Alan’s third collection, published by Floodgate Press was launched last week at Voce Books, Birmingham. Some opinions: ‘Alan Beard writes with a candour and emotional truth that almost hurts to take in, awakening our humanity and attentiveness in a way that much fiction fails to.’ Luke Kennard; ‘Resolutely unsentimental but attuned to tenderness and poignancy, Alan Beard is the real deal’. Wendy Erskine; ‘His pared down prose reads, at times, like poetry. There are little moments of beauty, transcendence; they shine like shards of mirror. Sometimes the voice feels like an incantation, a rant. There’s humour, too.’ Amanda Smyth

More information about the book and where to buy here.

Some pictures from the launch (thanks to peri cimen for photos):

From the publisher’s site: Egeaus Press is very pleased to present this latest collection of uniquely strange visions from the great Charles Wilkinson.

Charles’s stories inhabit a psycho- geographic hinterland quite unlike any other. An often unfathomable dread lurks at the heart of his leafy rural communities and unmappable suburbs. More here.

Rachel was delighted to receive her prize from comedian Helen Lederer. Now, we’re hoping her unpublished novel ‘The Way of Nellie May’ gets a publishing deal and does well. Any news will be posted here. Details of Rachel’s win here.

Last year (2024) Natalie (Shoshana Lavan) was shortlisted for her flash ‘Three Cornered Hat’; this year she is one of the finalists with ‘A Poster of Three Cats’. Well done, Natalie! Details here.

Mick Scully’s 2008 collection of connected stories has been included in a top 5 of crime books set in the Midlands by the Big Issue:

Update 5/11/25: Rachel was announced runner up in this competition. Details here.

Old People are the New Influencers! – how plundering ‘granny’ gave Rachel Sambrooks her lust and love for comedy on the page… read on… Read the interview here.

Alan’s story ‘What Days Are Like’ was placed third in the Cambridge prize competition, run by theshortstory.co.uk (TSS Publishing). You can read it on their site here.

*update Sept 2025: Rachel has been shortlisted now! Watch this space for further updates.

Rachel’s novel ‘The Way of Nellie May’ is one of twelve selected for the unpublished novel shortlist. Read more here (scroll down for the unpublished list). Here’s some information about what she might win: ‘The Unpublished Comedy Novel Winner is published by Hera Books and receives huge attention. The Unpublished runners up win either a place on an MA in Comedy Writing or writing mentorship from Falmouth University, a place on an MA by Research in Creative Writing or writing mentorship from the University of Hertfordshire, or a Platinum Package from Fuzzy Flamingo.’

Good luck Rachel!

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Amanda’s new novel has received brilliant reviews already. For example, in The Times (link here) – ‘Ireland meets Trinidad – it’s a winning literary combination’. Below are some pictures from her well attended launch at Waterstones in Leamington.

Alan’s story ‘Afternoon Drinking’ – also the title of his new collection coming out in Autumn 2025 from Floodgate Press – was published April 13th. Link here.