Indie Novella – förlag

You've heard the damning statistics: the number of working-class creatives has halved since the 1970s; 80% of journalists come from upper-class backgrounds; 78% of working-class writers say their background has hindered their careers.In this essay collection, 33 writers tell their side of the story. From novelists to journalists, ghostwriters to games writers, artists, screenwriters and poets, these pieces unravel the knotted subject of class, shaped by lived connections spanning the UK, Ireland, Pakistan, Somalia, Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Czech Republic and beyond.Together, they argue for reinclusion. Not just for the survival of working-class writers, but for the survival of writing itself.

As a girl, Jazz Barthelot knew that a gecko falling on your right side foretold a sudden death. But what place do aunties’ tales have in the rapidly modernising island of Ceylon, and how to navigate the shifting sands of home?  In 1950s Ceylon, trying to forge her own way while British rule collapses, Jazz begins her new life as a journalist – when a gecko falls on the side of her desk at the newspaper office. A body is discovered in the state reservoir, and Jazz accompanies seasoned crime reporter Sonny to the Eastern Province. Jazz quickly learns her trade as they travel between spice markets and hopper stalls, interviewing Tamils, expats, and indigenous tribes, following leads that dry up quickly under the hot sun. Pulled between old and new worlds, between languages, and families, Jazz and Sonny must decide if their future remains on the teardrop island, and whether crimes can be left in the past.

In 1933, Lotte has left behind the poverty of her childhood. She has a fine house in the best street and a tentative position in Stirling society for her young family. But when her children are asleep, Lotte ceaselessly walks the town's streets and rural paths, winding further away from home each night, driven by guilt and ghosts she cannot forget. Lotte can't outrun the long shadow of her mind, and her small town cannot explain the erratic wandering woman in their midst, placing her in an asylum, never to be heard from again. A century later, a chance remark leads her grandson on a path to uncovering Lotte's fate, delving into knots of family secrets, unravelling the stories silenced by small-town propriety. Family myths and notes from the asylum collide in this moving, immersive debut novel, giving a voice to lost lives, a glimpse of solidarity between generations.

A nation is failing its young. Teenagers falling through the cracks. Minnie is sick of her foster placement, and Jake wants to escape his violent stepfather. Under a radical new care scheme, the government implants a chip in the brains of vulnerable youths, claiming it will give them a fresh start. The chips turns thought patterns into words, supposedly to help them recover from trauma. But is the truth best kept hidden? And at what cost is it extracted? The revolutionary technology of the Spectrotext vibrates against a life of nightclubs, drugs, abuse, and authorities. When a friend dies in mysterious circumstances, Minnie and Jake race to search deeper for the truth, before their lives spin out of control.

Ireland, Rathmore Forest, 1988. Kitty lay on the forest floor for a long time, her body adapting to the rocks beneath the grass. She was in no hurry to go home. Tommy wouldn't be looking for her. He would go straight to bed, counting down the nights until he could escape Rathmore and her, his rotten roots. He never asked her about her own life and ambitions, never assumed she wanted anything more than to snare a local man and have his babies. She dreamt the hut he had built for his old trysts was still there, among the roots and the boat engines and the decaying yew trees. She saw the shovels in their usual place, leaning against the wall. She knew there would be no need for consecrated ground. Three decades later, Kitty returns to her childhood home to find her village as twisted as she found it. She needs to find her brother, without getting entangled. But how do you remember what you've tried to forget?

Paul Johnson lives a quiet life. Teaching English in a Sheffield Comprehensive, looking after his daughter, cooking for his wife, the surface of his life is the height of stability. But Paul can't walk to his car without chanting to himself, trying to drown out the voice pulsing through his mind: You can't keep them safe. You can't keep them safe. He has learned how to calm his panicked students - but not himself. One grey morning, the calm veneer of his life is fractured when he discovers that his favourite student Laura has died. Now, his intrusive thoughts threaten to jeopardise everything. Facing accusations that he was too close to Laura, Paul must find a way to voice his darkest fears, unlearning the stoic masculinity passed down to him, or lose the family he loves.

In 1666, a dragon attacked London, only to vanish, leaving a baker to take the blame. Now, Jack—a routine-loving physics teacher—is thrust into adventure after unwittingly pocketing a dragon scale at dinner. Soon, he's chased across London by criminals and dives into a hidden world of restless ghosts, judgmental gods, and creatures craving corporate jargon. Rescued by Muriel, a witch with a lot on her plate, Jack is introduced to her shed-dwelling bosses, The Laurels, who task them with finding the dragon and stopping someone doing something serious with it. Joined by Muriel’s artist girlfriend, Nisha, they must stop a ruthless gangster’s plot to seize the dragon’s power for herself...if the dragon doesn’t wake up first, that is.

