Stories For Homes, Edgeways... And More New Writing

Look what came in the post today! My copy of the utterly fantastic Stories for Homes anthology, every copy of which (paperback or ebook) raises vital funds for Shelter, the UK's housing and homelessness charity. I have a short story, For Work, Yes in this wonderful book, alongside a fabulous roster of writers, and it is rare that we all get the chance to help in such a direct and concrete way through our writing. Please do buy a copy, in whatever format you like, I can't wait to get reading. The project is the brainchild of Sally Swingewood and Debi Alper and has already raised over £1000 - Debi explains a little about the background over at Shortstops.

I have had a couple of other new stories published recently, the first of which is Flavours in an e-anthology, Edgeways, published by Flight Press, the brand new short story publishing arm of the wonderful London writer's development agency Spread The Word. The anthology contains the winning stories from STW's short story prize, for which I was one of the judges, along with Bidisha and Courttia Newland. Bidisha and I were then commissioned to write new stories on the competition's theme, Ritual, for inclusion. I haven't got my copy yet but can't wait - I already know how brilliant the winning stories are...!  

It's been so long since I last blogged about any writing of mine, you might have thought there wasn't much happening, and you'd be mostly right, what with setting up ShortStops (which has taken off with a bang, it's been wonderful! Read more about that in my previous blog post), starting a PhD in Creative Writing inspired by particle physics (more on that in due course) and co-writing the Writers & Artists book on short story writing with Courttia N which will be published by Bloomsbury in Dec 2014. Busy busy busy.

But a few new very stories have sneaked in... Biography in the stunning Science & Numbers issue of Synaesthesia magazine (p72), Tunnelling in Timber Journal, and a poem, Meat Market, Smithfield, in Amaryllis. I've just this minute received the proofs of my short short story, Against Joy, which will be published in the excellent Stinging Fly next year, and was overjoyed to hear that one of my flash stories, Heavy Bones, will be included in the forthcoming Flash Fiction International anthology. This is just one in a series of anthologies edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas over the past 20 years from which I first learned about Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction 15 years ago -  and which are probably entirely responsible for me being in this mess in the first place ;) These are books I learn from over and over again and use in workshops - they are where I discovered Grace Paley and so many more amazing writers. This is a big big honour.   

Well, that's enough of a round-up for the time being. Seasons greetings and happy reading & writing to you all!

Tania x

Art & Science Flash Short Story Gym

There are still a couple of places left on this - book now and come flash with us!

Art & Science Flash Story Gym

Date: Saturday 21 April 2012

Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm

Venue: The Writers' Place, Jew Street, Brighton

with Vanessa Gebbie and special guest Tania Hershman

Learn the liberating process of flash fiction writing and add an invaluable tool to your writers’ toolkit, one that will enable you to boost your own creativity when you’re feeling uninspired, bust writers block, and create fresh voices.
Using her experience as a science journalist, and as writer-in-residence at Bristol University’s Science faculty, Tania Hershman will bring a sparklingly special scientific note to the days’ proceedings, which added to the somewhat unusual visual art Vanessa Gebbie has in store for you, will make this a fun-packed workshop with a difference – a unique programme to challenge and inspire!
Attend this workshop and you could walk away with a supply of new and original work in time to polish for the Brighton Festival Flash Slam on 19 May!
Vanessa Gebbie is author of two collections of short and flash fiction: Words from a Glass Bubble and Storm Warning, and was contributing editor of Short Circuit, Guide to the Art of the Short Story (all from Salt Publishing). Her debut novel The Coward’s Tale (Bloomsbury) was a Financial Times 2011 Book of the Year.  She teaches widely, writes poetry, has collaborated on a stage play and is a dreadful cook.

