Five Parts in Storgy

I am thrilled that my story, ‘Five Parts‘, has finally made its home in Storgy. They’re a brilliant magazine and I love reading the stories they publish. Many thanks to them.

‘Five Parts’ means a lot to me. When I first submitted it to (inflicted it upon) the Taverners writers’ group, they were kind, helpful but also rather confused. It was unexpected I think. It has been the first story of a very productive stream – a voice that I have uncovered, perhaps – to the left and up if that’s any help. It is unusual, but I’ve found that it’s the best way for me to write now. Surreal, perhaps obtuse, intentionally because it is the way the characters in these stories view the world, the stories are set in a world of work. I have also played around with tense because in terms of memory and the imagination the future and past can absorb each other just to add to the general confusion of life, at least as far as my narrators are concerned. The protagonists in all the stories are, at least as far as the reader sees, gender free, which is an exciting way of writing.

Storgy say:

At STORGY we search for short stories which challenge literary conventions and experiment with genre, style, form and content. We are looking for innovative fiction which examines the human condition and explores the struggle of survival. We want writing which forces the reader to face the reality in which we live, or the illusions in which we hide. We want soul, be it broken or bruised, or endless and almighty. Tell us, teach us, transform us.

You may be interested to know that ‘Five Parts’ was shortlisted for The London Magazine competition and reached the final stages of The White Review short story competition. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Bardot, our narrator, is a milliner and works hard – diligent to the extreme you might say, but even so, Bardot is given a lot of trouble by the Inspectorate…Read More