The Fiction Shelf

With speech that is at once engaging and familiar, and a steady, dramatic narrative, Belldown explores long‐established family dynamics and the effect they have on external relationships. The narrative voice expresses fluently a filial struggle that often lays unsaid.

A short image with an inconsequential end that reflects the futility of the situation. The honest talk reads like an open‐ended discussion on violence and sex. The untempered language tells effectively of an unremarkable happening in an average setting. Effective and brutal.

Childish absent‐mindedness and the lack of a reason, incomprehensible to adult ears, form the basis of this oddly‐touching and humorous short story. A quirky tale whose peculiar subject is matched with an out‐the‐ordinary narrative that remains engaging and entertaining.

A short, deeply pensive exploration of the self and how an individual perceives it. The prose, complex by their brevity, are steeped with meaning so that the piece feels almost poetic.

A short piece which is whimsical, comic and tragic. The mundane notions of vanity are presented before an impending horror of conflict with prose that are simple and wholly enjoyable to read.

Ostensibly a comedy that finds humour in the brief moments of light in a working day, but, like all good comedy, there is a twinge of tragedy in this sensitively‐crafted and wholly‐enjoyable work about a regular visitor to a coffee shop.

In this piece the writer captures the breathless pace of modern urban living and pairs it with the single minded consumerist selfishness of its main protagonist. The piece follows a day in the life of Jon, a have it all city worker struggling to maintain multiple relationships, multiple addictions and a veneer of professionalism. In style it owes much to British writing on the post modern condition and captures it in its ugliest light.

A darkly brooding, disturbing story that turns the tables on domestic violence. Strong, simple characters clash in unexpected ways as the author crafts a piece of work that challenges and discomforts.

A gentle, very human piece of writing about simple pleasures. The writing, like the main character is simple and warming. A very short story about the power of imagination that leaves a distinctly pleasant taste.

A short tale that captures the giddiness and excitement of the ‘chase’, the elation of getting that first laugh and the fall towards love – but also cautions against the blurred perceptions offered by alcohol.