DIANE SIMMONS
WRITER
.jpg)
Autumn/Winter 2023/4
I was pleased to have my story 'Blood' on BBC Radio Bristol recently. Adam Crowther interviewed me about the story and my new novella 'A Tricky Dance'. We also chatted about NFFD and our anthology launch in Birmingham in June.
I am not entering many competitions at the moment, so I was particularly pleased to be longlisted in the latest round of Bath Flash Fiction Award with my story 'Dulwich, 1943'. It will be published in their anthology next year.
I'm very excited to share that my new novella-in-flash 'A Tricky Dance' was published by Alien Buddha on 7 January 2024. Set in 1970s Scotland, the novella follows teenage Elspeth as she navigates the challenges of friendship, family life and ambition, discovering that even in the face of adversity life can hold endless possibilities.
I very much enjoyed reading my story from the latest flash fiction festival anthology 'Someone Might Know' at an event in Bath in February.
I have been busy judging both the Flash500 flash competition and the online flash fiction festival competition in the past few weeks. Reports have now been written and the winners announced. Judging is always a challenging thing to do, but the more I do, the more I enjoy doing it.
Jude Higgins and I enjoyed selecting the flash fictions for this year's flash festival anthology. This is the sixth anthology we have done. Hopefully, the anthology will be off to the printers soon.
I was very pleased to be able to announce recently that National Flash Fiction Day will hold an anthology launch in Birmingham next year. It will take place on Saturday 16 June. I have been busy selecting and interviewing judges for next year's micro competition. The team at NFFD have now decided a theme and have an editor lined up to co-edit the anthology. Submissions open on 1 Dec and we will be announcing more details soon.
I enjoyed reading my flash 'Another Chance' at a reading event organised by Jude Higgins in September. It was lovely to see lots of flash writers I knew there and to meet new people.
Spring/Summer 2023
I was very excited to be asked to go on the BBC Radio Bristol Upload show on 27 July. Elliot Darby was standing in for Adam Crowther. I have been on the show before but this was the first time I have read live but I think it went well. I read three stories: 'Under Water', 'Pushed Around' and 'All Wrong'. Elliot then interviewed me about flash fiction. I really enjoyed the experience. You can listen to the readings and interview on my 'Interviews and Reviews' tab.
It was great fun at the flash fiction that was held in Bristol from 14 to 16 July. I introduced readings from the new National Flash Fiction Day anthology and ran a panel with Karen Jones and Jude Higgins on entering competitions. I enjoyed reading my story Cabbage Pie on the Friday evening presenters' slot.
I was pleased to be longlisted in New Zealand's micro fiction competition. A hundred words is hard! You can hear me performing my story here
Funny is difficult to do so I was very pleased to have a flash Christmas Eve published in the comedy edition of Ellipsis 13 Hoochie Coochie recently.
NFFD anthology editor Karen Jones and guest editor Damhnait Monaghan were very busy earlier in the year selecting flashes for this year's anthology Scratching the Sands. I have been very busy behind the scenes doing admin for the process and also running the NFFD microfiction competition.
I have started writing a new novella-in-flash based on family history, though progress is slow. I was pleased that a novella I finished writing last year was longlisted in Bath novella-in-flash competition, but disappointed not to get further. I was very cheered by the positive comments I received from the judge though and will carry on submitting it.
It was exciting to receive my copy of Flash Fiction Five a little while ago and to see all the stories Jude Higgins and I had selected for the anthology. It includes my story They Wouldn't Believe.
Autumn/Winter 2022/3
I was pleased to be interviewed by Pen To Print magazine recently. You can read the interview here
I was very excited to learn recently that I won 2nd Prize in the Reflex Flash Fiction Competition with my flash Cabbage Pie. You can read it here
Submissions for the 2023 NFFD anthology on the theme of TIME, as well as entries to our Microfiction Competition will open on 1 Dec and run until 15 February.
After spending much of the last two years writing novellas-in-flash, I have taken things a bit easier this year and have started submitted more individual flashes. I'm pleased that it's paid off and was really pleased to have been longlisted in the prestigious Quiet Man Dave competition run by Manchester Metropolitan University.
I've really enjoyed helping Jude Higgins run the four face-to-face flash fiction festivals, but have decided to step down as Co-Director. It's been a lot of fun and I'm really grateful to Jude for the opportunity.
After a successful flash fiction festival in the summer Jude Higgins and I have been busy selecting and editing stories for the latest festival anthology. Hopefully, that will go off to the printers shortly.
