Illusion and reality on the road to Ukraine – a convoy diary
In March 2022, author Fergus Smith joined fifteen strangers driving humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This account chronicles their 1,700-mile journey delivering vital supplies during wartime, navigating bureaucratic challenges and forming powerful bonds while witnessing firsthand a nation's resilience against invasion.
Mrs Potatohead - Hannah McNeil on Character Development
So much of writing is interwoven. You can take individual aspects of a text - plotting, narration, voice, character, dialogue, action, metaphor, magic realism, and so on –
Cuba: insights for a post-Brexit Britain
I did not vote for Brexit. I thought it an idiotic, retrograde concept that would most hurt the poorest in society, accelerate the dismemberment of the United Kingdom, and lead to diminution of British influence on the world stage. I craved a validatory referendum.
The Eyes: a short story
"It’s the blood I remember most,” I said. “He nearly slipped when he came to get me.”
Kemma’s body tightened. Her eyelashes fluttered against my neck in a rapid staccato. I pulled the coarse sheet up and over her shoulder.
Fergus Smith introduces In the Shadow of the Mountain
Watch Fergus Smith introduce his first novel In the Shadow of the Mountain
Little blue pills: a study of addiction
The plastic bag of groceries sagged as Jenny put it on the counter. With the blinds drawn, the flat was dark, musty, and silent. That was good. The lack of electricity would only serve to intensify her success if she overcame the cravings.
A moment at the stationery cupboard: a short story
Of all the matters that fussed in Peter’s memory, the one that confused him most was the moment when he felt the pressure of Miss Lashari’s hand on the small of his back. What was the meaning of the gesture? What had he done to deserve such intimacy? He had always admired her.
On Rotation: a short story
Leaving the Institute at the end of the week, Fabien hoped there would be a quorum going for dinner, or at least a drink in one of the licensed hotels. He stood expectantly by the doorway hoping not to appear too desperate, but one by one his colleagues made their excuses.
Deep Water: a short story
We were talking just now about how my neighbour, Jack Montgomery, lost his young son swimming in the river last year. A tragedy it was. His mother never stopped blaming herself …
A study of soldiers in fiction
Mark Cousins’ documentary A Story of Children in Film commences at the window of the sanatorium where Van Gogh spent time recuperating. The view through the bars is compared with how the artist painted the scene in his vibrant, emotionally honest style.
Feathers: a short story
The dog must have spied some cheeky interloper through the back window: a squirrel, or perhaps a magpie on the lawn. Whining and pawing at the carpet, she forced me to rise from my desk and let her out.
The Unforgiving Slope: a short story
When Jonathan and Iona unlock the door and enter the apartment, the first thing she does is throw herself onto the sofa and search for the wifi signal on her phone.
The Power of the Union
The first single I ever bought was Geno by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. It sat in a red, drop-front box for nearly five years before I found something worthy of joining it, Billy Bragg’s Between the Wars EP.
The Fence
Last week I helped build a fence along the boundary between my garden and that of my neighbour. The old one, a rotten three-foot trellis, had collapsed under the lolloping affections of laurel and rhododendron to the extent where my dog could easily wriggle out and the horsetail could easily wriggle in.
La Casa Roja: a short story
It is the same the following night and the one after that. I lie awake in my room; the one at the end of the corridor on the top floor of the Red House. The bed has iron railings at the foot and head. They are much rubbed by human hands.
The problem with Clare
Clare Briggs is in her early twenties. She’s a teacher at a Roman Catholic primary school in East London where some of the children love her because she’s gentle, while others take advantage of her for the same reason.
The transition to civilian life: personal experience and opinion
I learned, recently, that Lord Ashcroft is undertaking a review of how soldiers are rehabilitated into civilian life. The review’s website, typical of Ashcroft’s …