Mark Haddon

Margaret Drabble

Ramsey Campbell

Lara Williams

David Constantine

Alan Beard

Gaia Holmes

Bernardine Bishop

Lucie McKnight-Hardy

Matthew Holness

Something has fallen away. We have lost a part of ourselves, our history, what we once were. That something, when we encounter it again, look it straight in the eyes, disgusts us, makes us retch. This is the horror of the abject. Following the success of Comma's award-winning New Uncanny anthology, The New Abject invites leading authors to respond to two parallel theories of the abject - Julia Kristeva's theory of the psychoanalytic, intimate abject, and Georges Bataille's societal equivalent - with visceral stories of modern unease.

Tales of Modern Unease

The New Abject

A stunning new collection of stories about sex, drugs and cities. Winner of the Tom Gallon award, regular contributor to Radio Four, and published across the spectrum of story magazines and anthol- gies, Alan Beard has long been recognised as a master of the modern short story. By turns comic and unsettling, these stories are framed by the complex urban landscapes of the West Midlands and deal with the everyday reality of modern living. 'Here is life that goes on in today's factories, pubs and council flats, observed with humour...

Taking Doreen Out of the Sky

You don't have to say

Paul Theroux

Saleem Haddad

Sarah Schofield

Gerard Woodward

Adam Marek

Christine Poulson

Lucie McKnight Hardy

Mike Nelson

Meave Haughey

Karen Featherstone

SOMETHING HAS FALLEN AWAY. We have lost a part of ourselves, our history, what we once were. That something, when we encounter it again, look it straight in the eyes, disgusts us, makes us retch. This is the horror of the abject. Following the success of Comma’s award-winning New Uncanny anthology, The New Abject invites leading authors to respond to two parallel theories of the abject – Julia Kristeva’s theory of the psychoanalytic, intimate abject, and Georges Bataille’s societal equivalent – with visceral stories of modern unease. As we become ever-more isolated by social media bubbles, or the demands for social distancing, our moral gag-reflex is increasingly sensitised, and our ability to tolerate difference, or ‘the other’, atrophies. Like all good horror writing, these stories remind us that exposure to what unsettles us, even in small doses, is always better than pretending it doesn’t exist. After all, we can never be wholly free of that which belongs to us.

Kit de Waal

Joel Lane

Bobby Nayyar

C.D. Rose

Sharon Duggal

Jendella Benson

Balvinder Banga

Malachi McIntosh

Sibyl Ruth

Few cities have undergone such a radical transformation over the last few decades as Birmingham. Culturally and architecturally, it has been in a state of perpetual flux and regeneration, with new communities moving in, then out, and iconic post-war landmarks making way for brighter-coloured, 21st century flourishes. Much like the city itself, the characters in the stories gathered here are often living through moments of profound change, closing in on a personal or societal turning point, that carries as much threat as it does promise. Set against key moments of history – from Malcolm X’s visit to Smethwick in 1965, to the Handsworth riots two decades later, from the demise of the city’s manufacturing in the 70s and 80s, to the on-going tensions between communities in recent years – these stories celebrate the cultural dynamism that makes this complex, often divided ‘second city’ far more than just the sum of its parts.

A City in Short Fiction

The Book of Birmingham

Alan Beard

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