Closure
Humans have always valued the short story as a way to make sense of the world, and their place in it. This anthology by leading Black and Asian British writers is filled with a rich variety of stories, which, like life, rarely end in the way we might expect...

Listed in BuzzFeed's ‘22 Brilliant New Books You Should Read’
£9.99
Author(s)
Jacob Ross
Kadija Sesay
Seni Seneviratne
Leone Ross
Desiree Reynolds
Sai Murray
Raman Mundair
Bernardine Evaristo
Monica Ali
Dinesh Allirajah
Muli Amaye
Lynne E. Blackwood
Judith Bryan
Jacqueline Clarke
Jacqueline Crooks
Fred D'Aguiar
Sylvia Dickinson
Gaylene Gould
Michelle Inniss
Valda Jackson
Peter Kalu
Patrice Lawrence
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Tariq Mehmood
Chantal Oakes
Karen Onojaife
Koye Oyedeji
Louisa Adjoa Parker
Hana Riaz
Akila Richards
Ayesha Siddiqi
Mahsuda Snaith
ISBN number
9781845232887
Pages
240
Price
£9.99
Classification
Inscribe
Anthologies
Fiction, Short Stories
Ebook
Country setting
United Kingdom
Publication date
28 Sep 2015

"Surprising, delightful and full of life." Cathy Galvin

"Stunning new writing"  Maggie Gee, The Guardian

Humans have always valued the short story as a way to make sense of the world, and their place in it. This anthology by leading Black and Asian British writers is filled with a rich variety of stories, which, like life, rarely end in the way we might expect...

Listed in BuzzFeed's ‘22 Brilliant New Books You Should Read’

As the narrative mode across cultures and time, the short story form wings from oral “folktales” to myths of origin, from parables of caution to contemporary narratives of disclosure, disquiet and discovery. Humans have always valued the short story as a way to make sense of the world, and their place in it. Closure is essentially about human striving.

Closure has a variety of forms, styles and a rich diversity of theme. As a title “Closure” invited a subversive response from contributors, and this anthology is filled with stories which, like life, rarely end in the way we might expect...

 “Opening a short story anthology, there is often something to delight, something to surprise. There is also often something clever, self-indulgent, that speaks of a writer's skill but limited experience of life. Jacob Ross's careful selection of stories from black British writers restores a sense of connection with the detail of human fragility in our fragmented contemporary culture; with narrative, with the spirit. With the subtle, sometimes unconscious, responses of these writers to what Britishness means. This book is both an important contribution to the future development of the form and a celebration of some of our finest writing. Surprising, delightful and full of life.” Cathy Galvin

Cathy Galvin is the  Director www.thewordfactory.tv, the associate editor at Newsweek, a former journalist and editor at The Sunday Times, with work published in The Financial Times, the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and The Irish Examiner.

Featuring short stories by:
Monica Ali
Dinesh Angelo Allirajah
Muli Amaye
Lynne E. Blackwood
Judith Bryan
Nana-Essi Casely-Hayford
Jacqueline Clarke
Jacqueline Crooks
Fred D’Aguiar
Sylvia Dickinson
Bernardine Evaristo
Gaylene Gould
Michelle Inniss
Valda Jackson
Pete Kalu
Patrice Lawrence
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Tariq Mehmood
Raman Mundair
Sai Murray
Chantal Oakes
Karen Onojaife
Koye Oyedeji
Louisa Adjoa Parker
Desiree Reynolds
Hana Riaz
Akila Richards
Leone Ross
Seni Seneviratne
Ayesha Siddiqi
Mahsuda Snaith

Jacob Ross

Jacob Ross has been hailed as ‘a writer of formidable technical range and emotional depth’. He is Associate Fiction Editor at Peepal Tree Press.
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Kadija Sesay

Kadija Sesay is a literary activist of Sierra Leonean descent. She read West African studies at Birmingham University, then became a freelance journalist. In the mid-1990s she worked for the Centreprise Literature Development Project as the Black Literature Development Co-ordinator, and set up the newspaper Calabash. In 2001 she founded SABLE LitMag.
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Seni Seneviratne

Seni Seneviratne, born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire is of English and Sri Lankan heritage. She has given readings, performances and workshops in UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Egypt and Kuwait. She currently works as a freelance writer, mentor, trainer and creative consultant.
Her poem 'A Wider View' is included on the AQA GCSE poetry syllabus.
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Leone Ross

Leone Ross is a fiction writer and editor. She was born in England and grew up in Jamaica. Her latest novel is the New York Times’ Editor’s Choice This One Sky Day/Popisho (Faber/FSG, 2021). Described by the Times Literary Supplement as ‘a master of detail’, her fiction has been nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths award, the RSL Ondjaate award, and the Edge Hill Prize, among others. Her short stories, Come Let Us Sing Anyway are published by Peepal Tree.
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Desiree Reynolds

Desiree Reynolds was brought up in Clapham, London and started her writing career as a freelance journalist for the Jamaica Gleaner and the Village Voice.
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Sai Murray

Sai Murray is a writer, poet and graphic designer of Bajan/Afrikan/English heritage. His debut poetry collection, Ad-liberation, was published by Peepal Tree in 2013 and was described as: “social commentary at its best… wry, witty and biting… traverses standard poetry and prose” by The Jamaica Gleaner.
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Raman Mundair

Raman Mundair is a writer and artist. She was born in Ludhiana, India and came to live in the UK at the age of five. She is the author of two volumes of poetry, A Choreographer’s Cartography and Lovers, Liars, Conjurers and Thieves - both published by Peepal Tree Press.
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Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo is the award-winning author of eight books and numerous other published and produced works that span the genres of fiction, poetry, verse fiction, short fiction, essays, literary criticism, and radio and theatre drama.
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Monica Ali

