Cornwall in Short

At the beginning of 2024, I launched a literary magazine – Inkfish – with my friend, brilliant writer and editor Peter McAllister. Our third edition will come out on October 31st, embracing the Hallowe’en-y seasonal atmosphere. Our second edition celebrated Cornish writers and artists and was so lovely to assemble that we decided to release the prose from it as a paper anthology, to be released in December, with a reading event in Cornwall. Below is a little more detail about this fantastic short story collection.

On the rocks at Carne, flotsam washes in alongside memories of lost love. A family picnic at Lostwithiel leads to the rediscovery of ancient Cornish language stories. In The Three Ferrets at St Ives, a weary barmaid dreams of sailing away on a yacht with a dubious stranger, and a man in search of love is tricked by the Queen of Fey at Rough Tor.

This captivating anthology showcases Cornwall’s most exciting contemporary writers, both established and emerging. This is an amazing range of new short stories and non-fiction that makes Cornwall feel fresh and unexpected; writing that engages with folklore, history, and landscape in an emotionally compelling way, celebrating a love of Cornish history and wildlife. Moving through time and space with each story, you’ll find contemporary retellings of folklore, compelling memoirs, and flash fictions that brim with tension and discovery.

Authors in this Anthology: Rebecca Johnson Bista, Anastasia Gammon, Tim Hannigan, Kate Horsley, Clare Howdle, Adrian Markle, Tim Martindale, P. T. McAllister, Rob Magnuson Smith, Mark Plummer, Katherine Stansfield, Jackie Taylor, Karen Taylor, Shelley Trower, Emma Timpany, Tom Vowler, Ella Walsworth-Bell, Elaine Ruth White and Becky Wildman.

Cover Design: The work of our cover artist is rooted in the Cornish landscape. Mark Holman’s creative practice draws on parallel lives as a horticulturalist and visual artist. His beautiful ink drawing of a foxglove growing on the coast of Marazion reflects his work on sustainability and the entanglement of humans and plants within the environment.