Birmingham

by C.D. Rose (Editor), Meave Haughey, Charlie Hill

Fifteen authors explore what it means to live, work or visit Birmingham, UK. Stories, memoir and non fiction.

168 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

C. D. ROSE is a writer of short fiction and novels. He has published three books, The Biographical Dictionary of Literary Failure, Who's Who When Everyone is Someone Else, and The Blind Accordionist. A new collection of stories is coming soon.

His major influences are Calvino, Borges, Georges Perec and Danilo Kis. He is at home anywhere there are dusty second-hand bookshops, quiet libraries, and dark bars.

He is currently the Royal Literary Fund Fellow in Residence at the University of Manchester, UK.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five of my writers' group in this, plus others I know well or know by sight or online, so I may be biased, but this is a little gem. It truly depicts what it is like to be in Birmingham (UK) - to live there or to visit, conjuring up not only the iconic sights/sites like the 'blobitecture' of Selfridges and the 'panoptical Rotunda' but the more hidden places like Sarehole Mill, New Street Station Signal Box (Grade 2 listed), the canals and parks. There are several stories - some with a supranatural edge - all of which are sparky and surprising, but also as many non-fiction pieces, either memoir of growing up in Brum, or ruminations on its architecture or its current life. For example Yasmin Ali's lovely evocation of a bus ride on the famous no 11, which completes an outer circle journey round the city (although this is no longer on the city's edge), or Alan Mahar's acutely observant piece on the hidden rivers and the old and new libraries. Charlie Hill's recollection of pubs in Birmingham is surprisingly pin sharp given the amount of booze he consumed in them. A collection to relish and go back and re-read.