Monica Ali is the author of four books, Brick Lane, Alentejo Blue, In the Kitchen, and Untold Story. 
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Dinesh Allirajah

Dinesh Angelo Allirajah (6.05.1967-9.12.2014) described his writing as “narratives of the unnoticed moment”, giving airplay to what happens “on the edge of the crowd”, where characters have to suddenly reassess who and what they are. He worked tirelessly as a believer in the liberating and educating power of the arts. The loss of his voice humorous, witty and deeply moving leaves a silence. He is survived by his mother, Evelyn, and older brother Duleep, his fiancée Vic, two sons Bruno and Rufus, and their mother, his ex-partner Jo.
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Muli Amaye

Muli Amaye was born in Burnage, Manchester. She has short stories published in Moving Worlds Journal (2009, 2012). Her MA novel was long listed for the SI Leeds Prize 2014. She’s currently editing her PhD novel for publication.
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Lynne E. Blackwood

Lynne E. Blackwood’s poetry, short stories and plays are inspired by a life rich in emotions, events and stories from people around the world she has met, influenced by her Anglo-Indian heritage sensitivities.
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Judith Bryan

Judith Bryan’s work includes Bernard and the Cloth Monkey (Saga Prize 1997), and A Cold Snap/ Keeping Mum (second, Alfred Fagon Award 2008; Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 2011). She lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton.
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Jacqueline Clarke

Jacqueline Clarke was born in Bristol to parents of Jamaican heritage. She has a short story in Voice, Memory, Ashes (Mango Tree Press). She has written a novel, a play and is currently working on a film script.
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Jacqueline Crooks

Jacqueline Crooks is a Jamaican-born writer. She writes about Caribbean migration and subcultures. She has been published by Granta, Virago and MsLexia.
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Fred D'Aguiar

Fred D’Aguiar has published loads of books. His latest poetry collection is The Rose of Toulouse (Carcanet, 2013). His most recent novel is Children of Paradise (Granta, 2014).
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Sylvia Dickinson

Sylvia Dickinson’s stories are influenced by her multi-cultural community of Cape Town. She lives near Chichester University, where she achieved an MA in Creative Writing. Her ambition is to publish a novel.
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Gaylene Gould

Gaylene Gould’s short stories have been published in various anthologies and she is completing her first novel which won the 2012 Commonword Diversity Prize. She is an artist coach and a broadcaster presenting regularly on BBC Radio 4.
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Michelle Inniss

Michelle Inniss was born in Liverpool to Trinidadian parents. She is studying for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel University. She was a runner-up for The Decibel Prize and was shortlisted for The Fish Short Story Prize. Her first play, She Called Me Mother, was produced by Pitch Lake Productions.
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Valda Jackson

Valda Jackson is an accomplished visual artist who writes fiction and non-fiction that expands the breadth of her narrative. Shortlisted for BBC Opening Lines 2015, Jamaican born, Jackson’s public sculptures and paintings are exhibited internationally.
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Peter Kalu

Peter Kalu is a novelist.  He has sung opera in German, been detained in Calabar, Nigeria, busked near Islamabad, Pakistan and felled trees in Canada. Some of this is untrue.
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Patrice Lawrence

Patrice Lawrence is of Italian-Trinidadian heritage. She writes for adults and children and has been published by A & C Black, Scholastic, Pearsons and Hamish Hamilton. Her young adult novel, Orangeboy, is forthcoming (Hodder, 2016).
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Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is an Associate Lecturer at Lancaster University. Jennifer’s novel, Kintu, won the Kwani Manuscript Project in 2013, and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize. Her short story, “Let’s Tell This Story Properly” won the Commonwealth Short Prize 2014.
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Tariq Mehmood

Tariq Mehmood grew up in Bradford. His novels include Hand On The Sun, While There Is Light and the You’re Not Proper, winner of the Francis Lincoln award for children's fiction. He co-directed the award-winning documentary Injustice. He currently teaches at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
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Chantal Oakes

Chantal Oakes is a multimedia artist, an MA graduate in Fine Art, a regular contributor to academic, community and fictional publications, and is currently writing her first historical novel.
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Karen Onojaife

Karen Onojaife’s work has been published in Mslexia, Sable LitMag and Callaloo. Her novel won second place and the Reader’s Choice Award in the SI Leeds Literary Prize 2012. She is a VONA/Voices Fellow.
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Koye Oyedeji

Koye Oyedeji is a writer and critic. His work has appeared in the anthologies, IC3 and The Fire People and featured in Wasafiri and Brand magazines. He is a contributing editor for SABLE Litmag.
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Louisa Adjoa Parker

Louisa Adjoa Parker is of Ghanaian/English heritage. Her poetry collection, Salt-sweat and Tears, was published in 2007. Her work has appeared in Wasafiri, The Forward Prize Collection, Envoi and Out of Bounds.
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Hana Riaz

Hana Riaz is the director of The Body Narratives, an organisation committed to the healing, reclamation and resilience found in Women of Colour’s stories and work. She believes in the transformatory power of love.
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Akila Richards

Akila Richards is of German and Liberian heritage. Her poetry and fiction has been anthologised in Red, and True Tales of Mixed Heritage Experience: The Map of Me, and she co-edited Ink On My Lips by Waterloo Press.
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Ayesha Siddiqi

Ayesha Siddiqi is based in London. She writes short stories and plays. She is also a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at UCL.
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Mahsuda Snaith

Mahsuda Snaith is a writer of short stories, novels and plays. She was selected as a finalist for the Mslexia Novel Competition 2013 and won the Bristol Short Story Prize and the SI Leeds Literary Prize in 2014.
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