I have been busy getting things ready for the NFFD competitions and submissions which open on 1 Dec. Judges and anthology editors are all selected and ready to go.
Spring/Summer 2022
National Flash Fiction Day was great fun this year and all the contributor copies have now been sent out. And We Lived Happily Ever After can be bought from the NFFD bookshop.
I very much enjoy writing historical flash fiction so I was particularly excited to receive an acceptance for Sundial magazine recently. You can read The New Hospital for Women here
I have been busy with National Flash Fiction Day recently -- both the anthology preparation and FlashFlood. Ingrid and I are both really pleased about variety and quality of the submissions FlashFlood have received this year.
I was pleased to have a flash shortlisted for Flash 500 in the last quarter. It's a flash I particularly like so will try and find a new home for it.
It was lovely recently to received my copy of In the Belly of the Whale, my copy of Ellipsis 11. It contains my historical flash Idle.
Jude and I are busy with the Flash Fiction Festival. We are off to do some wine tasting soon to stock up the bar. Always my favourite job.
.jpg)
Autumn/Winter 2021/2
The fourth Flash Fiction anthology, edited by Jude Higgins and myself, has now been published. It contains my flash All I Hear.
I'm very pleased to receive an acceptance for my historical flash Idle. It will be published by Ellipsis in their historical forthcoming edition.
I received my writer's copy of '!00 Voices' recently. The anthology was edited by Miranda Roszkowski and produced to celebrate a 100 years since some women in the U.K. achieved voting rights. I talk a little about grief and it contains my flash A Collection.
I spent much of last year writing novellas, so was thrilled when two got long listed in the prestigious Bath novella-in-flash award. The shortlist results should be out by the end of March.
Jude HIggins and I are both very excited that booking for the flash fiction festival is now open. It takes place in Bristol and runs from 8 to 10 July. You can read more about it here
I was very pleased that my novelette-in-flash reached the final six in the Retreat West competition. Unfortunately, it got not further, but am proud of having reached the shortlist two years in a row.
After being long listed, my flash All Wrong has been included in the Bath Flash Fiction Award anthology Snow Crow. it was exciting to receive my copy recently. It can be bought from the Ad Hoc Fiction website.
I have judged a couple of competitions recently: Flash 500, the Flash Fiction Festival Cup Cake competition and a Flash Festival pottery throw down competition on the theme of flowers. I enjoy judging and hope to do more of it in 2022.
I have been honoured in the last year or two to provide quotes for the back of quite a few flash collections by authors I admire. It's not always an easy thing to do to find the right words, but it's always a thrill to see the published book out in the world.
Ingrid and I have been busy with NFFD. and I have been particularly busy running the micro fiction competition. The results are now out and can be viewed on our webpage here. The editors area still reading the anthology subs but the results should be out soon. This year's theme for the anthology is FREEDOM and it's exciting to have Karen Jones and Chris Drew as editors.
I haven't done much submitting this year (apart from novellas) and hope to rectify that in 2022.
Spring/Summer 2021
To celebrate National Flash Fiction Day, Adam Crowther interviewed me on BBC Radio Bristol. We chatted about the day, about how it had come about and he played flash fictions by some local writers: Judy Darley, Jason Jackson, Judge Higgins, John Wheway, Kathryn Aldridge-Morris and Alison Powell.
Thrilled to bits that my flash All Wrong was longlisted in the Bath Flash Fiction Day Award and will be published in their anthology later in the year.
Very pleased that my flash Number 43 was be published by Ellipsis Zine on 30 June. You can read it here
After a great deal of work by lots of people, am thrilled that the NFFD 2021 anthology Legerdemain has gone out to contributors.
Spring has been a busy time with NFFD. FlashFlood was a tremendous success this year with a record number of entries.
I have been busy writing my new novella-in-flash, but have managed to submit a couple of things. A last minute entry to New Zealand's Micro Madness paid off and my flash No Record was shortlisted. You can can hear me read the 100 word flash here
I was recently interviewed by Adam Crowther on Radio Bristol. We talked about all things flash and he played my BFFA shortlisted flash Dancing.. I will put a link to the interview up shortly. Adam also played my flash Over It on his show on 3 June.
I am excited to be judging Flash 500 this quarter. Submissions close on 30 June.
