Harvest

Originally from Belfast, Elaine Canning is a public engagement specialist, writer and editor living in Swansea, South Wales. She holds an MA and PhD in Hispanic Studies from Queen's University, Belfast and an MA in Creative Writing from Swansea University. She is currently Head of Special Projects at Swansea University and Executive Officer of the Dylan Thomas Prize. As well as having written a monograph and papers on Spanish Golden-Age drama, she has published several short stories. Her debut novel, The Sandstone City, published with Aderyn Press in November 2022. She is also editor of Maggie O'Farrell: Contemporary Critical Perspectives (forthcoming, Bloomsbury).

Inquisitive children and solitary beings; conflicted couples and a sprinkling of spirits and monsters: these are just some of the characters which inhabit the twelve stories in this collection of new contemporary fiction by the winners of the 2023 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition.A young girl discovers a body in the woods near her home; a man lords over his cockle-beds; and a holidaying couple set off on a nocturnal mission. A group of children enlist the help of a witch to assist a dying relative, while a local talent show casts a spotlight on hopes and dreams.From an All-American Diner deep in the Rhondda to rural Welsh landscapes, working-class communities and cultural and linguisitic journeys beyond Wales, these stories combine traditional storytelling, realism and magical realism as protagonists face their demons head on. They are stories about longing and belonging, departure and desire, sparking with originality.A collection of new contemporary short stories by Welsh writers, comprising twelve diverse stories about relationships between people and places, representing the winners of the 2023 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition. Including short biographical notes on the authors.Previous winners of the prize have included Leonora Brito, Tristan Hughes and Kate Hamer.'As Wales' pre-eminent short story writer it's appropriate that the name of Rhys Davies should be attached to the latest contest for works in this much neglected form. The competition, which began in 1991, has encouraged a whole range of new writers to test out how best to manage something that's often more substantial than a poem but nowhere near the long distance of the novel. As culture moves ever towards the swifter and the more concise, we are delighted to support the relaunch of this national competition.' – Peter Finch, Secretary, Rhys Davies Trust