Comma: an Anthology of Short Stories (Paperback)

This collection of short stories by 15 contemporary writers shows a remarkable variety. Journalists Mark Kermode and Paul Morley make first forays into fiction, and dramatists Amanda Dalton and Shelagh Delaney recast themselves as narrators. The anthology features leading poets as storytellers--David Constantine, Clare Pollard, Matt Welton--and novelists at the outset of their careers, including Gwendoline Riley, a Guardian new novelist of the year. Also included are Gerard Woodward and Carl Tighe, both of whom were shortlisted for last year's Whitbread First Novel Prize. Real or surreal, the stories prove that, far from being a genre of undeveloped ideas, the short story is alive and well in Britain.