Tempest: An Anthology

Speculative fiction, poems, and essays on our tempestuous political times.

Contributor to Tempest

Published by Patrician Press, 1 March 2019. Book launch at Bookmarks Bookshop, 1 March 2019 and at Essex Book Festival, 5 March 2019

I am thrilled to be part of this collection, which is published today. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to the launch tonight – which, incidentally, is starting as I write this. My short story, The Walking Stick, is a dystopian take on what the future could be after Brexit. It’s my first foray into fiction and the first piece of fiction I’ve had published, so it’s doubly exciting. What makes it even more exciting is that some proceeds will go to Amnesty International and Peter Tatchell provided a cover quote.

I’m not exactly sure where the idea for the story came. The lovely Anna Vaught (@BookwormVaught on Twitter) asked if I’d like to contribute something in the hope that it might get picked, and it did! I’m amazed at how quickly it came to me – I wonder whether it was the topic that was particularly inspiring. I never thought I’d write a story like that, had never crossed my mind. It’s possible I should write more.

There are many contributors to Tempest, and I want to be able to list them all here, along with a link to either their webpage, social media or other such thing:

Emma Bamford, Ivana Bartoletti, M W Berwick, Wersha Bharadwa, Mark Brayley, Catherine Coldstream, Guy de Cruz, J L Hall, Sam Jordison, Emma Kittle-Pey, Petra McQueen, Chantal Mouffe, Suzy Norman, Steven O’Brien, Jules Pretty OBE, Mazin Qumsiyeh, Martin Reed, Robert Ronsson, Sean Seeger, Justine Sless, Elisa Marcella Webb, Katy Wimhurst and Patrick Wright. Apologies to the two I couldn’t find info for – I’ve linked back to Patrician Press.

Please do consider buying the anthology and reading all our contributions. You can see the first few paragraphs of The Walking Stick on my website here.

#writing #AmnestyInternational #PeterTatchell #Anthology #PatricianPress #Tempest #AnnaVaught