books

In addition to my latest sole-authored publication The Future of Serious Art (2020) these are some recent publications I’ve contributed to. There are eight anthologies: four fiction, three non-fiction and one poetry.  Scroll down for a list of my sole authored books. But first, the most recent anthologies:

Collision: Stories from the Science of CERN (Comma Press, Feb 2023). The latest great Comma Press anthology - based on close collaboration with with the scientists at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider.  Each story in the anthology tackles a different aspect of the research done by the CERN physicists - but takes it in a million different directions, speculative, realistic, apocalyptic, futuristic, even extraterrestrial. My story, Afterglow, takes on the idea of risk and damage. Other authors include Steven Moffatt, Adam Marek, Lucy Caldwell, Margaret Drabble and others.

The Cuckoo Cage: New Origin Stories (Comma Press, 2022) It was a pleasure to contribute a story called Lady Swing to this collection of all-new contemporary superhero stories inspired by acts of protest, rebellion and resistance from different periods of British history, pairing with historians to ground our narratives in realistic circumstances and human motivations. My story takes in workers' rights, witches, hauntings, superstitions, rural life and the feudal system. Other authors include Courttia Newland, Lisa Luxx, Gaia Holmes, Luan Goldie and many others. 

Dangerous Women: Fifty Reflections on Women, Power and Identity (Unbound, 2022). An anthology of writing on women in history, activism, the arts and culture as well as examination of women's role in everything from war to the peace movement. It was an honour to contribute an essay to this collection, alongside Nicola Sturgeon, Irenosen Okojie. Jo Clifford and many others. You can read an early version of my essay here.

Resist: Stories of Uprising (Comma Press, 2019; paperback 2020). These are stories based on real-life uprisings, rebellions, protests and demonstrations, paired with essays by historians laying out the context of each fiction piece. I contributed a story called Occupied Territory, an action adventure based on the Iron Age queen Boudica’s uprising against the Roman Occupation in AD 60 or 61. My story’s about trauma, rage, war, revenge – a fast paced full pelt race into conflict. It was incredibly interesting reading up on life in the Iron Age. Other authors include Kamila Shamsie, Eley Williams and Nikita Lalwani.

Mainstream: Stories from the Edges (Inkadescent, 2021). This is a collection of sharp and fresh contemporary fiction. I contributed an original speculative fantasy adventure called The Initiation, about a collectivist rural settlement that uses a ritual to harvest energy from its pubescent members and share it out amongst the whole community. When one young character, Zakhifa, dares to speak up in protest, she is ostracized and punished. Other authors include Julia Bell, Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal and Neil Bartlett

Creativity and Resistance in a Hostile World, ed.Sarita Malik, Churnjeet Mahn, Michael Pierse and Ben Rogaly (Manchester University Press, 2020). I contributed the foreword to this collection of essays, which look at different forms of creative resistance against prejudice and inequality, taking the arts and ‘creative industries’ as a site of radical transformation and social change.

Black Film British Cinema II, ed. Clive Nwonka and Anamik Saha (Goldsmiths Press, 2021). An anthology of all-new, original film writing on race, cinema, representation and aesthetics. The collection covers a huge amount of ground, from queer film making to issues around curating, exhibiting and promoting film, as well as the reality of working within film.

Borderless: A Transnational Anthology
, ed. Saba Vasefi, Melinda Smith and Yvette Holt (Recent Work Press, 2021). An anthology of newly commissioned poetry from women all over the world, especially those from minoritised, marginalised and less well-represented backgrounds. I contributed a new poem called The Promise. 


