Botanical Short Stories
Edited by Emma Timpany
Illustrated by Sarah Jane Humphrey
From tokens of love to neolithic burial gifts, bridal bouquets to seasonal wreaths and healing potions to artistic masterpieces, flowers and plants have a multitude of meanings and a long and complex relationship with us. They brighten our homes and delight us in garden and countryside, convey our emotions and symbolise the stages of our human lives. Throughout the anthology, interactions with the natural world bring opportunities for new beginnings, transformation, and a chance to heal.
This rich and wide-ranging collection celebrates the deep connection that exists between people and plants in fourteen short stories as varied, diverse, and global as the botanical world itself.
The writers:
Aulic Anamika – Breathing Becoming Midori
Aulic Anamika (she/they) is a postmigrant writer of colour with South Asian heritage. Apart from science fiction she writes poetry, literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and stand-up tragedies. In 2022 she founded the Queer*ing Creative Writing Group (QCWG) in Berlin.
Mark Bowers – A Clear View
Mark could be described as a smudge you can’t get rid of. Raised in England and preoccupied with Italy and Shakespeare, he is currently wrestling an obsession with the Botanical Gardens of Padua. Mark’s botanical stories are the product of grasping the nettle.
Maria Donovan
Award-winning writer Maria Donovan lives in Dorset. Her debut novel, The Chicken Soup Murder, was a finalist for the Dundee International Book Prize and her flash fiction story, ‘Aftermath’ won the Bridport Prize. Find out more about Maria on her website
Hildegard Dumper
Hildegard was born and lived in Malaysia and Singapore until she was 16. Currently living in the UK, she continues to visit the region regularly. Now retired, she is concentrating on her writing while creating a wild-life friendly garden.
Rebecca Ferrier
Rebecca Ferrier is an award-winning writer based in Edinburgh and author of The Salt Bind (due for publication in 2025 by Renegade). Her recent prose has been published by Extra Teeth and New Gothic Review, while her poetry can be found with Poetry Ireland Review (139) and The Friday Poem. She is represented by Alex Cochran at C&W.
Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth writes stories, poems, and theatre. She has worked with Manchester Literature Festival, Manchester Poetry Library, Manchester Pride, the Portico Library, Oldham Coliseum, and Yorkshire Dance, and has been published in Confingo, Lighthouse, Magma, Popshot, Spelt, Strix, and Under the Radar. elizabeth-gibson.com
Thalia Henry
Thalia Henry lives in Auckland, in Aotearoa, New Zealand, but she grew up on the South Island Otago coast. She is the author of the novel Beneath Pale Water.
Tamar Hodes
Tamar Hodes is a retired teacher for whom fiction writing is a passion. Her novels are Raffy’s Shapes, The Water and the Wine and Mixed while some of her short stories are collected in The Watercress Wife and Other Stories.
Diana Powell
Diana Powell is the winner of several short story prizes. Her novella, The Sisters of Cynvael, won the Cinnamon Press Literature Award and will be published in 2024. Her novel, things found on the mountain (Seren Books) is out now.
Clare Reddaway
Clare writes short stories and plays. Recent highlights include being long-listed for the BBC National Short Story Awards and short-listed for the Bridport Prize. Her novella Dancing in the Shallows will be published by Fairlight Books in 2024.
Priyanka Sacheti
Priyanka Sacheti is a writer from Bangalore, India. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals such as Barren, Dust Mag Poetry, Common, Popshot, Lunchticket and various anthologies. She’s working on a poetry collection. She is @priyankasacheti on Twitter.
Angela Sherlock
Stories from Angela’s collection about the Irish diaspora have been published in literary journals and anthologies, and other work has appeared in online magazines. The Garden of the Non-Completer Finisher comes from a collection upon which she is currently working, which takes its themes from the elements of the periodic table. www.angelasherlock.com
Kate Swindlehurst
A graduate of the creative writing MA at Anglia Ruskin University, Kate Swindlehurst lives in Cambridge. She has written novels and short fiction. The Tango Effect, her memoir exploring the impact of Argentine tango on Parkinson’s disease, was published by Unbound in 2020.
Emma Timpany
Emma is a writer from the far south of Aotearoa New Zealand who loves flowers, plants, and short stories. Her books include Three Roads (Red Squirrel Press), Travelling in the Dark (Fairlight Books) and Cornish Short Stories (co-editor, The History Press).
Language: English
Print length: 192 pages
Publisher: The History Press Ltd
Publication date: 4 April 2024
Hardcover