Cassie Richardson wants revenge. She's angry. And dead. Like, murdered dead. Working for Dial One for Revenge - an afterlife vengeance for hire, she remains top of the leader board and powering through her cases to get her hundred file. Inside it - her killer's name. A few rules - work hard, no distractions and no contact with the unnecessary living. Stay detached from who you once were, keep the Miseria away, the Board happy, don't give your Nem any trouble and you won't be taken. Easy, right?Alongside Cassie, her PA and Doorkeeper work with her to keep her on top of her game, in between her situationship with Elodie and meetings at the Nutmeg Cafe, things seem to be going in the right direction. However, when Cassie stumbles into Perrie in the outside world, a very much alive psychic girl of her dreams, everything changes. Can an un-bucket list be just what Cassie needs? And is the vengeance she's been dreaming of really what she wants?

Murphy likes things quiet. As the barman at the Purses Retainer, a half-forgotten pub in North London, he treasures the silence left behind by absent customers. The empty seats are both a blessing and a curse: his sanctuary is safe, but the pub is on the brink of closure.Murphy has a gift for talking people into leaving him alone—long, winding stories that trap questions rather than answer them. But when the threat of redundancy looms, he sees an unlikely win-win: turn the pub into London’s first silent pub. No phones. No chatter. Just the perfect place for peace—until Instagram and the media get hold of it.As Murphy’s eccentric experiment spirals into a cultural phenomenon, he meets Rebecca, a yoga teacher who relieves not only his bad back but begins to unravel the grief and isolation he has carried for years. Suddenly, Murphy must confront the very things silence has helped him to avoid: friendship, identity, love—and the chaos of feeling alive.Wry, sharp and satirical, Murphy Who Talks is a comedy of modern Britain: a story about austerity and survival, male friendship and misogyny, silence and speech, and what it really takes to be heard.

Einer Award 2025 Nominee: Best Adaptation from Another MediumIgnatz Award 2025 Nominee: Outstanding ArtistIn 1922, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of survivors of Captain Scott's ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole, published his memoir of the expedition. The Worst Journey in the World humanised the epic tragedy with its sensitive observations of the men involved and evocative descriptions of Antarctic life. A century later, this classic of travel literature has been adapted into a series of graphic novels by Disney veteran Sarah Airriess, who has spent over a decade researching the expedition in order to tell the story completely and faithfully. The personalities of the men, and the science they undertook, are equally as important to understanding the story as the famous feats of exploration.

It's 2018 and relentless people-pleaser, Melody, is freshfrom a break-up. When best friend, Nico, invites her to a party as adistraction, Melody is blindsided by evidence of her ex-boyfriend's infidelity.To make matters worse, she is then ignored for a work promotion and faces a paycut. Worried about affording her bills, she desperately arranges flatmateinterviews, inviting the mysterious Pain to live with her.As Melody's connection with Pain deepens over intimate mealsand 'game nights', the usually easy-going Nico becomes increasingly distant.Encouraged by Pain, Melody accepts a free trial at the local Thai boxing gymwhere she meets self-assured trainer, Yvette. With the growth of her physicalstrength and confidence, Melody begins to question her relationships. Exploringidentity, mental health and the healing process, Melody & Pain is anovel asking the question: What if Pain were a person and moved into yourhome?

LONDON 2186 On Saturday, May 20th, 2186, Jani Joutsen has her immersive implant forcibly removed, and her friend Pierre has his broken, in a seemingly motiveless bar fight during a normal alcohol and drug fuelled evening. With no connection to the wire, the pair are contacted by a mysterious fugitive criminal offering assistance, but the situation quickly deteriorates, and the three are caught in a race for survival against the police and the black market. Fleeing to a Luddite community, to find the broken scientist who may be able to restore some order to their lives, the increasingly dangerous situation leads Pierre to question his loyalty to his friends, his secretive love for Jani, and whether any of it is actually happening at all…

Ben hears noises in his basement and witnesses weird goings-on in his local park. His eight-year-old daughter Imogen starts receiving messages from someone claiming to be her missing mother. And then there is Mr Jones -the man who haunts the imaginations of the children at Imogen's school. But they are just stories, surely? Ben soon develops a creeping suspicion that someone is out to kidnap his daughter. Are his fears real or a result of his own stress-induced paranoia?Alex Woolf's psychological thriller explores loss, fear and an overwhelming desire to keep those we love safe from harm.

It's the summer of '78 and 16 year-old Sebastian arrives with his parents and brother in the medieval Italian village of Colletta for a holiday. His father, an investigative journalist, has taken the family there with no explanation and is then only flittingly glimpsed in the company of a strange American. Bored, and tired of being treated like a child, Sebastian notices a young woman who sets his heart alight. However, whenever he tries to approach Rosetta, he finds she is not alone. Older men carrying pocket knives skulk in the backstreets of Colletta, and the American is usually never too far behind. Who is Rosetta? And what is her connection to sinister events in an otherwise picturesque village?