My Shortstoreis
Stories from the Green House
These pieces were all written on the Comma Press Short Story Course facilitated by K.M. Elkes at The Green House, Bristol. The group met once a month for six months. Each session involved some critique from peers and the tutor of their own work, a close look at examples of stories from other writers as well as theory and practice of the craft.
The Green House, a quirky wooden building with a grass roof, was the venue for the first ever Comma Press Short Story course in Bristol in 2018.
We decided to name this anthology after the building because, in many ways, the Green House is similar to the heart of a short story. It’s not the easiest place to locate. It masks its boldness. It takes some effort to get inside. And when you find it, hiding in plain sight, you realise it is much bigger than it first appears and that space and light change as you move through the building, sometimes welcoming and bright, sometimes shaded and mysterious. It is a place that often surprises.
Gathered together here are the pieces produced by the course participants, a suite of varied and exciting pieces of short fiction, these stories from the Green House.
Beacons
After The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris
Lily squats at the edge of the pond poking her stick at the frogspawn, a wobble of tiny, black, jelly-clad commas. On another day they might make Richard think of his pancreas. But watching Lily fills him with a glow, like he has swallowed the sun.