19 Sunday Apr 2020
Posted in fiction, Short Stories, Short Story
Tags
Cuckoo, fiction, free read, Garrie Fletcher, MIR, shortstory, uk
I’m very pleased to announce, somewhat late in the day, that my short story, Cuckoo, is now available online at The Mechanics Institute Review for you to read and enjoy.
Yep, online. Free. Gratis. Payment needed: nada.
Click on this link, have a read and take your mind off of the Covid-19 chaos for twenty minutes or so.
18 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in Art, Birmingham, comissions, creativity, Mantle Lane Press, Music, writing
Tags
Art, Birmingham, Comics, David Cousins, Garrie Fletcher, Kevan Manwaring, Mantle Lane Press, Nene College, Night Swimming, Northampton, short stories, Submerged, The Sliding Door People, University of Leicester, writing
Following on from my visit to the University of Leicester last week here are some pics of me in action and a link to the podcast that came from the day. Scroll down for the link.
Click here for the Golden Room podcast featuring me interviewed by Dr Kevan Manwaring.
I’m pleased with the podcast because I don’t sound like an arse and you can hear that we genuinely get on and enjoy talking about writing – there’s quite a bit of laughing, which can’t be bad. There’s also a couple of old songs from me, not too cringeworthy, as well as some recordings of the work I read on the day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Leicester answering questions from the students and sharing my limited insights into the world of writing and publication. I hope you enjoy the podcast and pictures, well, the podcast more than the pictures.
07 Tuesday May 2019
Posted in Birmingham, Birmingham Writers, books, Event, Mantle Lane Press, News, Short Stories, Short Story, writing
Tags
Alan Beard, Birmingham, books, fiction, Garrie Fletcher, Lisa Blower, Peter Haynes, readings, short stories, Submerged, West Midlands, Wolverhampton, writing
You have two chances to hear me read from my latest book, Submerged, next week.
First up is City Voices in Wolverhampton. It all starts at 7:30 at The Lighthouse a few minutes walk from the train and bus stations. City Voices is one of the Midlands’ finest spoken word evenings and never fails to delight with its range and quality of work on offer. I will be selling books.
Secondly, will be the official Birmingham launch of Submerged, and it’s going to be a corker, but don’t just take my word for it check out the line-up here.
02 Thursday Oct 2014
Posted in Art, Birmingham Library, Comics, comissions, Event
Tags
Anya Jung, Art, Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, birmingham uk, blog, comic book, Garrie Fletcher, work in progress, writing
By the time you read this the mighty Anya Jung will have finished her first day’s drawing of our comic strip Raven. Based in the Library of Birmingham for the duration of the Birmingham Literature Festival Anya will be on display scribbling, inking, colouring and lettering until our wonderful story is finished.
I’ve not been able to get in today -work commitments- and I’m itching to see what she’s done so far. As you can see from the rough layout below it’ll be a corker. I’ll be calling in tomorrow to see how its going and if any of my text needs revising. I’ll take some snaps while I’m there and -if I get the time- post them tomorrow.
Rough page layout from Anya.
The guys at Birmingham Literature Festival Control have set up a blog exclusively for Raven where you can see some early sketches and get a feel for where the story is heading.
The Raven blog can be found here, go on, treat yourself.
05 Friday Sep 2014
Posted in Art, Comics, comissions, Q & A, Short Stories, Writing West Midlands
Tags
Anya Jung, Art, Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, comic book, Free event, Garrie Fletcher, short story, West Midlands, writing
Ripped straight from the Birmingham Literature Festival programme.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished thing. The Q & A should be interesting, especially if you guys turn up.
Raven: Comic Book Commission Q&A with the artists
October 8 @ 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm | Free
comicsketch
Raven is a collaboration between writer Garrie Fletcher and artist Anya Jung. Commissioned by the Birmingham Literature Festival; they will focus on the relationship between narrative and image, and the journey from snatched ideas and rough sketches to a finished product you can hold.
A modern take on an urban gothic tale, set amongst the twisted architecture of Birmingham; Raven will explore the real and the distorted in this documentation of the loss of childhood and the reclamation of hope.
Raven will be created within the Library of Birmingham throughout the ten days of the Birmingham Literature Festival. This event is the opportunity to see how Garrie and Anya are getting on with the process of collaborating and to find out more about the process of creating a comic book from scratch.