Jude Higgins, my fellow flash fiction festival Director has been busy the last few months running day festivals online. Together with Robert Barrett I was a judge for the Great British Bake Off themed flash competition. I will also be judging The Cup Cake Competition.
Winter 2020/21
Over the moon to find out that my new novella-in-flash was long listed in the Bath novella-in-flash competition.
I was thrilled recently to recently find out that my novelette in flash has been promoted from the long list to the shortlist in the Retreat West competition. Unfortunately, it got no further than the shortlist which was disappointing.
I have been busy with National Flash Fiction Day -- running the micro fiction competition as well as other things. We were thrilled with the number of entries we received and also the number of submissions to our anthology.
We had fun at the launch of the Bath anthology Restore to Factory Settings. It was of course online this year which has its advantages, but it's not quite the same as going to the pub. The anthology includes my flash Dancing.
In December, I managed at last to submit my new novella-in-flash to Bath novella in flash competition. I spent a great deal of time on the novella and learnt so much. Fingers crossed.
I have recently started a new novella though progress is slow as I have been busy with other things. I've recently proof read some one's novella which was a time consuming but satisfying project.
I've not really written anything for competitions recently, but of course managed something for National Flash Fiction Day on the theme of magic. Not really in my comfort zone but I got there in the end.
.jpg)
Summer/Autumn 2020
I was busy writing my novella-in-flash for much of the summer as well as doing a few writing other jobs. I was asked to proof read the Bath Short Story Award anthology and was also busy on and off doing proof reading and other things to get NFFD's anthology ready.
As well as my novella-in-flash, I also wrote a novelette-in-flash for Retreat West's competition and was thrilled to get on the longlist. Fingers crossed I get further.
I haven't written much flash apart from my novella and novelette but I managed to send something into Bath Flash at the last minute and was over the moon to get it shortlisted. This meant that for the fifth year in a row, I was in their anthology. It is called Restore to Factory Settings.
I have been thrilled with the reviews I have been receiving for 'An Inheritance' and was particularly excited to get such a fab review from Becky Tipper in TSS. You can read it here
Spring 2020
I am one of two judges for this year's Micro Madness Competition. The competition, for stories of up to 100 words is run by New Zealand's flash fiction team.
I am reading a few stories to help out the team at Bath Short Story Award. I had a year off last year as I was so busy, but now the festival has been cancelled, I felt I had time.
Ingrid Jendrzejewski and I are very busy with National Flash Fiction Day at the moment. We recently announced which stories will be included in this year's anthology. Ingrid and Sophie Van Llewyn are this year's editors and they had a difficult time choosing the stories. Standard was unusually high this year. Ingrid and I have both been busy getting all the stories ready to be typeset by the wonderful Katie Marsden.
I was very pleased to be longlisted in the latest Reflex Fiction flash competition.
Jude Higgins and I were very sad to recently have to cancel this year's Flash Fiction Festival, but due to the coronavirus we really had no choice. We plan to be back next year.
Things are a little quiet on the writing front, but I am plodding away with my novella-in-flash and am particularly enjoying all the research.
The picture on the left was taken at the launch of An Inheritance.
Winter 2019/20
The launch of An Inheritance on 29 February went well, as did the online launch I held on Facebook on 2 March. Thank you to everyone who came along or participated.
Finding a Way is now available to buy on Kobo.
It was thrilling to have my story A Long Way Away performed on Radio Bristol recently. The story is from my forthcoming novella-in-flash, An Inheritance
I was very pleased that Finding a Way won Cover Wars recently. The stunning artwork on the cover is by artist and writer Jeanette Sheppard. You can see more of her work here
Tommy Dean published an interview with me recently. You can read it here.
My story Dance of the Cuckoos was published by Splonk magazine on 1 January. Thrilled to have story in this prestigious magazine. You can read it here
I am very excited to share the cover of my flash pamphlet An Inheritance. It will be out on 28th February, with a launch on 29 February.
Am excited to have my longlisted story Thirst published in the Bath Flash Fiction Anthology With One Eye On the Cows. This is BFFA's fourth anthology of stories from its competitions and I am proud to have a story in them all.
The National Flash Day anthology submissions and micro competition opened on 1 Dec. They will be open until 15 February. This year's theme for the anthology is FAMILY.
Very excited to have a publication date for An Inheritance: 28 February 2020. I will be holding a launch in Bath on 29 February and an online launch on 2 March. More details soon.
I have been busy recently working on a new novella-in-flash. It's early days yet, but it's fun to be starting a big project again.
