'Disturbingly and darkly beautiful...Not to be missed.'
—Jane Yolen
‘Wonderfully told stories of flight and flood, of limitation and transformation... in turn foreboding and life-affirming.’
—Carys Bray
'[She] masters the art of quiet disturbance'
—Liz Jensen
Paperback now available
'Claire has the gift of making the ordinary very sinister, and the extraordinary uncomfortably real'
—Robert Shearman ‘Wonderfully told stories of flight and flood, of limitation and transformation... in turn foreboding and life-affirming.’
—Carys Bray
'[She] masters the art of quiet disturbance'
—Liz Jensen
Publisher: Papaveria Press
ISBN: 9781907881619
Available to order through your local independent bookshop or online from:
Wordery
Waterstone's
Book Depository
Amazon UK
A limited edition illustrated hardback was published in 2016 by Unsettling Wonder, an imprint of Papaveria Press. It was longlisted for the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize
Stories in books
'Feeding the Peat' in Uncertainties IV (Swan River Press, 2020)
'Leonora, Fly!' in Leonora Carrington: Living Legacies (Vernon Press, 2019)
'Lichen Storey' in An Invite to Eternity (Calque Press, 2019)
Bremen (Nightjar Press, 2017)
The Unwish (Nightjar Press, 2017)
'People Watching' in Thought X eds. Ra page & Rob Appleby (Comma Press, 2017)
'Is-and' is reprinted in The Best British Short Stories 2017 ed. Nicholas Royle (Salt)
‘Is-and’ in Dead Letters ed. Conrad Williams (Titan Books, 2016)
‘Voice Marks’ in Spindles:Stories from the Science of Sleep eds. Ra Page & Penny Lewis (Comma Press, 2015)
'Making Sandcastles' in Beta-Life eds. Ra Page & Martyn Amos (Comma Press, 2015)
'Glass, Bricks, Dust' is reprinted in The Best British Short Stories 2014 ed. Nicholas Royle (Salt)
'Glass, Bricks, Dust' & accompanying essay in New Fairy Tales, eds. John Patrick Pazdziora and Defne Çizakça (Unlocking Press, 2013)
'Into the Penny Arcade' is reprinted in The Best Horror of the Year Volume 5, ed. Ellen Datlow (Nightshade Books, 2013)
'Marionettes' is reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 24, ed. Stephen Jones (Constable & Robinson, 2013)
Marionettes and Into the Penny Arcade are published as chapbooks by Nightjar Press (2012).
'In the dressing room mirror' in Still (Negative Press, 2012) ed. Roelof Bakker
'Bird Doll' in The Screaming Book of Horror ed. Johnny Mains (Screaming Dreams Press, 2012) .
'Harness & leash for a fly' in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, eds. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Harper Voyager, 2012)
'A Secret Herbarium' in letterpress art book Type: A Collection made by SJ Bradley at The Print Project (2012)
'Booklovers' in Quickies, a Flashtag Manchester anthology (2011)
'For the true anatomy' in Murmurations: An Anthology of Uncanny Stories about Birds ed. by Nicholas Royle (Two Ravens Press, 2011)
'Feather Girls' is reprinted in The Best British Short Stories 2011 ed. Nicholas Royle (Salt, 2011)
Stories in print journals and zines
'The Night Owl' in Issue 1 of Cutaway Magazine.
'Moth Light' in Issue 5 of Magpie Magazine.
'Grandma's House' in Patricide 03 Surrealism and the Uncanny.
'The Sand Ship' in Issue 7 of A cappella Zoo and reprinted in Issue 10, Bestiary: The Best of A cappella Zoo.
'The Woman Who Wore Frost Slippers' in Issue 1 of Unsettling Wonder.
'Casting Ammonites' in Shadows and Tall Trees 5.
Stories available online
'The Two Sisters' commissioned for Chapel Gallery's Festival of Tales
'Feather Girls' (also translated into Arabic here)
'A Book Tale' (Kindle edition here)
'Pomona Fair'
'Chorden-under-Water'
'Raven'
'Growing Cities'
'The Sand Ship'
'Cities found on a Wednesday afternoon Preston'
'Stone Sea'
There are videos of readings of some of my stories here.
Selected audio recordings are available on MacGuffin here.
There's a Pseudopod podcast of 'Into the Penny Arcade' here.
There's An Endless Sky podcast of 'The Unwish' here.
Non-fiction
'Saturation Point' in Arc 2.1 Exit Strategies
'Exploring the Ice Lab' Arc blog
'We're Worrying about New Death' Arc blog
'Changing Tales' a Full Circle Arts Digi Commission
Commissioned performances
The Word Dress for Litfest
'A Book Tale' is a contemporary fairy tale for adults inspired by the post-industrial Lancashire landscape. The story features a dress of moorland grass, another of smoke and feathers and one made from the pages of old books. I read the story in a specially commissioned dress made from seven copies of Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales as part of Litfest 2010.
The Stone King for Litfest and Lancaster City Council
'The Stone King' is a new fairy for all ages inspired by the landscape and history of Lancaster's Williamson Park. I read the story in locations around the park as part of Litfest 2012. The Stone King will be released as an audio storywalk later this spring.
'Gold Threads' follows a woman as she recounts the lost streets and buildings of Preston that form a ghost map given to her by her father. The story was commissioned as part of Preston Guild 2012 along with stories by David Gaffney and Richard Evans. The stories were available as an audio trail during the Guild week and performed live in locations around Preston city centre.
'Pomona Fair' is a story about the tales we tell and those we don't, and a giant. It's inspired by Manchester's mysterious Pomona Island. The story was commissioned to be performed at the 2014 Blog North Awards.
‘Making a Breath’ is a story inspired by the legendary Manchester animation studio Cosgrove Hall. The site-specific commission was part of a six-writer project about ghost places and the re-appropriation of spaces. I read the story along with Sarah Butler, Sarah-Clare Conlon, Kate Feld, David Gaffney and Nicholas Royle as part of Chorlton Arts Festival 2015.