DESCRIPTION:
Andie can see no other way to escape a wedding than by hiding in a tree. Esther starts a new life in a King’s Cross hotel with a bad-tempered ventriloquist dummy, while Gina finally leaves a group of infuriating friends – but not before providing them with a suitable replacement.
Ways of Living is Gemma Seltzer’s keen exploration of what it means to be a modern woman inhabiting the urban landscape. Ten stories of ordinary women going to extraordinary lengths to be understood, acting in bold and unpredictable ways as they map their identities onto London’s streets.
How do we speak and listen to each other? Who gets to talk? And what is the true power of quiet in a noisy world?
Gemma Seltzer is a London-based writer. Her work includes the Guardian’s award-winning virtual reality film ‘Songbird,’ fictional blog ‘5am London’ and online flash fiction series ‘Speak to Strangers,’ subsequently published by Penned in the Margins. She collaborates with dancers, photographers and older adults to create writing and storytelling projects. Gemma has written for BBC Radio 3, performed her work at the Venice Biennale and runs Write & Shine, a programme of early morning writing workshops and online courses.
Further reading:
Read: A Short Fiction Set In Brick Lane’s Beigel Bake (extract), Londonist
Review: Ways of Living by Gemma Seltzer: powerful and deeply human, Lucy Writers
Prompt: Imagine you’re in a bakery. Begin with a list of things you can see, smell, touch, hear, taste, then free-write for 20 mins.