These Seven edited by Ross Bradshaw

review by Maryom

A couple of weeks ago, I went along to Nottingham Waterstones for the launch of These Seven, a collection of short stories commissioned by Nottingham City of Literature featuring authors with a connection to the city and part of its bid for UNESCO City of Literature status. Having heard the authors reading from their work I wanted to read more.....

The collection opens with a story from John Harvey, a crime author best known for his Charlie Resnick series set in Nottingham. Ask Me Now although featuring DS Tom Whitemore of the Public protection team, isn't so much a crime story as one dealing with domestic problems - but problems that could easily slip into abuse.

In Megan Taylor's Here We Are Again, two old friends are meeting up after several years apart. It's told in the first person and captures that expectant but nervous feeling of waiting for someone, when you hope they'll turn up but are afraid that they won't.

Brick's Simone the Stylite is a short graphic novel - Simone has always been a self-reliant person, with no need for masses of friends, but now maybe she's taken things to extremes by taking up residence in the tall Aspire sculpture at Nottingham university. From her vantage point, she sends out notes, little words of wisdom that inspire people. The university though seems quick to institutionalise her and even cash in on their famous hermit!

A Foreign Land by YA author Paula Rawsthorne looks at the plight of failed asylum seekers from the point of view of a young boy. Jay is ten and, with his mum, dad and young sister, has lived in Nottingham for six years. He can't remember his 'homeland' of Darfur but from what he hears it doesn't like the sort of place he'd like to visit. Then his family lose their appeal, and have to return to Sudan.....everything will be ok, won't it? things can't really be as bad as the News claims? Told from Jay's point of view, this is a timely reminder of the terrors that make people flee their own country in a desperate bid to find safety.

Alison Moore will be known to many as author of the Booker-listed The Lighthouse, but her short story is in a very different vein. In Hardanger, a dysfunctional family go away to Norway on a short break ....but there the story changes from one of personal relationships to something rather more in the ghostly or horror style.  The ending left a decidedly uneasy creepy feel behind it.

Shreya Sen Handley's Nimmi's Wall followed on this vaguely supernatural theme. A young Indian woman, recently moved to Nottingham, investigates the strange mist-shrouded wall at the bottom of her garden...and encounters some very strange people there.

The collection rounds off with A Time to Keep a story by, possibly Nottingham's most famous writer, the late Alan Sillitoe, about a teenager, Martin,who nurses a passion for books. In them he finds a world more appealing than his everyday one, but his cousin Raymond has decided its time to introduce him to the grown-up world of 'work'......

Although differing greatly in tone I loved each one, and I'm now intending to seek out more work by these authors.


Publisher - Five Leaves
Genre - short story anthology

These Seven - book launch

These Seven - and Sheelagh Gallagher

On Saturday evening, Nottingham Waterstones was the scene for a rather unusual book launch - with SIX authors coming together to help promote the short-story collection These Seven.

The stories were commissioned by Nottingham City of Literature, as part of its bid to become a UNESCO city of literature. It's very much a 'home-grown' product; the six new stories are from authors living and writing in the city today, all members of Nottingham Writers Studio, the seventh from the late Alan Sillitoe, probably Nottingham's most famous writer, and the collection is published by Nottingham publisher Five Leaves

David Belbin

After complimentary drinks and nibbles, and a chance to chat to authors we knew and some of the other guests, the evening quickly got down to the serious stuff - readings from the stories.

John Harvey

Brick

Megan Taylor

Paula Rawsthorne

First up was David Belbin reading from Alan Sillitoe's story A Time to Keep, followed by Megan Taylor with Here We Are Again set in Nottingham's Old Market Square, John Harvey with Ask Me Now, a crime story, and Paula Rawsthorne with A Foreign Land, a topical tale about refugees - all read just enough to tempt me to read more. The next author up, Brick, faced a problem - his contribution, Simone the Stylite, is a graphic novel, so not the easiest of forms to read aloud, but he managed well. Alison Moore's Hardanger took us on a dysfunctional family holiday and in Shreya Sen Handley's Nimmi's Wall, a family find something odd at the bottom of their garden.
Afterwards, Sheelagh Gallagher from Bromley House Library in Nottingham talked about how the bid for City of Literature had come about, and of projects for extending reading and writing into all areas of the community from schools and libraries to women's groups, public spaces and prisons.

Shreya Sen Handley

Coming from Nottinghamshire, but having lived in Derby for over 30 years, we're always a little torn between the two cities. This time though, they aren't competing against each other so we're happy to back Nottingham.

Alison Moore

There was time afterwards to buy a copy of the book  - and, of course, get it signed by all six authors while further nibbles and drinks were available. 

Click on the links to read more about the bid for Nottingham to become a UNESCO city of literature, more about the authors themselves, Bromley House Library

Waterstones are very active in promoting authors and their books throughout the country and you can very easily search for what's happening near you through their website.