Fiction

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Sudanese Football

The Dead Good Footballer, by Tarina Marsac

“I carry on running. My breath will catch up with me. I just need to focus. The ball is heading my way. I run to intercept—the world has turned blurry. Everything is in slow motion.”

mushrooms

The Monster of Invidia, by M L Hufkie

“How long he sat in his car he couldn’t say, but he pulled out of the hospital car park when the noise of an approaching ambulance interrupted his thoughts. He somehow ended up on the Sea Point Promenade again, sitting on the bench they had sat on so many times before. By the time the sun set, painting the Cape Town sky a marvellous orange-yellow-purple, he had made his decision.”

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Trappings, by Fiona McCulloch

Fiction: “Hugmanay 1983 – ah’m sat oan the couch in the livin’ room. Telly’s oan an’ it’s jist me an’ ma muther an faither cos ma twa bruthers are oot wi’ their pals. Scotch an’ Wry afore some Hugmanay show comes oan efter. Ah’m hopin’ the 50p slot meter disnae run oot on oor rented TV …”

Taittinger

The Roses and the Weeds, by Elinora Westfall

Fiction: “She wishes that she had kept a written record of all the epic bloody nonsense that has come out of his mouth over the years because she could have gained some kind of minor social media fame and parleyed a book deal out of it to boot: Shit My Stupid Shag Buddy Says.”

Rooster by Nikzad Noorpanah

Rooster, by Nikzad Nourpanah

Fiction: “One of the guards tried to calm me down. ‘We’re just doing our job, following the rules. The ladies have complained.’ And then he added jokingly, ‘dear engineer, you do know this place is not completely private, it’s ‘privastate’ as we call it…’ and then burst into laughter at their own stupid wordplay, spraying his saliva on my face. Last year, they also harassed me for wearing sandals with no socks.”

Woollen socks (NZ issue 1970) - Sergeant - RNZAMC - ANZUK Singapore Forces - 1971-1974 Belonged to Sgt. Colin Whyte, Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps, 1959-1971

Bobby, by Alison Theresa Gibson

Fiction: “Hands clasped at me as I pulled you through the room, and I smiled and greeted and smiled again but I never let go of your hand, do you remember that? I kept you close to me.”

Sneakers_CARIUMA - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

The Rhythm, by Anu Pohani

Fiction: “I can see your foot, your scuffed cool-kid sneakers, laces undone, next to my seat. You are sitting low in the chair behind me; I can picture you slouching without turning around. ”

Astroturf, Zute8, Wikimedia

Grass, by Emma Purshouse

Fiction: “He’s rolling up a ten foot length of astro turf into what looks like a giant sized spliff of fake grass.”

Rope from wikimedia

Davy Jones by Kapu Lewis

Fiction: “A memory. Me, as a child, grease-and-salt-stuffed air. The verdant slime of the sea-weeded shore.”

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bergsten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Off Grid by Deirdre Shanahan

Fiction: “Went in for our meat license today. Never been so excited. Two years since I last ate meat and I still hate the substitutes.”

Last Candle - courtesy of Wikimedia

The Last Candle by Lucy Palmer

Creative Non-Fiction: “We bought our last candle on the coldest day of the year. I remember because the weather man warned not to travel that morning, but we went anyway.”

The Cormorant - courtesy of the Sidmouth Museum

The Cormorant by David Lloyd

Short Fiction: “Grief takes different shapes they say. At times my imagination wanders as I lie awake in the early hours. When a tree branch taps my window I believe it’s Stephen out there, waiting to come in so we can lie once again, safe in each other’s arms.”

Fiction: Being Gideon by Penny Simpson

Being Gideon by Penny Simpson

Short Fiction: “I get out the car and walk up to Gideon. His bag is lighter than my tote. In addition to his black eye, there’s a dried blood stain on his paisley chiffon blouse.”

Tempo Rising by Alia Halstead

Short Fiction: “It wasn’t a baby, but an idea travelling into nothingness. A secret until the doctors told her emergency contact.”

Twy-Yice by Liz Churchill

Short Fiction: “The funny thing about the night I bump into her is that I’ve got some cracking power ballads going on in my head.”

Crocodile Sanctuary by Deborah Nash

Short Fiction: “She wanted to eavesdrop, to join in, to ask them if they’d seen the crocodile everyone was talking about, but knew no French…”

The Others by Rosemary Johnston

Short Fiction: “Olive felt like a robot penguin that had been embedded in the huddle by the team from Frozen Planet to record their goings on.”

