Words And Women: Two is the second showcase collection of short prose by women writers in the East of England and the first appearance in print of four specially-commissioned texts for the page and performance, ‘About.’ The memoir, fiction, creative non-fiction and performance texts inside reflect the brilliance, boldness and depth of women’s contemporary writing in the regions.
Here is a marriage of vivid imagination and ambiguity, delicate and subtle prose coupled with strong images and deep emotions. A young woman ponders how she has mysteriously wronged a professor. A wife compelled to spy on her husband is caught out in her own intrigue. We follow a child of the tideline. And, in a fevered night, a mother lingers in a river while danger gathers on the bank. What do you say to Kurt Cobain’s son? How does it feel to be an ‘outside woman’ at the tropical funeral of a lover and what does it mean to climb Mount Sanitas?
This book also includes four specially commissioned texts which explore women’s relationship to place. ‘About’, supported by Arts Council England, brings to life the voices of Jane Sellars, hung in Norwich for being ‘idle at Trowse’, a woman who walks the Bungay Straight on a pilgrimage of grief, 18 year old prostitute ‘Anguish’ locked up in a mental asylum for life and the wartime fight of a station mistress for the right to wear a company coat.
This is a book for readers who love to explore. It contains winning entries from:
Tricia Abraham, Melinda Appleby, Jenny Ayres, Sarah Baxter, Ceridwen Edwards
Louise Ells, Abby Erwin, Lilie Ferrari, Melissa Fu, Hannah Garrard, Hannah Harper, Caitlin Ingham, Tess Little Jane Martin, Holly McDede, Anna Metcalfe, Marise Mitchell, Anthea Morrison, Patricia Mullin, Radhika Oberoi, Julianne Pachico, Bethany Settle, Thea Smiley, and Lora Stimson.
