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Ellipsis One
Ellipsis is a set of books celebrating the 'short story sequence' - that interlocking daisy-chain of narrative produced when stories knit together to form a continuum of character or theme.
An out-of-season seaside town, a library stocked with memories, a man slowly going mad...
Starting in the hotels and suburbs of a down-at-heel coastal town, Jean Sprackland's stories follow a cast of rootless characters, young men and women clinging to tokens of the past, whose lives are so lacking in ballast they become as unstable as the dunes themselves.
Tim Cooke invites us into a very different space: the derelict rooms and vandalised stairwells of an inner city tower-block. From there, each story draws a claustrophobic spiral round the next, following various characters (or is it the same person?) desperate to flee their demons.
Sean O'Brien's stories also spiral outwards - not from a state of mind but a setting: an ornate, vaulted lending library, an edifice from another age, where unlikely users and chance items found in stock lead to quite different lamentations for the past.
Press for Ellipsis One:
"Sprackland's stories combine narrative energy with affecting compassion for her troubled characters... she has now arrived as a short story writer. Tim Cooke is another extremely exciting author...bold...and skilled."
- Time Out, 31 Aug 2005.
"Even in their stand-alone form, [these stories] are dense, layered and suggestive pieces that benefit from a second or third read and reward with intense stories that get under the skin..."
- City Life, 21 Sep 2005.
"An edgy and original collection that adds up to something more than the sum of its parts.".
- Leeds Guide 'Book of the Fortnight', Wed 30 Nov-Thu 15 Dec 2005.
An out-of-season seaside town, a library stocked with memories, a man slowly going mad...
Starting in the hotels and suburbs of a down-at-heel coastal town, Jean Sprackland's stories follow a cast of rootless characters, young men and women clinging to tokens of the past, whose lives are so lacking in ballast they become as unstable as the dunes themselves.
Tim Cooke invites us into a very different space: the derelict rooms and vandalised stairwells of an inner city tower-block. From there, each story draws a claustrophobic spiral round the next, following various characters (or is it the same person?) desperate to flee their demons.
Sean O'Brien's stories also spiral outwards - not from a state of mind but a setting: an ornate, vaulted lending library, an edifice from another age, where unlikely users and chance items found in stock lead to quite different lamentations for the past.
Press for Ellipsis One:
"Sprackland's stories combine narrative energy with affecting compassion for her troubled characters... she has now arrived as a short story writer. Tim Cooke is another extremely exciting author...bold...and skilled."
- Time Out, 31 Aug 2005.
"Even in their stand-alone form, [these stories] are dense, layered and suggestive pieces that benefit from a second or third read and reward with intense stories that get under the skin..."
- City Life, 21 Sep 2005.
"An edgy and original collection that adds up to something more than the sum of its parts.".
- Leeds Guide 'Book of the Fortnight', Wed 30 Nov-Thu 15 Dec 2005.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2005
3 people want to read
About the author
Jean Sprackland
22 books22 followersJean Sprackland is a poet and writer. She is the winner of the Costa Poetry Award in 2008, and the Portico Prize for Non-Fiction in 2012. Her books have also been shortlisted for the Forward Prize, the TS Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Award.
Jean is Reader in Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.
She is a trustee of the Poetry Archive, the world’s premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.
Jean has worked as a consultant and project manager for organisations involved with literature and education. She has held residencies in schools and universities, and is a tutor for the Arvon Foundation.
She lives in London.
Jean is Reader in Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.
She is a trustee of the Poetry Archive, the world’s premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.
Jean has worked as a consultant and project manager for organisations involved with literature and education. She has held residencies in schools and universities, and is a tutor for the Arvon Foundation.
She lives in London.
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