Pretend Reading by Andrew Kauffmann

Short Fiction: “A shock of sunlight pierces into the cabin, turning his eyes the colour of polished timber. The eyes that tell me, I need you; told me this last night.”

The Sperm Bank by Sian Bride

Short Fiction: “The vial of semen in the breast pocket of David’s denim jacket bounced against his chest as he walked down Harley Street. The heat pack next to it warmed his heart.”

Off The Runway by David Plans

Short Fiction: “The endless chorus of middle-aged men trying to understand and keep up, eating from plates of carved fruit, hoping sugar will break their desperation.”

The Hills of Ffostrasol by Alex Barr

Short Fiction: “when our party halted with a sunlit panorama below us, and I said, ‘I can’t describe how that makes me feel’, and he didn’t say a word, just smiled and nodded.”

The Olive Orchard by Philip Kavvadias

Short Fiction: “The orchard belongs to the Vasdekas family. It has been with them ever since that first olive shoot defied all laws of botany.”

In Memoriam by Stephen Vowles

Short Fiction: “From the fires of hell,” I inform him. “Or perhaps the blood of Christ?” His uncertain gaze returns to scrutinise me

Fossils by Alice Ivor

Short Fiction: …I know it’s just his way of telling me he’s sad to see me go. I slip my hand into my pocket and run my fingertips over my ammonite.

Mr Howard’s Girls by Abigail Seltzer

Short Fiction: Before I could stop myself, I had him in swimming trunks, kissing me. Next thing I knew, we were lying on a beach, gazing into one another’s eyes.

The Man in the Red Cap by Duncan Grimes

Short Fiction: I can see him holding on to the far buoy with his head leant back, staring out to the horizon. I watch his bright red cap bob between the waves as I sit in my lifeguard Kayak.

Julia Roberts by Len Lukowski

Short Fiction: I was sorry for trying to kiss her if it’s not what she wanted. Hey, it’s OK, she replied. It’s just I’ve never been with a woman. I’m not a woman. You know what I mean.

The Ahp by Kaliane Bradley

Short Fiction: Vision and colour crowded in. She was awake too; he could feel her wakefulness through the mattress.

The Rainbow Ruckus by Thomas McColl

Short Fiction: It’s well known that there’s always a crock of gold at the end of a rainbow. What isn’t so well known is that a double rainbow’s different, and at the end of that there’s simply a big ruckus.

Onrabull by Aisha Phoenix

Short Fiction: In lime green flares and a marigold shirt that set off her conker-brown skin, she waved her arms as she described the kind of beasts into which our enemy could transform…

The Baobab Tree by Zahirra Dayal

Short Fiction: You reach for a book and blow the dust off, watching it fly around the dimly-lit room. It’s the story of the Baobab Tree.

Pink Swans By Lucy Ashe

Short Fiction: The first time the man arrives at the ballet studio, the girls ignore him. An embarrassing father come to watch a class, probably, or a friend of Miss Maisie.

H20 by Farrah Akbik

Short Fiction: My father left Damascus like a lover creeping from his mistress’ bed in the dark of night.

far away fields by Alex Reece Abbott

Short Fiction: …we had appendicitis flapjack (my cousin Mary), banana bread broken leg (me), lung cancer linguine (Aunty Joan), heart attack hummus (Grandma Phyllis)…

The Joy of Cooking by Emma Henderson

Short Fiction: …we had appendicitis flapjack (my cousin Mary), banana bread broken leg (me), lung cancer linguine (Aunty Joan), heart attack hummus (Grandma Phyllis)…

All those Leos who have been lying in bed for months clenching their teeth outstaring the wall can finally relax the jaws and shut their eyes by Roswitha Gerlitz

Short fiction by Roswitha Gerlitz In order to keep the formating of this piece, please click the link below to read it. ‘I am a London based visual artist, theatre/opera performance director, producer and writer navigating pathways between diverse practices. My artistic concepts, creative approach and aesthetic languages are informed

Dressing by Andrew Kauffmann

I could start with Jair. Someone disbelieving, that’s all it takes. Their boyish shoulders bitten. Suggestive circles inside their airlocked briefs. Take the band in my mouth. Thread the yarn in the lapse between drops of sweat and their cotton removed. Kisses on moist foreheads; only then will the New

Sian Hughes talks to Mslexia

Sian Hughes spoke to: Editorial Director, Debbie Taylor; Assistant Editor, Francoise Harvey; and Advertising & Digital Marketing Associate, Laura Steven – to hear their thoughts about creativity, writing, editing, and people that are difficult to work with…

Cecília by Nara Vidal

Short fiction by Nara Vidal, first published in A Loucura Dos Outros (The Madness Of Others) in Brazil.

