Our Winter Readings series continues with Craig Austin’s ‘P.O. Box 37864’, taken from the forthcoming twelfth issue of The Lonely Crowd. You can follow Craig Austin on twitter here. Image by Jo Mazelis.
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From Short Fiction
Winter Readings: ‘A Millennial’s Christmas in Wales’ by Dan Tyte
Dan Tyte reads a Christmas short story as part of our Winter Readings series of podcasts. Millennial identical twins Gerard and Stephanie are back home for Christmas Day. Expect family politics with all the trimmings. The stand-alone story also acts as the first chapter of Tyte’s latest novel, The Offline Project (The Big Issue called…
Winter Readings: ‘Making Thrums’ by Susanna Crossman
Our Winter Readings podcast series returns with regular Lonely Crowd contributor, Susanna Crossman, reading her short story ‘Making Thrums’, taken from Issue 11. Photography: copyright Jo Mazelis, 2019.
Winter Readings: ‘Greyhound Nights’ by Jo Mazelis
Our Winter Readings podcast series returns with regular Lonely Crowd contributor, Jo Mazelis, reading her short story ‘Greyhound Nights’, taken from Issue 12. Painting by Jo Mazelis.
Books of the Year 2019 / Part Four
Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick the best books that they have read this year. Jaki McCarrick My reading in 2019 was disparate and strange. At night I mostly read fiction, some novels I had already read or missed classics or works published a few years previously. During the day, I read books I’d been asked to review, much…
Books of the Year 2019 / Part Three
Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick the best books that they have read this year. Lisa Harding When I was gifted the much-hyped bestseller Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, I was sceptical. The grandiose claims that this a ‘once-in-a generation book’, that it is a ‘masterpiece’,’ astonishing’, ‘compelling’, an ‘instant classic’ made me weary and wary, and yes, prone…
Books of the Year 2019 / Part Two
Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick the best books that they have read this year. Jo Mazelis Around January of this year I began writing and researching a novel set in London in the 1970s. My research was varied, covering everything from music, history, politics and subculture. One of the key books, A Hero For High Times by Ian…
Books of the Year 2019 / Part One
Contributors to The Lonely Crowd pick the best books that they have read this year. Mary Morrissy Maybe because I’m far advanced into the writing of a novel, I’ve found myself reading a lot of non-fiction this year, and reluctant memoirists, in particular, it would seem. As a result, all of these writers seem to write slant about personal…
‘Grey Wizard’: The Seeds / Catherine Wilkinson
Catherine Wilkinson discusses the creative process behind her short story ‘Grey Wizard’, featured in Issue Eleven. The forensic analysis of a story is an exercise I relish, including the detection of which nuggets have snuck in from what aspects of a writer’s life or research: the ornamental eggs from Monique Roffey’s memoir (With the Kisses of His…
Writing ‘We Rip Holes in Their Paper Faces to Give Them Sight’ / Gary Budden
I don’t like reading about other people’s holidays, especially in fictional pieces acting as a thinly disguised love-letter to a location recently visited. I can’t help but get the sense of a writer showing off, perhaps wishing themselves to appear worldly or worldlier than they really are. How do we pick apart posturing from a…
An Interview with C.G.Menon
Susmita Bhattacharya C. G. Menon is the author of Subjunctive Moods, published by Dahlia Publishing. She’s won or been placed in a number of competitions, including the Fish, Bridport, Bare Fiction and Short Fiction Journal awards. Her work has been broadcast on radio, and she’s been a judge for several international short fiction competitions. She has a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in creative writing from City University. She is currently working on her first novel.Susmita Bhattacharya: What inspires you to write? C. G. Menon: I sometimes read a story or novel that I wish I’d written,…
Issue Ten Launch
Photos from the Cardiff launch of Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. All photos by Michou Burckett St. Laurent The Lonely Crowd in Cardiff were… Jane Fraser lives and works in Llangennith, Gower. She has an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Swansea University. In 2017 she was a finalist in the Manchester Fiction…
Writing ‘Dinner for Two’ / Sophie van Llewyn
Sophie Van Llewyn discusses her short story, ‘Dinner for Two’, taken from Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. At the time when I began writing ‘Dinner for Two,’ in the winter of 2017, I was, primarily, a flash fiction writer. I had a six-month-old baby, and I only had time to write when she was napping.…
Writing ‘Bottle Gardens’ / Paul Whyte
Paul Whyte discusses his short story, ‘Bottle Gardens’, featured in Issue Ten of The Lonely Crowd. I’ve lived with a relatively severe anxiety disorder for most of my life. It’s a part of who I am, and that’s ok, over the years I’ve come to accept it. Thankfully, I seem to be managing it pretty well…