I am very pleased that Ad Hoc Fiction have nominated my story Six Months Yesterday for The Pushcart Prize.
.jpg)
Autumn 2019
Booking has opened for the flash fiction festival next year. It will run from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 of June. More details here
Very excited to have a publication date for An Inheritance: 28 February 2020. I will be holding a launch in Bath on 29 February and an online launch on 2 March. More details soon.
I was very please to share recently that I am now a director of the Flash Fiction Festival.
I very much enjoyed being a judge for the third quarter of Flash 500's flash competition. It felt a huge responsibility to pick the winners, but I was very happy with the ones I chose.
I have recently been busy working on my forthcoming flash fiction novella which I hope will be out sometime in 2020. On V.Press's suggestion, I have written two new stories for the collection and also have been busy doing edits.
I have been busy choosing the stories for this year's flash fiction festival anthology. Writers should hear the outcome of our choices soon. With thoughts again on the festival, Jude Higgins and I have been busy tasting food for next year's festival which runs from 19-21 June. I am pleased that I am now a director of the festival, along with founder Jude Higgins.
The date for National Flash Fiction Day next year is going to 6 June. We are again going to be holding it at The Herbert Gallery in Coventry. More details will be available soon. The micro competition and anthology submissions will be open from 1 December 2019 to 15 February 2020.
Summer 2019
My novella-in-flash, 'An Inheritance', has been accepted for publication by V Press. V Press is a very highly respected poetry and flash publisher and I am thrilled and excited about the news. In the next few months I will be busy editing the book and getting it ready for publication. This is rather lovely, as editing is my favourite part of writing.
I am very excited to be a judge for the Flash 500's flash competition. Entries close on 30 September. You can enter here
Much of June was spent preparing for the flash fiction festival. This year's festival was held at Trinity College in Bristol on the weekend of 28-30 June. I was, once again, hospitality organiser, a role that gets increasingly demanding as the festival grows. Despite all the hard work, I really enjoyed the weekend. Lots of fun was had and feedback has been positive. Together with publishers Ad Hoc Fiction, V Press and Dahalia Press and writers Damnhnait Monaghan and Susmita Battacharya I was on a panel at the festival talking about the process of publishing with an independent publisher.
In June I was very pleased to join another local book group to discuss Finding a Way. I also talked about flash in general and read flashes by Santino Prinzi and Thomas Malloch.
The launch of the National Flash Fiction Day anthology was held in Coventry this year on 15 June. We wanted to take it to a part of the UK where more people could access it and we were pleased that the day itself proved very popular.The launch was held at The Herbert Gallery who were fab hosts. Stephanie Hutton and Ingrid Jendrzejewski both ran popular workshops and we were really pleased to be joined by lots of new faces. I facilitated a panel on publishing and entering competitions and interviewed Ingrid, Steve Campbell and Jude Higgins. We also had readings from contributors to the the anthology and I read my story Odette.
I was a FlashFlood editor again this year. This was a rather overwhelming as we had over a 1000 entries. The stories were published every five or ten minutes throughout NFFD.
Spring 2019
I was obviously disappointed when Finding a Way got no further than the shortlisted at The Sabouteur Awards, but it is such an honour to be shortlisted and we had a really good night at the awards, meeting up with lots of friends.
I am thrilled that 'Finding a Way' has been shortlisted in The Saboteur Awards. I have been invited to the ceremony on 18 May in Birmingham and am looking forward to catching up with friends there and meeting new people. Thank you to everyone who has voted for my book. You can vote here until the 12 May.
Very excited to be doing a workshop at this year's Flash Fiction Festival. I will be doing a panel on publishing with an indie press with the writers Damhnait Monahan and Susmita Bhattacharya and publishers Ad Hoc Fiction, V. Press and Dahilia Press. You can read more about the festival here
As well as being busy with the Flash Fiction Festival, NFFD and promoting my book, I have managed to write a few flashes. I have also had an idea for a new novella in flash and hopefully will have time to write it soon.
My local bookshop, Oldfield Park Bookshop in Bath has been very supportive of my book and has sold lots of copies in the shop.
Pictures have been coming in from the launch of Finding a Way and the picture on the left has to be one of my favourites. It was a brilliant night and I was touched by the number of people who came.
I have been very busy with NFFD for the last few weeks, processing anthology submissions. Everything is read anonymously, and as I am a micro judge, Tino Prinzi is collating all the micro submissions.Prize winners for micro comp have now been announced and I was very pleased that most of my favourites got in the top ten.
