‘’If only you could hit your head on rocks below shimmering
surfaces of water and not be fazed by the impact or your blood
momentarily blinding fish.
If only you were how I imagined you to be.
What do I do with the disappointment of this? With the gap in between?
What do I store there for cold, isolating winters you will
not be a part of?’’

These are my favourite stories in this brilliant collection celebrating British Literature.

Beyond Criticism (Luke Brown): A melancholic story about desire, hypocrisy, appropriation, motherhood and relationships. A woman has to face the cruelty and rotten facade of her former partner and the fact that she may still harbour feelings for him. I loved the writing, the almost whimsical urban atmosphere and I loved Claire. The confused, wounded and proud Claire.

‘’When the goddess Kiru emerges from the shoreline on the small Island of St Simeran, the third hands in her stomach lining contracts, steering her towards the sounds of the eunuchs surrounding a large fire in the beach, shrouded in an orange glow from the flames.’’

Nudibranch (Irenosen Okojie): A marvellous, dark tale of a goddess who shape-shifts and a eunuch. A story steeped in Caribbean culture and island legends, a beautiful metaphor for womanhood, power and sexuality.

The Phone Call (David Constantine): A phone call brings old secrets to the muddy surface of a married couple’s life, opens past wounds and exposes the fragility of a long-term relationship.

Vashti (Zakia Uddin): In a strangely beautiful story, a dance teacher forms a controversial relationship with the father of one of her students and finds herself in the middle of a rather dysfunctional family.

Energy Thieves, Five Dialogues (Richard Lawrence Bennett): Five utterly absurd but entertaining dialogues on energy, youth, empathy, beauty and the certainty of death.

Halloween (Nicola Freeman): A woman tries to come to terms with her husband’s illness as the festivities of Halloween are in full swing in her neighbourhood.

‘’A vine-shaded street unfurled down to a dark still stream, a stone slab, a bridge to cross over into a courtyard overlooked by the terraces of houses. A dog braked down at her from behind an iron railing.’’

In the Mountains (Amanthi Harris): A haunting, sad story of a woman travelling to Spain and a deep ache that has to be healed. Beautiful and eerie, lyrical and sensual, it reminded me of Tennessee William’s writing.

The Further Dark (Jeff Noon & Bridget Penney): An uncanny, unsettling story about a man who receives a blank email from an unknown sender… It is exactly this absurd threat that takes over his life and the feeling of dread that gradually becomes alarmingly tense that will give you goosebumps…

Weaning (Helen Mort): An extremely powerful story about motherhood and depression that will leave you shocked and in awe…

Purity (Robert Stone): An almost dreamy, whimsical tale about the bond between humans and animals and the fragile relationships between us all…

‘’Edward and Marcia had got into the habit of walking along the cliff-top at dusk. What, here on Auskerry, Edward was tempted to call the gloaming. The sultry day was much cooler now and, indeed, would soon be cold. At this latitude the summer sky was still pale, but the first stars could already be made out.’’ ( )

Brit Shorts 2020
Review of the Salt Publishing paperback edition (2020)

This was a 3.05 if you average the 21 story ratings, but I've bumped it up to a 4 for the editing and selection work.

I really like the idea of annual anthologies of short stories by country. It gives you an overview of a large group of mostly upcoming authors and perspective on issues that may be unique to their world view. In the past few years I've enjoyed the Eesti novell series from Estonia for that reason and now thanks to the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month I've discovered a similar effort for Britain which has been ongoing for 10 years.

The variety here was impressive and even if i didn't take to some of the more experimental writing I was glad to see that it was included. The selection wasn't predictable either i.e. I would have expected something more about Brexit for instance, about which there was nothing obvious.

So overall an interesting and enjoyable collection and a short cut towards authors to watch for in the future.

The following table of contents includes individual ratings and story setups. Some of these stories may be available online at various journals and zines which were the sources for editor Nicholas Royle. I've only linked to one of my favourites, but you could likely find more if you are interested further.
1. Beyond Criticism by Luke Brown *****. A woman has a breakup and then interacts with some skaters.
2. Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie **. Very abstract hedonistic, cannibalistic fantasy.
3. The Phone Call by David Constantine *****. An older married couple are disturbed by a phone call to the wife from an unremembered acquaintance who announces that he has only a few weeks to live.
4. Vashti by Zakia Uddin ****. Children’s dance instructor becomes involved with the father of one of her students.
5. Energy Thieves: Five Dialogues by Richard Lawrence Bennett **. Mostly one sided “dialogues” with one giving opinions.
6. Halloween by Nicola Freeman ***. A mother with a sick child serve treats to Halloween trick or treaters.
7. In the Mountains by Amanthi Harris ****. An artist on retreat in the mountains of Spain befriends an old painter.
8. The Girl with the Horizontal Walk by Andrew Hook *. An actress acting as Marilyn Monroe acting as a photographer in a movie with Kennedy? Cameo by George Cukor?
9. She Said He Said by Hanif Kureishi **. Two couples are befuddled by the extramarital advances of one of the men.
10. Safely Gathered In by Sarah Schofield *. Listings of the contents of storage units.
11. Belly by Sonia Hope ****. Flash fiction (less than 2 pages) but effective in the way it makes you question the background and what happened on a date. Available at Ellipsis Zine.
12. The Further Dark by Jeff Noon & Bridget Penney **. Abstract story about being disturbed by a blank email.
13. Same Same But Different by Stephen Thompson***. Depressing view of Bangkok, Thailand, but interesting for how it subverts your expectations about the identity of the protagonist.
14. Backbone by KJ Orr ***. A woman reminisces about the time she was in the hospital for back surgery.
15. Whale Watching by Diana Powell ****. An aging woman remembers images from her childhood in Wales when Gregory Peck and a film crew were in her community filming the feature film adaptation of Moby Dick (1956).
16. Greetings from the Fat Man in Postcards by David Rose **. A man sends custom made postcards home to his wife from his travels.
17. The White Cat by NJ Stallard *****. A tenant observes her landlord who tries to get rid of a stray white cat on the grounds of her villa.
18. Maxine by Tim Etchells *. A story of a book-reader to shut-ins which gradually dissolves into dystopic drivel.
19. Dreams are Contagious by Adrian Slatcher ****. A man runs a dream interpretation service while his girlfriend develops a dream interpretation app. Some kind of TDS going on.
20. Weaning by Helen Mort **. Title says it all, a description of weaning a child over 8 weeks.
21. Purity by Robert Stone *****. A small group of humans are on an island off of Scotland with a tribe of orangutans brought there for observation. There are some not-too-specific hints that the outside world has collapsed due to environmental issues.

I read Best British Short Stories 2020 as the December 2020 Book of the Month perk from my support of The Republic of Consciousness Prize for small independent publishers. ( )