This week I’m chatting to Emily Paull, author of the short story collection Well- behaved Women. This interview took place over email, but you might like to imagine us in a buzzing library on a Tuesday morning in the not-too-distant future: the Librarian’s Pick of the Week table resplendent, readers falling hungrily onto books they’ve had […]

What happened? And what happened next? These two questions, according to writer Tessa Hadley in a recent article, drive all of her short stories. I found them helpful as a way of thinking about this tricky form, and with lots of short story competitions coming up, including The Big Issue’s annual Fiction Edition, I’ve created a […]

My hands seize up. My legs are numb. My entire body feels disconnected from my head, where a brain scan would show some activity, but from outward appearance is just a blinking face and messy hair. The alternating tap tap tap of the keys and the backspace button are the only sounds. Writing is a silent […]

Two weeks have passed here in Berlin since the city more or less shut down. As with other places, there were warning signs. People wearing face masks in the supermarket. Bus drivers locking the front door as they were no longer handling coins. My son’s hands starting to peel from constant washing at school. And […]