I am very happy with how sales of Finding a Way are going. I've had lots of messages from people saying how much they've enjoyed the book and also how much it has helped them. Several people have bought the book to give to grieving friends. I couldn't ask for more. I've also had some wonderful reviews on the Ad Hoc Bookshop, Goodreads and Amazon.
I'm very pleased to have been asked to read my stories at a local book group and to talk to the group about flash fiction. Am really looking forward to it and hope to do more of this kind of thing in the future.
Winter 2018/9
I was very pleased to have my story Another Chance featured on the Adam Crowther show on BBC Radio 4 Bristol on 6 February.
I have been very busy arranging things for the launch of Finding a Way. The books go on sale on Feb. They have arrived and look wonderful, way beyond what I could have imagined. I am having a launch in Bath, but as space is limited, I am having an online launch on Facebook. This will be on 11 Feb at 8--9 pm. It is an open group and you can access it here
Booking for the Flash Fiction Festival is now open. I am once again Hospitality Co-ordinator and I'm really looked forward to the weekend. It's on 28th, 29th and 30th of June. You can book here
I was very pleased to start the new year off with an acceptance from Ellipses. My previously publishes story Saturday Nights will be published in issue 5 of the magazine.
On Saturday 19 January I attended the launch of Flash Fiction Festival Two and the BFFA anthology Things Left And Found By the Side of the Road. The launch was held in Bath and it was fun to be joined by so many writers who have work in the anthology. I read my story Just Perfect.
Autumn 2018
I was very excited to find out in September that my novella-in-flash was shortlisted for publication by V. Press. Unfortunately, it got no further, but they were very encouraging and all is not lost as they asked me to contact them again next summer with a view to possible publication.
On 6 October I joined fellow flash writers Karen Jones, Jude Higgins, John Wheway, Santino Prinzi, Matt Thorpe-Coles, Michael Loveday and Ken Elkes for an evening of flash readings at St James’ wine vaults in Bath. All the readers are part of the Flash Fiction Festival UK team.
I found out in November, that my story Processing won second prize in the HISSAC flash fiction competition which was a tremendous boost. It’s available to read here.
The anthology from this year’s Flash Fiction Festival, Flash Fiction Festival Two, was published in November. It was edited by Jude Higgins, Santino Prinzi and myself and I really enjoyed reading all the submitted stories. The anthology includes my flash, Haggis which was written in David Gaffney’s workshop at the festival.
On November 15th, I was a guest on the Adam Crowther show on BBC Radio Bristol. I recorded my story A Collection and Adam and I talked about the inspiration for the story, about my forthcoming collection and writing in general. Listen here.
Summer 2018
June is a busy time in the flash world and I was thrilled that my story Dividing Time was shortlisted in New Zealand's Micro Madness. You can read the story here.
I was honoured to be asked to be a FlashFlood editor this year. FlashFlood goes live every NFFD. This year’s FlashFlood features my story Saturday Nights. You can read it here
June 16th was National Flash Fiction Day in the UK and as usual there was lots going on. I joined in a flash walk organised by Bristol Flash. The stories, performed by actors, were all winning stories from a competition Bristol Flash had organised on the theme of ‘Urban Landscapes’. Later, I went to some really good workshops run by local writers and NFFD Director Calum Kerr. After a trip to the pub we went along to Bedminster library for the launch of the 2018 NFFD anthology. I read my story A Picnic in the Park. Following Calum Kerr’s resignation as Director, it was decided that Tino Prinzi, Ingrid Jendrzejewski and I would run NFFD in the future. We are all very excited by this opportunity and hope that NFFD will thrive.
The 20th, 21st and 22nd July saw this year’s Flash Fiction Festival take place in Trinity College, Bristol. I had a very busy role as Hospitality Organiser. The weekend was a great success and I found time to take part in some brilliant workshops. I was too tired though to join in the impromptu karaoke.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been very busy working on my collection of flashes Finding a Way, but have found time to enter a few competitions and have had several short and long listings. I was very pleased that my WorcsLitFest story My Dad was shortlisted and is going to be published in their latest anthology, together with two other stories of mine.
Spring 2018
I was very excited to have my story A Collection included in the 100 voices for a 100 years project. The project was set up to commemorate a hundred years since women got the vote in the UK. There are some very interesting stories and commentaries. You can listen and read here.