Garrie Fletcher cropped for website
Garrie Fletcher
about-portrait-newAnya Jung is an illustrator and recent graduate from University College Falmouth. She takes her inspiration from stories, myths and fairy tales as well as the world around her, often drawing on location to capture the essence of a place. She enjoys working in traditional mediums and only deploys digital tools in the final stages of the creative process to bring an image together. To see more examples of her work please visit http://www.ajungillustration.co.uk.
Garrie Fletcher likes words, big cities and avoiding Northampton. He writes short stories, novels, comics and poems. He’s a member of the Tindal Street Fiction Group and loves talking nonsense to kids. His work can be found in various anthologies, Unthology 5 being the most recent. You may even have seen his work at the cinema, if you’re not prone to blinking. https://fletchski.wordpress.com/.
This is a free event. No need to book!
Details
Date:
October 8, 2014
Time:
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Cost:
Free
Event Categories:
Comic book, Free, Illustration
Event Tags:
2014, fiction
Organizer
Birmingham Literature Festival
Venue
The Foyer, Library of Birmingham
Centenary Square, Broad Street Birmingham, B1 2ND
+ Google Map
Check out the original posting here for maps, art samples and a scary photo of me.
14 Monday Jul 2014
Posted in Short Stories, Unthology 5, writing
Tags
Charles Wilkinson, Collections, Garrie Fletcher, Interview, short stories, uk, Unthank Books, Unthology 5, writing
Most of you that follow this blog, or my twitter feed, will know by now that Unthology 5 is out. You’ll also know that Unthology 5 is an incredible collection of short stories that wrestle with a topics as diverse as child abduction and the end of the world. You’ll know that these sublime tales come in many shapes and sizes, some no more than a couple of pages focusing on a single character and others more abstract and far ranging. But, do you have any idea what writers talk about when they meet up? What do they think is the perfect short story, or the required number of crustaceans for a tale? No? Well, you’re in luck. Those wonderful people at Unthank Books have been posting conversations between the writers of Unthology 5 and my conversation with Charles Wilkinson is now up. Just click on the picture below to enjoy.
03 Thursday Jul 2014
Posted in Anthology, Short Stories, Unthology 5
Tags
Andrew Oldham, Angela Readman, Ashlet Stokes, Ashley Stokes, Charlie Wilkinson, CS Mee, Elizabeth Baines, Garrie Fletcher, John D Rutter, Jose Varghese, Kowalski, KS Silkwood, Maggie Ling, Mark mayes, Robin Jones, Roelof Bakker, Sarah Bower, short stories, Unthank Books, Unthology 5, Victoria Heath
Wow, it seems like I’ve been waiting forever, but at last, Unthology 5 is out.
Fourteen very different, but equally compelling, tales wrapped up in a gorgeous Unthology cover and just waiting to be read.
I’m not about to go on about how good all the stories are -but they are damn good- because that’d feel a bit vain as my story Kowalski is in amongst them. However, what I will do is point you in the direction of a rather fine review that does all that for me…
You can read this review in its original setting here.
Review by The Mole
The long awaited Unthology 5 is finally here. And I mean that… Maryom has been regularly pestered by me when on Twitter – “Anything on Unthology yet?” and finally it’s here and it was well worth the wait. I read and reviewed Unthology 4 and if you want to know what I thought about it then turn Unthology 5 over and read the back! (or read ithere)
With 14 stories that start with an abduction and finish with the end of the world this collection is everything the last one was except… it has one more story crammed in. A Little More Prayer will horrify you and have you rooting for the victim, Daddy’s Little Secret will leave you wondering what is going on in “Daddy’s” head, A Writer Tries To Work It Outwill have you hoping for true love and so it goes on – each story touching you in some way and leaving you thinking about the “rest” of the story. That’s one of the things I love about short stories – the way they tell you so little but so much and you can finish them for yourself.
In Clarrie and You you will be frustrated by secrets kept instead of honesty shared, but it’s something you will have seen and maybe have been complicit in. In Kowalski you meet prejudice and racism in a most convincing and abhorrent way. And The Coroner’s Report… ’nuff said but you will not be unmoved. And the crowning glory has to be The End of the World which will have you saying “What??? Wake UP and SMELL the coffee!” while laughing at the premise and people’s ability to be stupid.
Another brilliant collection compiled by Ashley Stokes and Robin Jones that will add a seriously new dimension to commuting or coffee time.
Publisher – Unthank Books
Genre – Adult short story anthology
Garrie Fletcher 