The Meme

Short Fiction by Toby Litt

Luca’s Trip to Havana by Leila Segal

Leila Segal shares a story from her debut collection; Breathe: Stories from Cuba (flipped eye, 2016). Leila also talks to Melanie Jones about her writing, Cuba, and small publishers in this interview. You can buy a copy of Breathe here. Leila will be reading at MIRLive on January 30th and copies of Breathe

Creative Writing by Maggie Womersley

Short fiction by Maggie Womersley. This story was originally published in The Mechanics’ Institute Review: Issue 10. The Mechanics’ Institute Review is an annual collection of fiction now open for submissions to all UK authors. While submissions are open, we will be posting some of favourite work from past collections. Creative Writing was selected by

Stag by Louise Lee

An extract from  In The Name Of Love by Louise Lee. This extract was originally published in The Mechanics’ Institute Review: Issue 12. The Mechanics’ Institute Review is an annual collection of fiction now open for submissions to all UK authors. While submissions are open, we will be posting some of favourite

Stephen Morrison-Burke Feature

Stephen Morrison-Burke shares High Dust and Donkeys, an extract from his novel in progress. He also talks to Alison Hitchock about winning the Kit De Waal Scholarship and his plans for the future

Three Singers by Kavita A. Jindal

Short Fiction by Kavita A. Jindal. This story appears in the anthology ‘Love Across A Broken Map‘ which is available from Dahlia Publishing and features stories from the The Whole Kahani collective. The collective will be appearing at The Manchester Literature Festival in October.

Unheard

A short story by Frances Gow.

Akram’s War

AKRAM’S WAR by Nadim Safdar is published by Atlantic Books and available here. Nadim shares his first chapter with us and discusses writing on the Birkbeck Blog.

The Girl in the Glass Tower

Elizabeth Fremantle shares an extract from her novel The Girl in the Glass Tower. The novel came out on June 2nd and is available here. Elizabeth talks about writing on the Birkbeck Blog.

Walleye Junction

Karin Salvalaggio shares an extract from her novel Walleye Junction. The novel, which came out on May 10th,  continues her Macy Greeley Mysteries series. Karin talks about writing on the Birkbeck Blog.

The Otherlife

The Otherlife by Julia Gray comes out on July 7th with Anderson Press. Julia shares the first chapter of the novel with us and discusses her writing process on the Birkbeck Blog.

They Are Trying To Break Your Heart

David Savill’s novel They Are Trying To Break Your Heart came out last month with Bloomsbury Publishing and is available here. David shares an extract with us and talks about the novel and his writing process on the Birkbeck blog.

The Art of Not Breathing

Sarah Alexander’s debut novel, The Art of Not Breathing was released on April 1st and is available to purchase here. She shares her first chapter with us as part of our published alumni series. Sarah talks about the novel and her writing experiences in  interview which you can read on the Birkbeck Website.

Murmurations

Short fiction by 2013 Bristol Short Story Award Winner, Paul McMichael. 

The Don

Short Fiction by Paul Goodman

Roundabout

Short fiction by Federica Lugaresi, shortlisted for the 2015 Fish Publishing Short Story Prize.

A Jailor

A new short story by James Wise.

Paddy and Agatha

A short story from Toby Litt’s new book, Life-Like, published by Seagull Books.

Olivia in 4 Parts

A short story by Jacquelyn Shreeves-Lee, first published in MIR11.

People Watching

A short story by Julia Gray, which was first published in MIR11.

Our First Lesbians

A short story by Rebecca Rouillard, first published in MIR11. Rebecca’s story ‘The Window’ is featured in MIR12.

Switzerland

A short story by Dave Wakely, first published in MIR11. Dave’s stories have appeared in MIR10, MIR11 and MIR12.

The Longest Fight: Excerpt

An excerpt from Emily Bullock’s debut novel The Longest Fight, an exploration of love and family loyalty set in the gritty, ambitious world of boxing in 1950s London.

Burnt Oak

A new short story by Frances Gow about family, loss and pyromania.