‘original, compelling and cleverly crafted’
JON RANSOM
‘An astonishingly accomplished range of stories, beautifully written, taking in everything from first love to chemsex, set in the recent past, among the hallowed walls of academia and even in other worlds. Tales steeped in nostalgia, politics and a groundswell of change. A masterful blending of periods, politics and formats, including stories written in text messages and court documents. I laughed, I cried, I nodded my head in recognition. I felt seen.’
IQBAL HUSSAIN
Nathan Evans
The debut collection of short fiction from the author of Polari Prize longlisted One Last Song. Nine stories, nine characters—
one for each youthful year.
One young queer goes on their first protest. Another goes up
to Oxford and finds first love. One seeks connection in submission. Another young queer discovers their superpower.
Spanning metrosexual metropolises and unknown universes,
the end of the twentieth century to the end of the world as we
know it, these tender tales are told with inventiveness and wit.
‘A smart, insightful collection, where story sparkles with rich,
engaging prose and the perfect balance of humour and poignancy. An absolute joy to read!’
KATHY HOYLE
NATHAN EVANS is a writer and performer based in London. Publishers of his poetry include Royal Society of Literature, Fourteen Poems, Broken Sleep and Manchester Metropolitan University; his debut collection Threads—a collaboration with photographer Justin David—was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2017; his second collection CNUT is published by Inkandescent. Publishers of his short fiction include Queerlings and Muswell Press. His debut novella One Last Song was selected by iNewspaper as one of the best new LGBTQ+ books for Pride Month and was longlisted for the Polari Book Prize 2024.
Nathan’s work in theatre and film has been funded by Arts Council England, toured with the British Council, archived by the British Film Institute, broadcast on Channel 4 and presented at venues including Royal Festival Hall and Royal Vauxhall Tavern. He produces BOLD Queer Poetry Soirée, and has hosted events for National Poetry Library, Charleston Small Wonder Festival and Stoke Newington Literary Festival; he teaches on the BA Creative Writing and English Literature at London Metropolitan University, and is editor at Inkandescent.