Stephen Sharp is a 61-year-old writer who has suffered from schizophrenia for over 30 years. His work has appeared in Ambit. His last job was as a volunteer for Oxfam.
Sam Thompson is the author of the novels Communion Town and Jott. He was born in London and now lives in Belfast. His website is samthompsonwriter.com.
Melissa Wan was born 1991 and moved to the UK at the age of eight. She went on to study sociology and urban theory in Manchester, where she now lives. She began writing for the stage but turned to prose after reading Walter Benjamin. She was awarded the inaugural crowdfunded BAME Writers’ Scholarship to study Creative Writing at UEA, where she is currently working on her first collection of stories.
Ren Watson is a scientist and writer. Her work has appeared in various places in print and online, including Tears in the Fence, Brittle Star, The Fiction Desk and Under the Radar. Short-listed in the Brighton Prize in 2017, she lives in Manchester.
Adam Welch is a writer and editor based in south-east London, currently working in the fashion industry. His fiction has been published in Ambit and long-listed for the London Short Story Prize 2018. He is a 2019–20 Jerwood/Arvon Mentee. He has a website at adamwelchwriter.com.
Acknowledgements
The editor wishes to thank Jennifer Hodgson and Kishani Widyaratna.
‘Smack’, copyright © Julia Armfield 2018, was first published in Lighthouse issue 16 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Kiss’, copyright © Elizabeth Baines 2018, was first published online in The Mechanics Institute Review and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Cluster’, copyright © Naomi Booth 2018, was first published online at Galley Beggar Press and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘On Day 21’, copyright © Ruby Cowling 2018, was first published online in Wasafiri and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Sitcom’, copyright © Kieran Devaney 2018, was first published online in Fanzine and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘On the Way to the Church’, copyright © Vicky Grut 2018, was first published in The Harvard Review issue 52 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Beyond Dead’, copyright © Nigel Humphreys 2018, was first published in Infra-Noir issue 1 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘The Arrangement’, copyright © Sally Jubb 2018, was first published in Brittle Star issue 42 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Reality’, copyright © John Lanchester 2018, was first published in another version in London Review of Books, 2 August 2018, and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘New Dawn Fades’, copyright © Sophie Mackintosh 2018, was first published in We Were Strangers: Stories Inspired by Unknown Pleasures (Confingo Publishing), edited by Richard V Hirst, and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Badgerface’, copyright © Lucie McKnight Hardy 2018, was first published in The Lonely Crowd issue 10 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘A Gift of Tongues’, copyright © Paul McQuade 2018, was first published in Confingo issue 10 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘A Hair Clasp’, copyright © Vesna Main 2018, was first published in Temptation: A User’s Guide (Salt Publishing) and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Curtilage’, copyright © Robert Mason 2018, was first published online at Galley Beggar Press and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Nude and Seascape’, copyright © Ann Quin 2018, was first published in The Unmapped Country: Stories and Fragments (And Other Stories), edited and introduced by Jennifer Hodgson, and is reprinted by permission of the publisher and the author’s estate.
‘Cuts’, copyright © Stephen Sharp 2018, was first published in Ambit issue 231 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘The Heights of Sleep’, copyright © Sam Thompson 2018, was first published online in The Mechanics Institute Review and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘The Husband and the Wife Go to the Seaside’, copyright © Melissa Wan 2018, was first published in Seaside Special: Postcards From the Edge (Bluemoose Books), edited by Jenn Ashworth, and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Optics’, copyright © Ren Watson 2018, was first published in Brittle Star issue 42, as ‘Sky-sions’, and is reprinted by permission of the author.
‘Toxic’, copyright © Adam Welch 2018, was first published in Ambit issue 232 and is reprinted by permission of the author.
Best British Short Stories 2019 Page 22