Each day of 2015 Jan Carson wrote a short story on the back of a postcard and mailed it to a friend. Each of these tiny stories was inspired by an event, an overheard conversation, a piece of art or just a fleeting glance of something worth thinking about further. Collected in one volume, Carson's postcards present a panoramic view of contemporary Belfast -- its coffee shops, streets and museums and airports -- and offer it to the wider world. Even as they seem to spring from a writer's solitary perspective, taken together, these observations and their distribution speak of human connectedness. Like a pleasant surprise in the mail, this collection reminds us how many friendships are born and strengthened in a story shared. Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips.

About the Author
Jan Carson is a writer and community arts officer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published by Liberties Press in June 2014, followed by a short story collection, Children's Children, in February 2016. Her stories have appeared in journals such as Storm Cellar, Banshee, Harper's Bazaar and The Honest Ulsterman. In 2014 she was a recipient of the Arts Council NI Artist's Career Enhancement Bursary. She was longlisted for the Sean O'Faolain short story prize in 2015 and won the Harper's Bazaar short story competition in 2016. She was shortlisted for a Sabotage Award for best short story collection 2015/16. Jan has had two plays performed by local theatre companies and has recently been commissioned to contribute a story for The Glass Shore, a forthcoming anthology of female prose writers from the North of Ireland to be published by New Island in October 2016. She has read widely in Ireland, the UK and America including appearances at Cork, Dublin, Belfast and Edinburgh Book festival. In 2014/15 she collaborated with local songwriter Hannah McPhillimy to produce an EP of songs based on her first novel. Hannah and Jan performed this material at music and literary festivals throughout Europe. Artist and illustrator Benjamin Phillips lives in St Leonards-on-Sea and shares a studio in Hastings with his partner and dog. Benjamin finds inspiration in human interaction, the humour and turmoil of everyday life and the joy of repetition. His debut graphic novel Peanutborough Cucumberland (a collaboration with Yeji Yun) was published by Log Press in 2012, and he has worked for clients such as The New York Times, Virgin Media, the Jerwood Gallery and Wichita Records.

Reviews

To tell a story as short as these the prose must throughout remain pithy. The author presents the quirks and poignancy of little moments in everyday life with warmth and affection. These small snapshots of the ordinary become extraordinary when painted with her words.

Jackie Law

Carson presents innocuous stories that take place in and around Belfast. Some of these stories are hugely successful, and often haunting in their apparent transparentness.

Siobhan Denton, Sabotage Reviews

Carson's mini stories themselves oftentimes show a wonderful flight of imagination, blooming out of the seemingly everyday scenes and encounters she comes across in her home town into fully formed dramas and vignettes, myths and fantasies of their own. Testament to Carson's imagination is the range of stories and themes on offer; no two mini narratives in the book share characters or actions, each its own perfect little imaginarium that covers a whole gamut of sentiments.

-Jade Craddock, Nudge Book

Book Information
ISBN 9781910139684
Author Jan Carson
Format Paperback
Page Count 80
Imprint The Emma Press
Publisher The Emma Press
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 7mm