefulness
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…