Tania Hershman’s second collection, My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions, will be published in Spring 2012. Her first book, The White Road and Other Stories, was commended, 2009 Orange Award for New Writers, and her flash fiction and short stories have been widely published and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She is founder and editor of The Short Review, an online journal reviewing short story collections, and writer-in-residence in the Science Faculty at Bristol University. www.taniahershman.com

Dirt Story

I thought hard about the title for this blog post... did I want to attract the kind of readers I never normally attract??! What is this all about? Well, on my first visit to the excellent Wellcome Collection, a place which bills itself as "a free visitor destination for the incurably curious, exploring the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future", to see their exhibition last year on Skin, I found the artworks and exhibits they had collected were really inspiring to me as a writer.

Then... I was asked by Danny at the Wellcome Collection blog to write a 2-part blog post about fiction inspired by science...

And then... I heard about the new exhibition, 'Dirt' (on til end August) and i thought, What if I write a flash story inspired by the exhibition and offer it to Danny for the blog? To my delight, he agreed. And the result, a short short story called Her Dirt, is now published on the Wellcome Collection blog. A quick taste:

She keeps her dirt, and at first her dirt is enough. But then it isn’t. So she takes to taking.

There is history here. A clean clean child. Or, rather: demands for a clean clean child. A pure-white home, a childhood washing and re-washing. Do you need to hear of distant mothers and of even further-spinning fathers?

You can read the rest here this is the first piece of flash fiction to be on the WC blog - please feel free to leave your comments there and let them know if there should be more!  

On the subject of MORE short stories... the petition against the BBC's planned cuts to short stories on Radio 4 is nearly at 6000 signatures. The fight is not over, please sign if this is something you care about. 

Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge: Science-inspired fiction and poetry open mic night!

A wonderful time was had by all last night at the Grant Bradley gallery at Bristol University's Changing Perspectives science-inspired fiction and poetry open mic night. I was host for the evening and, to kick the whole thing off, read my stories Experimentation (from the lab coat I'd written the story on for the Changing Perspectives exhibition) and Healing Wounds.

I was then more than delighted to hand the mic over to 14 readers, who read short stories, poems and excerpts from longer works, all in some way taking science as their starting off point. We moved from oxo cubes to cockroaches, aspirin to drowned cities, speculative Wessex fiction to gifted children, Brian Cox (!) to Pingu the penguin.


I have to say that I don't know about anyone else but I found it all extremely inspiring! We had such a range of readings, across many "genres" (although I hate labels), different styles and tones and subject matter. I loved it all: thank you to Jo, Cath, Stewart, Mary, Mazzy, James, Caleb, Amy, Franca, Tom, Colin, Gavin, Andy and Katrina!

Becky Jones - PhD student from the biochem lab I've been embedded in and organizer of the Art of Science competition - and I had the impossible task of picking just four people to give these wonderful books (above) to, so congrats to Jo, Caleb, Amy and Franca - but really congratulations to everyone, it was a wonderful celebration of using science as inspiration, whether you have any scientific background or not, none is necessary. As Einstein said: Imagination is more important than knowledge. I think he would have enjoyed last night.

Win beautiful books - come and read your science-inspired fiction and poetry!

(cross-posted with the Bristol University Science Faculty Blog)

On April 19th at 6pm at the fabulous Grant Bradley Gallery in Bristol, I am hosting an open mic night for fiction and poetry in any way inspired by science. This is part of the amazing Changing Perspectives month of exhibitions and activities bringing together art and science.. This event is completely FREE to attend (but booking is required, click here) and you can win one of several great prizes, including these books:

Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

When It Changed: Science Into Fiction, an Anthology edited by Geoff Ryman

The White Road and Other Stories by Tania Hershman (yes, that's me)

I will be judging, and the theme of the evening can really be interpreted however you like - any genre, any style, as long as something scientific in some way was the inspiration. (I wrote more on my thoughts about this on the Wellcome Collection blog)

To prepare for the open mic, I will be jointly running a science-inspired fiction workshop on Wed 13th April, which once again is completely FREE, at the Grant Bradley Gallery, 2-4.30pm - booking is required, see here. Come and write!