Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 11

Contemporary fiction from Britain, Ireland, America and Nigeria, from huge cities to very small towns and on several journeys. We're at work, at school, in homes, gardens, cities, in the countryside and on the road. There are crises, violence, tragedy, vengeance, reflection and reconciliation. Here are vividly evoked times and places, characters of every kind, and insights into their circumstances and relationships.

Editor: Stephen Moran. Fiction by JL Bogenschneider, Ursula Brunetti, Carol Dines, Derek Dirckx, Sarah Evans, Jeff Ewing, David Frankel, Ray French, N. Jane Kalu, Marylee MacDonald, Jaki McCarrick, Gerard McKeown, Jay Merill, Diana Powell, John Saul. With an introduction by Gina Challen.

Here are fifteen stories transporting us, like the dreams of fifteen nights. In one we remember a beloved teacher, a hated one and our friends. In another we are on a bus somewhere in England, on the way to losing our virginity. On another night we wake from a heartbreaking haunting in the changing seasons of Lagos, Nigeria. Or we're in Northern Ireland practicing with a friend's shotgun, and wondering if we can trust him. Then again we're in the Irish borderlands in a tale of neglect and revenge. We travel through remote parts of the US, a fugitive from the past, and hook up with a loner in his last days. Or we're in a surreal family circus, with a remarkable cast of characters, living out a poignant adventure. A nun travels on leave through small town America in search of family history and closure. We agonise over a doctor's ethical dilemma and a professor's marital crisis, drenched in a rainstorm. We're in Newport in Wales, trying to stay off the booze and achieve a reunion. We take something that's not really ours and turn over in our minds what would have happened if we hadn't. We spy on a swimmer as she swims naked in the sea every day till it all goes wrong. In a nightmare, there's a river, a forestry work camp, two labourers living on-site, and a dead body. We meditate and scroll through thoughts on the people, situations and how we interact with those around us, friends and neighbours.