Anthology contributions 2019-2021
As sole author:
  • Seahorses, a novel, May 1997 (Flamingo/HarperCollins)
  • Too Fast To Live, a novel, May 2000 (Duckworth)
  • Venetian Masters: Under the Skin of the City of Love, literary travel memoir, February 2008 (Summersdale)
  • Beyond the Wall: Writing A Path, travel reportage, May 2012, (Seagull Books). For more details click here.
  • Asylum and Exile: The Hidden Voices of London, narrative non fiction, March 2015, (Seagull Books). For more details click here.
  • The Future of Serious Art, non fiction, November 2020 (Tortoise Media). 
My 3rd book
OLDER ANTHOLOGIES:
  • The Age of Anxiety, essays, ed. Sarah Dunant and Roy Porter, October 1996 (Virago). Other contributors include Susie Orbach, Linda Grant, Mary Midgely and Michael Ignatieff.
  • Typical Girlsfiction anthology, ed. Susan Corrigan, 1997 (Sceptre). Other contributors include Tracey Emin, Kristin Hersh, Emily Perkins and Guinevere Turner.
  • Between You & Me: Real Life Diaries and Letters by Women Writers, ed. Charlotte Cole, 1998 (Livewire/The Women's Press). This is a collection of classic and contemporary writing. The classic authors include Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Bronte, Mary Wollstonecraft and Katherine Mansfield.
  • Wild Ways, fiction anthology, ed. Margo Daly and Jill Dawson, 1998 (Sceptre). Other contributors include Joanna Briscoe, Louise Doughty and Ali Smith.
My 2nd book
  • Wild Girls, fiction anthology, 1998, combines shorts from Typical Girls and Wild Ways, above, as well as a collection called Disco Biscuits, about club culture (Sceptre).
  • 25x4, essay anthology celebrating 25 years of Channel Four, ed. Edward Behrens, 2008 (Channel 4 - available here). Other contributors include Melvyn Bragg, Karen Armstrong, Richard Dawkins, Jon Snow and Nick Broomfield.
  • Women of the Revolution: Forty Years of Feminism, ed. Kira Cochrane, 2010 (Guardian Books/ Random House) Anthology of feminist writing from the Guardian, 1970-2010. Other contributors include Andrea Dworkin, Natasha Walter, Ariel Levy, Germaine Greer, Linda Grant, Beatrix Campbell, Hannah Pool and countless other great women. 
    My 1st novel
  • Venice City Picks, ed. Heather Reyes, 2010 (Oxygen Books, available here). Anthology of literary writing about Venice. Other featured writers include Donna Leon, Michelle Lovric, Henry James and Patricia Highsmith.
  • Too Asian, Not Asian Enough, ed. Kavita Bhanot, October 2011 (Tindal Street Press). Anthology of original short fiction by British Asian writers. Other writers include Anjali Joseph. For more details read my announcement here.
  • The Arvon Book of Literary Non Fiction, ed. Sally Cline and Midge Gillies, 2012 (Bloomsbury). Anthology of pieces of and about non-fiction. Other writers include Dava Sobel, Colin Thubron, Lisa Appignanesi, Susie Orbach and many others. Details here.
  • Fifty Shades of Feminism, ed. Rachel Holmes, Susie Orbach and Lisa Appignanesi, 2013 (Virago). Anthology of newly commissioned pieces about women's emancipation. Other writers include Susie Orbach, Shami Chakrabarti, Kate Mosse and many others.
  • Edgeways, ed. Courttia Newland, 2013 (Flight Press). Anthology of new fiction. Other writers include Toby Litt and Tania Hershman. Details here.
  • Resist: Stories of Uprising (Comma Press, 2019; paperback 2020). These are stories based on real-life uprisings, rebellions, protests and demonstrations, paired with essays by historians laying out the context of each fiction piece. Other authors include Kamila Shamsie, Eley Williams and Nikita Lalwani.
  • Mainstream: Stories from the Edges (Inkadescent, 2021). This is a collection of  contemporary fiction.  Other authors include Julia Bell, Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal and Neil Bartlett
  • Creativity and Resistance in a Hostile World, ed.Sarita Malik, Churnjeet Mahn, Michael Pierse and Ben Rogaly (Manchester University Press, 2020). I contributed the foreword to this collection of essays.
  • Black Film British Cinema II, ed. Clive Nwonka and Anamik Saha (Goldsmiths Press, 2021). An anthology of original film writing on race, cinema, representation and aesthetics. 

As editor and art director:
  • The Stealth Corporation (cover image below), 2000, a luxury art publication featuring fiction, journalism, art, photography and graphic design from, amongst others, Zoe Mendelson, Stephanie Theobald, Francesca Gavin, Shez Dawood, Scarlett Thomas, Carolin Kurz and Gavin Fernandes.

The Stealth Corporation cover
image, by Gavin Fernandes