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Something Happened

Madeline Cash

‘She is thorough in a way that is off putting to people. It makes for a good secretary, not a good conversationalist.’

Fiction by Madeline Cash.

Sidney

Brad Phillips

‘People say it’s healthy for couples to fight, it means there’s still passion. I’ve always assumed that was bullshit, but now I’m not sure.’

Fiction by Brad Phillips.

Duty

Diana Evans

‘How do you love a monster when they are no longer monstrous?’

New fiction by Diana Evans.

Diane

Avigayl Sharp

‘I lied about my age and I lied about my location and I lied about being horny.’

Fiction by Avigayl Sharp.

The Museum Guard

J.M. Coetzee

‘Do they strike people as a strange couple? He does not know, does not care.’

Fiction by J.M. Coetzee.

Private View

Sophie Collins

‘Being recognised as part of a couple thrilled me; I felt legitimised. John had a life, a full life.’

Fiction by Sophie Collins.

Embrace

Kevin Brazil

‘Love is a concept about which I have long been very sceptical. I have seen the damage that can be done, and can be justified, in the name of love.’

Fiction by Kevin Brazil.

Bitter North

Alexandra Tanner

‘Eight years in, Hal felt like another her, somehow.’

Fiction by Alexandra Tanner.

Lígia

Victor Heringer

‘Today, three years after I befriended him to see him die, the idea of losing Sr Mendes has left me all mixed up.’

A short story by Victor Heringer, translated by James Young.

Armance

Fleur Jaeggy

‘I don’t think much of the very silly, even gullible, person that I am.’

Fiction by Fleur Jaeggy, translated by Gini Alhadeff.

Honeymoon

Allen Bratton

‘On all sides he is surrounded by old people: jowly liver-spotted men in wrinkled suits, brown-toothed women in Thatcher drag, holding forth with tiresome decorum on coal imports, road safety, the economy of Northern Ireland.’

Fiction by Allen Bratton.

Cracked Plate

Nicola Dinan

‘Later that day, Emma had thought of Nina while Toby fucked her in bed. Isn’t that fucked? Thinking about the other girl he was fucking. Her friend.’

Fiction by Nicola Dinan.

Bed of Nails

Kathy Stevens

‘I should warn you, she said, ketchup on her chin, on the back of her hand. I like to have sex a lot.’

Fiction by Kathy Stevens.

The Material

Camille Bordas

‘Rehearsing in front of the mirror was for actors, according to them, not comedians. It was for vain people. A good comedian was the opposite of vain, they said.’

Fiction by Camille Bordas.