Harlot Red: Prize-Winning Short Stories by Women - Softcover

Kate Pullinger was born in Canada, and moved to London in 1982. She has written Tiny Lies, a collection of short stories, and the novels When the Monster Dies and Weird Sister. She collaborated with Jane Campion on the novel of The Piano, and has written for film, television and radio. She lectures on New Media and Creative Writing.

This is the third collection of the best short fiction submitted as entries for Britain's Ashram Awards. Launched in 1996, the awards are Britain's only prize for short fiction written by women, and this collection features the top 12 entries as well as specially commissioned stories by Louise Doughty, Patricia Duncker, and Carol Shields, among others. First-prize winner Frances Childs' "Prospect House" homes in on wild Kim and her stint at a home for single teens. Cynical and bitingly funny, but not without prospects herself, she lands a part in a local play while her roommates end up pregnant and on the dole. In Tania Casselle's "Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake," Robyn finds herself shocked into losing weight by the behavior of a lover but then mourns her past self, yearning for the time when "my flesh surged and swelled like the sea." Often startling and written with high energy, these stories run the gamut of emotions, addressing pain and loss as well as rare moments of true connection. This is edgy fiction from both established and new writers. Joanne Wilkinson
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