In the beginning there is nothing. Breath stirring a blank sea. Vague shapes beneath the surface. An old blurred bone, a chiselled stone, clues in the midden.
There’s that deep feeling, the yearning, slow burn. Something incomplete or missing insists, lodged like a wedge. Something tugs, aligns, sets you facing a specific direction − discovers a woman lying in a road, another standing beside her dead mother, a man who finds salvation in a bottle, one who feels invincible, risking everything, and one who dies thirty years after an attempt on his life.
The writer traverses the dream, her fingers sleepwalking over the keyboard. Seeking momentary relief, the feeling of completion. Even as the hand lifts to write the first line, there is no clear idea of what will emerge.
Look around. You think we intended this?
Dawn Garisch journeys into the oddities of the human heart with a sharp eye and an edge of dark humour in this new collection. Her stories are vital and particular, her characters almost disturbingly human in their struggles – ageing, lust, loss, alienation – and their flawed relationships with each other and the world. Finely crafted, inventive, and satisfyingly twisty, these stories are a pleasure to read.
– Kate Sidley
Dawn Garisch, author, poet, playwright and medical doctor, writes about human relationships with extraordinary empathy, humour and courage. The twenty stories in this marvellous collection are no exception. Her medical knowledge, adventurous spirit and bold frankness shine through tales about life’s great challenges, from conception to death, while her playwright’s use of dialogue evokes the voices and spirits of her characters. These are stories to savour and treasure.
– Mignonne Breier
ISBN: 978-1-7764581-0-3
Publication date: 17 August 2023
DAWN GARISCH is an author and medical doctor. She is a founding member of the Life Righting Collective (liferighting.com), running writing courses. She has had seven novels, two collections of poetry, short stories, a non-fiction work and a memoir published. She has had five plays and a short film produced, and has written for television. Her poem ‘Blood Delta’ won the DALRO prize (2007); Trespass was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize in Africa (2010); ‘Miracle’ won the EU Sol Plaatje Poetry Award (2011); and ‘What to Do About Ricky’ won the Short.Sharp.Stories competition (2013). Her novel Accident was longlisted for the Barry Ronge Sunday Times Fiction Award (2018), and her novel Breaking Milk was shortlisted for the Sunday Times/CNA Fiction Award (2021) and will be published in the UK by Héloïse Press in 2024. Her second collection of poetry Disturbance came out in 2020. What Remains is her first collection of short stories.
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