Carcanet Press

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Editor
Awards
Reviews

A collection of specially commissioned short stories mapping the contemporary urban environment. The city is at once strange and familiar in these stories. Friendships break up or never quite begin across dark, decaying bars; lives are relived on home video, deaths pawed over in a crime photographer's developing fluid. One woman's paranoia about being mugged or burgled leads to her questioning her own sanity; another, driving home late one night, wonders how the events in her life have led inexorably to this moment. Real or surreal, despairing or defiant, these stories prove that far from being a genre of offcuts and unfinished ideas, the short story is very much alive and well in Britain. Featuring Michael Bracewell, Shelagh Delaney, David Constantine, Amanda Dalton, Paul Morley, Clare Pollard, Gwendoline Riley, Anthony Wilson, Michael Symmons Roberts, Gerard Woodward, Tariq Mehmood, Emma Unsworth, Tony Sides, Wayne Clews and Jeanie O'Hare.

Ra Page is the founder and Editorial Manager of Comma Press. He’s the editor of numerous anthologies, including The City Life Book of Manchester Short Stories (Penguin, 1999), co-editor of The New Uncanny (winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, 2008) and Litmus, voted one of 2011’s books of the year ... read more

Awards won by Ra Page Winner, 2012 Financial Times Book of the Year
(Shi Cheng)

Praise for Ra Page 'Read this book.'
Liz Lochhead 'An agreeably accomplished collection populated, as promised, by some intriguing characters.'
City Life 'Get with the zeitgeist and buy yourself a copy of Bracket.'
Leeds Guide 'Fills you with hope for the form.'
Time Out 'Short fiction is in good hands.'
The Independent 'If we need the uncanny --and I suspect we do -- then we also need it updating... laudable.'
Book of the Week, The Independent 'A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.'
Book of the Week, Time Out 'Delightful and disturbing.'
The Independent on Sunday 'It's not too great a stretch to see Comma as the literary equivalent of Factory Records.'
The Herald 'An inspiring tribute to inquiring minds.'
The Guardian 'A very alive, illuminating and good-natured collection.'
The Observer 'The pairings work brilliantly, giving stereoscopic vision... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent 'Exquisite... delectable.'
New Scientist 'There is something about the defiance of language in this story.'
China Daily 'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.'
Financial Times
'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.'
The Independent 'Shi Cheng is a sort of mind map of both modern China, and also of what itâs like to be human.'
Asian Books Blog
'An exhilarating read.'
The Short Review 'Fascinating reading.'
Financial Times 'It might have been of interest to these pre-Mansfield masters to learn that there was a hidden country of prose out there; great short story writers, then and now, create countries of their own.'
Michael Caines writing about Morphologies in the TLS blog 'A worthy addition to the immense collection of criticism.'
The Guardian 'Works brilliantly... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent, Book of the Week
'Exquisite... delectable'
New Scientist.

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Comma Edited by Ra Page Imprint: Publisher: Comma Press Available as: Description Editor Awards Reviews A collection of specially commissioned short stories mapping the contemporary urban environment. The city is at once strange and familiar in these stories. Friendships break up or never quite begin across dark, decaying bars; lives are relived on home video, deaths pawed over in a crime photographer's developing fluid. One woman's paranoia about being mugged or burgled leads to her questioning her own sanity; another, driving home late one night, wonders how the events in her life have led inexorably to this moment. Real or surreal, despairing or defiant, these stories prove that far from being a genre of offcuts and unfinished ideas, the short story is very much alive and well in Britain. Featuring Michael Bracewell, Shelagh Delaney, David Constantine, Amanda Dalton, Paul Morley, Clare Pollard, Gwendoline Riley, Anthony Wilson, Michael Symmons Roberts, Gerard Woodward, Tariq Mehmood, Emma Unsworth, Tony Sides, Wayne Clews and Jeanie O'Hare. Ra Page is the founder and Editorial Manager of Comma Press. He’s the editor of numerous anthologies, including The City Life Book of Manchester Short Stories (Penguin, 1999), co-editor of The New Uncanny (winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, 2008) and Litmus, voted one of 2011’s books of the year ... read more Awards won by Ra Page Winner, 2012 Financial Times Book of the Year (Shi Cheng) Praise for Ra Page 'Read this book.' Liz Lochhead 'An agreeably accomplished collection populated, as promised, by some intriguing characters.' City Life 'Get with the zeitgeist and buy yourself a copy of Bracket.' Leeds Guide 'Fills you with hope for the form.' Time Out 'Short fiction is in good hands.' The Independent 'If we need the uncanny --and I suspect we do -- then we also need it updating... laudable.' Book of the Week, The Independent 'A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.' Book of the Week, Time Out 'Delightful and disturbing.' The Independent on Sunday 'It's not too great a stretch to see Comma as the literary equivalent of Factory Records.' The Herald 'An inspiring tribute to inquiring minds.' The Guardian 'A very alive, illuminating and good-natured collection.' The Observer 'The pairings work brilliantly, giving stereoscopic vision... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.' The Independent 'Exquisite... delectable.' New Scientist 'There is something about the defiance of language in this story.' China Daily 'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.' Financial Times 'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.' The Independent 'Shi Cheng is a sort of mind map of both modern China, and also of what itâs like to be human.' Asian Books Blog 'An exhilarating read.' The Short Review 'Fascinating reading.' Financial Times 'It might have been of interest to these pre-Mansfield masters to learn that there was a hidden country of prose out there; great short story writers, then and now, create countries of their own.' Michael Caines writing about Morphologies in the TLS blog 'A worthy addition to the immense collection of criticism.' The Guardian 'Works brilliantly... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.' The Independent, Book of the Week 'Exquisite... delectable' New Scientist.	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog Not a Moment Too Soon: Frank Kuppner read more Coco Island: Christine Roseeta Walker read more that which appears: Thomas A Clark read more Come Here to This Gate: Rory Waterman read more Near-Life Experience: Rowland Bagnall read more The Silence: Gillian Clarke read more
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Comma

Edited by Ra Page