Kathy Page’s short fiction has been widely anthologized, translated and broadcast on BBC Radio. A new collection, Paradise & Elsewhere will be published by Biblioasis in April 2014.
“The rubble of an ancient civilization. A village in a valley from which no one comes or goes. A forest of mother-trees, whispering to each other through their roots; a lakeside lighthouse where a girl slips into human skin as lightly as an otter into water; a desert settlement where there was no conflict, before she came; or the town of Wantwick, ruled by a soothsayer, where tourists loose everything they have. These are the places where things begin… New from the author of The Story of My Face and Alphabet, Paradise & Elsewhere is a collection of dark fables at once familiar and entirely strange; join the Orange Prize-nominated Kathy Page as she notches a new path the through wild, lush, half-fantastic and half-real terrain of fairy tale and myth.”
“Kathy Page embraces and illuminates the unknown, the creepy, the odd, the other and the rest of us. Her unforgettable prose is moody, shape-shifting, provocative and always as compelling as a strong light at the end of a road you hesitate to walk down…but will.” Amy Bloom
“This vibrant, startlingly imaginative collection reminded me–as few collections have done in recent years–of both where stories come from, and why we need to tell them. Kathy Page is a massive talent: wise, smart, very funny and very humane.” Barbara Gowdy
Early stories are collected in As in Music. Her story The Second Spring After Liberation was awarded the Bridport Prize for short fiction in 1994.
As in Music
By turns poignant and bizarre, shot through with unexpected humour, but also provocative and disturbing, these stories negotiate a skillful path through the border territory between realism and fantasy. In “Just Dial This Number,” Madeline, anger personified, fights a losing battle against the onset of love; in “The Silver Man,” a teenage mother struggles to come to terms with her baby son. A haunting and eloquent collection of short stories, which confirms Kathy Page’s power and versatility as a storyteller.
Published by Methuen, UK.
‘A collection of writings which, through a sophisticated cast of lost souls, studies the meaning of love, civilization, sex battles and kissing. Funny, poignant and bizarre by turn.’ New Woman
‘Accomplished and imaginative stories….show that Page can be every bit as good as Ballard.‘ The Guardian
‘Page has a rare insight into those moments when characters confront the shape and meaning of their lives. The writing is sparse, often bleak, but always poetic and provocative.’ The New Statesman
‘Page’s style is scalpel sharp.‘ The Observer
Other stories by Kathy Page can be found in:
Canadian Notes and Queries, 2013
The New Quarterly, 2012, 2013
Ars Medica, Fall 2009
Great Expectations, eds.Crane & Moore, House of Anansi 2008
Gas and Air, eds. Dawson & Daly, Bloomsbury, 2002.
10 British Women Writers, ed Barbara Puschmann-Nalenz, Reclam, 2000.
Signals, ed. Jane Rye, London Magazine Editions, 1999.
Cheatin’ Heart, eds. Longinotto & Rosenthal, Serpent’s Tail, 1999.
Wild Ways, eds. Margo Daly & Jill Dawson , Sceptre, 1998.
New Writing Six, eds. A.S Byatt & Peter Porter, Vintage, 1997
The Bridport Prize Anthology, 1996
New Writing Five, ed. Christopher Hope and Peter Porter, Vintage, 1996.
Back Rubs, ed. Alison Cambell et al, Serpent’s Tail, 1996.
Class Work, ed. Malcolm Bradbury, Heinemann, 1995.
The Bridport Prize Anthology, 1994
Outsiders, ed. Michel Blackburn, Sunk Island, 1994.
The Wild Woman Reader, ed. Sue Thomas, Overlook, 1994.
Best Short Stories 1993, eds. Giles Gordon & David Hughes, Heinemann, 1993.
New Writing Two, eds. Malcolm Bradbury & Andrew Motion, Minerva, 1993.
The Minerva Anthology of C20 Women’s Writing, ed. Judy Cooke Minerva, 1992