Much of spring has been taken up with writing stories for my flash collection, but I have also been very busy organising accommodation and food for the Flash Festival in July. I have, however, found time to enter a few stories to competitions and am pleased to have had two shortlistings in Flash 500, a longlisting in Bath Flash Fiction Award and to also have my novella-in-flash longlisted for Bath Flash Fiction Award. I was busy much of May as a reader for the Bath Short Story Award and was pleased to have many of my suggestions picked for longlisting.
Being included in the National Flash Fiction Day anthology has been for quite a while, my main goal of the writing year. Having my story A Picnic in the Park included in this year’s anthology Ripening was just wonderful. This is my sixth year in the anthology and I was very pleased to have my name included in the list of authors on the back cover.
My story A Long Way Away was recently published by historical flash publisher FlashBack Fiction. You can listen to it or read it here.
Winter 2017/18
On January 25 I attended the launch of the Bath Flash Fiction Anthology The Lobsters Run Free and the Flash Fiction Festival anthology Flash Fiction Festival One. It was a fun event from readings from writers both local and those who had travelled quite a way. I read my story Six Months Yesterday.
I was pleased to be longlisted in the Retreat West annual prize and My story Just Perfect was longlisted in February for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and will appear in their anthology later in the year.
In March, I was thrilled to sign a contract with Ad Hoc Fiction to write a full collection of flash fictions. The collection will be on the theme of grief and is provisionally called Finding a Way.
2017
The year could perhaps best be described as a year of narrow misses. It started well with a longlisting in 2016 Tears in the Fence Flash Competition. The year carried on with numerous shortlistings in competitions such as Retreat West’s annual and themed competitions; Flash 500; TSS; Exeter Flash. I was also very excited to be shortlisted in the Bath Flash Fiction Award, getting down to the final six.The judge, David Swann, made a fab comment about my story: 'In turn, these decisions meant that I was forced, myself, to overlook a small treasure: Six Months Yesterday. I hated doing this – because it's a superb piece, written with true emotional intelligence'. It was lovely to receive such a wonderful comment. I was also pleased that a short story of mine was commended in The Mid-Somerset Festival. I also achieved a few longlistings in places such as Ink Tears and Reflex.
In 2017, I also had stories published in the following publications: The Write Path (NAWG); Flash, I love You (Paper swans); New Flash Fiction Review; DNA magazine; Wired (WorcsLitFest), Sleep is a Beautiful Colour (NFFD), To Carry Her Home (BFFA), What was Left (Retreat West)
2017, was the year of the first Flash Fiction Festival organised by Bath Flash Fiction and held in Bath. I was thrilled to be asked by Jude Higgins to join the team as Hospitality Organiser. The festival went well, with over 90 guests, some from as far away as the USA and quite a few attending from Europe. Jude Higgins was mostly responsible for the success of the weekend, but there was a hardworking team supporting her. I was extra thrilled that because I had a story accepted for this year's NFFD anthology, I was asked to read it at the launch of the anthology on the Saturday night of the festival. An exhausting weekend, but very good fun.
The year also seemed to include lots of fun things on the writing front. In September, as a shortlisted author, I was invited to the launch of the Retreat West anthology What was Left. It was held at Waterstone’s in Reading and it was fun meeting up with writing chums, Jude Higgins, Amanda Huggins, Joanna Campbell and Jo Derrick and I was pleased to at last meet Retreat West organiser, Amanda Saint.
Despite, once being terrified, I now very much enjoy reading my stories to audiences and always particularly enjoy the readings that Bath Flash organise. In March, I read at St James Wine Vaults along with Carrie Etter, Tino Prinzi, Kevlin Henney, Jeannette Sheppard and Michael Loveday. In the summer, I read my story Launch Pad at the Bath Fringe event More Banksy than Bonnets. The event was run by the cool Stokes Croft Writers. I was also honoured to read at the launch of Jude Higgin’s fab flash collection The Chemist’s House. It’s a stunning collection and it was lovely to read with Jude, Tino Prinzi, Conor Haughton, Meg Pokrass and Michael Loveday. I was thrilled to be asked to read my story A Collection at October’s Talking Tales in Bristol. This well attended event was part of the Bristol Festival of Literature. In November, I was off to Worcester as usual to read three stories at the launch of their anthology Wired.
For the second year running, I was a reader for the Bath Short Story Award. I really enjoyed helping to choose the long list and several of my suggestions made it, with two ending up getting prizes.