Description
Of Myths and Mothers by Kenzie Millar, Gaynor Jones, Sascha Akhtar, Clayton Lister and Helen Nathaniel-Fulton; Folklore and futurism: these stories question everything from the guest worker economy to childbirth as the world collapses. Follow hairpin turns into the remote hillsides of North Yorkshire, where two boys take a holiday with their besom-wielding, rabbit-skinning granny. Disappear into dark caves on Philippine islands and scale sheer limestone cliffs with men who search for the world's most expensive animal product: prized nests woven from a mysterious bird's saliva, rumoured to make one live forever. Feel sand under your feet in the middle of the night as you search for love beyond limits. You will long to hold a child, even when that instinct has been erased from your body and mind. Of Myths and Mothers will make you see some of our most accepted customs in a new light and fill you with wonder, as the best stories do.
About the Author
Gaynor Jones is the recipient of a Northern Writer's Award for her short story collection, Girls Who Get Taken.She has won first prize in several fiction competitions, including the Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Mairtin Crawford Short Story Award, and has placed or been listed in others including the Bridport Prize and Aesthetica. She has performed her work at many spoken word nights in the North, and as a guest of For Books' Sake at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe. She loves stories that feature wayward teens, middle-aged women who've had enough, and the darker sides of suburban life. Helen Nathaniel-Fulton originates from Swansea, but is now based in Paisley in Scotland. She studied History & History of Art at Aberystwyth University, Social Sciences at Oxford, & lived for many years in Kenya where she was a teacher with VSO. She's a retired children & families social worker who now paints & writes full-time. She has had a pamphlet of stories published called Da Vinci's Cuckoos & has been published in Scottish magazines Laldy! & Southlight & in the anthology Bridges or Walls? (Dove Tales, 2019). Clayton Lister lives in Northumberland. His stories can be found here and there, but take care looking for them because they're shy and very easily frightened. Shhh... Kenzie Millar is a writer, reviewer, and banker (well, she works for a bank at least). From her first book, written age 11, "Mustard Seeds", she knew she wanted to be an author and give her readers the magical gift of being taken to another world. While Kenzie-World has grown somewhat darker, she still hopes her readers will enjoy the discomfort and unease she creates. Her short stories are inspired by folk lore and fantasy, but focus on themes of motherhood, gender, and chronic pain. As you read, you should always question the story you are being told. Kenzie was a runner up in the Orton 2020 competition, with her story Yuletide. Subsequently, she judged their 2021 competition. She has performed at The Other, Endostravaganza, and We Want Women. She is part of the Orton Writer's Group, and reviews books for the Crack magazine.
Reviews
"Jones has created an unsettling, near-the-bone world in May We Know Them, with taut, vivid prose that grips the reader. A triumph of short fiction; this is the type of piece that the genre was made for." - Catherine Menon, author of Fragile Monsters; "Helen Nathaniel-Fulton's electric combination of the visceral and compassionate invites the reader into her memories of post-war Germany where, as a student worker. she competes with immigrants for a range of appallingly brutal and mind-numbing jobs. She witnesses overt racism towards and among the immigrants, and must endure sexism towards herself. The deceptively calm tone draws the reader in, as though these stories are being related over a cup of coffee - but watch out for those narrative swerves! It's a riveting read and belongs on your bedside table." - Sandra Hunter; "Given that two of my biggest blindspots are historical fiction and epistolary fiction and I still loved her story, I must put that down to Kenzie Millar's silky prose and the thrilling wonders she teases out of the depths." - Nicholas Royle, Writer, Editor and Judge of the Manchester Fiction Prize
Book Information
ISBN 9781913211783
Author Isabelle Kenyon
Format Paperback
Page Count 104
Imprint Fly on the Wall Press
Publisher Fly on the Wall Press
About the Author
Gaynor Jones is the recipient of a Northern Writer's Award for her short story collection, Girls Who Get Taken.She has won first prize in several fiction competitions, including the Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Mairtin Crawford Short Story Award, and has placed or been listed in others including the Bridport Prize and Aesthetica. She has performed her work at many spoken word nights in the North, and as a guest of For Books' Sake at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe. She loves stories that feature wayward teens, middle-aged women who've had enough, and the darker sides of suburban life. Helen Nathaniel-Fulton originates from Swansea, but is now based in Paisley in Scotland. She studied History & History of Art at Aberystwyth University, Social Sciences at Oxford, & lived for many years in Kenya where she was a teacher with VSO. She's a retired children & families social worker who now paints & writes full-time. She has had a pamphlet of stories published called Da Vinci's Cuckoos & has been published in Scottish magazines Laldy! & Southlight & in the anthology Bridges or Walls? (Dove Tales, 2019). Clayton Lister lives in Northumberland. His stories can be found here and there, but take care looking for them because they're shy and very easily frightened. Shhh... Kenzie Millar is a writer, reviewer, and banker (well, she works for a bank at least). From her first book, written age 11, "Mustard Seeds", she knew she wanted to be an author and give her readers the magical gift of being taken to another world. While Kenzie-World has grown somewhat darker, she still hopes her readers will enjoy the discomfort and unease she creates. Her short stories are inspired by folk lore and fantasy, but focus on themes of motherhood, gender, and chronic pain. As you read, you should always question the story you are being told. Kenzie was a runner up in the Orton 2020 competition, with her story Yuletide. Subsequently, she judged their 2021 competition. She has performed at The Other, Endostravaganza, and We Want Women. She is part of the Orton Writer's Group, and reviews books for the Crack magazine.
Reviews
"Jones has created an unsettling, near-the-bone world in May We Know Them, with taut, vivid prose that grips the reader. A triumph of short fiction; this is the type of piece that the genre was made for." - Catherine Menon, author of Fragile Monsters; "Helen Nathaniel-Fulton's electric combination of the visceral and compassionate invites the reader into her memories of post-war Germany where, as a student worker. she competes with immigrants for a range of appallingly brutal and mind-numbing jobs. She witnesses overt racism towards and among the immigrants, and must endure sexism towards herself. The deceptively calm tone draws the reader in, as though these stories are being related over a cup of coffee - but watch out for those narrative swerves! It's a riveting read and belongs on your bedside table." - Sandra Hunter; "Given that two of my biggest blindspots are historical fiction and epistolary fiction and I still loved her story, I must put that down to Kenzie Millar's silky prose and the thrilling wonders she teases out of the depths." - Nicholas Royle, Writer, Editor and Judge of the Manchester Fiction Prize
Book Information
ISBN 9781913211783
Author Isabelle Kenyon
Format Paperback
Page Count 104
Imprint Fly on the Wall Press
Publisher Fly on the Wall Press
