We’d thought we’d highlight a few new novellas in flash and flash fiction collections that will be available at the festival bookshop. We’ve two on this post and more to come on other posts soon. Quite a few authors coming have new books out!
Writer and co-director of National Flash Fiction Day, UK< Diane Simmons, who is the regular judge for the online flash fiction festival mini-contests, is on a panel at the in-person festival with Jupiter Jones and Fiona J Mackintosh (check out the workshop page) talking about Historical Novellas in Flash. And she’s just about to publish her fifth novella-in-flash, Bereft of Reason, detailed below.
Our second author on this post is Dave Alcock, a writer from Devon who’s been to the festival many times and this year is only able to come on the Friday afternoon and evening readings. You’ll still be able to buy his new collection though in the bookshop. It’s was published by Arroyo Seco Press in April and is available on Amazon Scroll down to read a review by Francine Witte, and find more reviews on Amazon.
Bereft of Reason by Diane Simmons
Diane Simmons new flash fiction novella Bereft of Reason will be published by V. Press on 1 June and is now available to pre-order.
Set in 1890s northern England, Bereft of Reason is inspired by a shocking crime that occurred in the author’s history.
Praise for Bereft of Reason
Diane Simmons is an accomplished writer with an excellent eye for period detail and an acute ear for dialect, both on display in her latest, dazzling work, Bereft of Reason. Set at the tail end of the nineteenth century, the story concerns a horrific crime and explores the rippling consequences experienced by both family and the wider community. Simmons steps seamlessly between characters, never allowing the reader to settle in judgement. In so doing, she enlarges our capacity for empathy, even when faced with an abhorrent act. This is a well paced, page turner peopled with distinct characters I won’t soon forget.
Alison Woodhouse
Bereft of Reason uses a fascinating ensemble cast structure to tell a compelling story about a crime in the 1890s. The multiple points of view allow Diane Simmons to work through a variety of male and female perspectives upon the central event, in a way that draws out implications and rewarding resonances for our contemporary world. Simmons fuses plot, action and dialogue so skilfully for character-led dramatic realism, as fans of her four previous novellas-in-flash will know. But in effortlessly wielding an ensemble cast structure to deliver a study of how society deals with crime, it feels like Simmons is expanding her writing – and the genre of historical flash fiction – in brand new ways. It’s wonderful to see.
Michael Loveday
Things Like This by Dave Alcock
Dave Alcock is a writer based in Devon, England. His short forms have appeared in a range of online journals that includes Every Day Fiction, Flash Frontier, MacQueen’s Quinterly, The Journal of Radical Wonder, and The Dribble Drabble Review. His work has been nominated for Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net. Things Like This is his debut
Praise for Things Like This
Things Like This is a collection shaped by memory, family, change, and the fragile beauty tucked inside ordinary life. These pieces move through grief, childhood, love, aging, and wonder, finding what is tender and unsettling in the everyday. Alcock’s language is vivid, lyrical, and sharply observant, rich with image and rhythm. He brings emotional depth to small moments, turning them into scenes that feel immediate, luminous, and quietly lasting. A beautiful read.
—Francine Witte, author of RADIO WATER
