Ellipsis 1: Comma Modern Shorts [Paperback]

This short story collection features three authors who each contribute half a dozen stories that are linked by their shared setting. Jean Sprackland follows characters clinging to lost dreams and obsessions amid the dunes and fairgrounds of Southport. Set in the derelict rooms and vandalized stairwells of a tower block in south Manchester, Tim Cooke's stories draw intricate spirals around the claustrophobic lives of those who occupy them. Sean O'Brien's voices are also those of lost souls that actively seek their own dereliction, staggering between the vaulted libraries and nocturnal drinking dens of Tyneside.

Sean O'Brienis the author of four collections of poems, includingDownriver, which won the 2002 Forward Prize for best collection. His essays have appeared inThe Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetryand he has translated Aristophanes'Birds. He is the editor ofThe Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland After 1945.Jean Spracklandis the author of two collections of poetry, includingTattoos for Mothers' Day,which was shortlisted for the Forward First Book Award, andHard Water,a Poetry Book Society Recommendation that was shortlisted for the 2003 T. S. Eliot Award.Tim Cookeis a music composer for television and film. His unpublished novelThe Zero-Sum Gamewas the source for Penny Woolcock's 2004 filmThe Principles of Lust.

Readers will be able to enjoy linked short stories by three writers