October 8th 1999
£6.99
224 pages
Paperback
ISBN
0 9535895 0 1

Prizes

  • RAYMOND WILLIAMS COMMUNITY PUBLISHING PRIZE 2000

Hard Shoulder by Jackie Gay

Buy Now Price £6.99

In these smart-mouthed stories we hear strong voices surviving the complexity of city experience – and recording it with verve. This is a generation of young writers unfazed by the material world, fascinated by its variety, hooked on the buzz of it all. Here is all the energy of city life in the 90s, and to judge by the quality of writing, yet more signs of great promise for the second city in the decade ahead.

An impressive collection of vibrant new voices with a gritty Brummie edge, proof that Britain’s Second City is alive, alert and kicking

Meera Syal

These stories, sassy and streetwise, but touched by a sad urban poetry, show there is plenty of new writing talent in the English Midlands

David Lodge

Earnest, vigorous, compelling urban fictions which resituate timeless themes by exploring them in the wrap of our own era. Here we meet father and daughter, brother and sister, women friends, Asian, Black and White, dreamers and runners, in short, a panoply of the young who, materially poor, are rich in passion, in action and in language. English is reinvigorated in these recreations of lives

Joan Michelson

The stories are strongly written, and, in their Birmingham settings, have a real sense of place

Susan Price

Strong, observant stories about urban life for the young as they face uncertain and complicated futures. A sparkling collection from new writers bursting with talent, ideas and energy

Alan Beard

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