Fiction

 Welcome to V. Press Flash Fiction

Here you can find details of our flash fiction titles. To find pamphlets/chapbooks or books by a particular writer, please visit our Writers/Illustrators page, where authors are listed alphabetically according to their surname. Further information about selected individual titles may also be found  in The Reading Room and on the Chez Nous page.

For our poetry titles, please click here.

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

FIFTEEN BRIEF MOMENTS IN TIME

“A book of unexpected insights and extraordinary grace, rippling with loveliness, sorrow, and finesse. All taking place in one room, bound by a single unraveling ribbon of time.”

David Eagleman

“Charter balances the light but rich ideas of philosophy and time with well-drawn if flawed characters, hustling and striving, and wishing for better lives. As one of them says, ‘There are no checks at the door. Anyone can walk in and expand their mind.’ I’m glad I took my seat for this novella and surrounded myself with the sounds and actions of its characters.” 

Tommy Dean

Fifteen Brief Moments in Time is a very fast and very philosophical novella-in-flash.

ISBN: 978-1-7398838-0-5 
52 pages
R.R.P. £7.99

A sample of the flash can be enjoyed here.

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Fifteen Brief Moments in Time (with p&p options)

Fifteen Brief Moments... (with p&p for UK-only) £8.99 GBP Fifteen Brief Moments...(with p&p for Rest of the World) £25.00 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

FAMILY FRAMES

“Family Frames, the debut flash fiction collection by Alison Woodhouse, is like a treasured album of photographs you’ll want to return to again and again to discover more detail and depth. Each story is exquisitely composed. With vivid and evocative images of place and time, Woodhouse shows the distance, closeness and heartbreak within family relationships. The collection is satisfyingly framed with slightly different versions of the same story, placed at the beginning and the end. The subtle yet powerful variations in the second version emphasise one of the themes of the book – how fierce love can carry a family through anything that life brings.” Jude Higgins

“To quote from one of the titles in this fine collection, ‘home is not a place, but a feeling’. This is a moving exploration of family dynamics and the feelings that home engenders. Myths jostle with memory, siblings grieve together or alone, marriages end, parents disappoint. There is loss and sacrifice, grief and sorrow, but above all, a fierce love that binds families together. Beautiful and poignant.” Damhnait Monaghan

These flash fictions explore the power we possess to shift our relationships by examining our memories, questioning fixed narratives, revealing new perspectives. Family Frames is very raw and very relatable.

ISBN: 978-1-8380488-5-3

48 pages

R.R.P. £7.50

A sample flash fiction from Family Frames can be enjoyed here.

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Family Frames (with p&p options)

Family Frames (with p&p for UK delivery) £8.99 GBP Family Frames (p&p for Rest of the World delivery) £17.50 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

 SET A CROW TO CATCH A CROW

“These are stories that pulse with transformation, visceral, lush, and sound-rich. In Holmes’ lyrically-charged short fictions, worlds tilt, horizons thrum and yearnings come unmoored, and the language pulls us close to the bloodstream of her characters, feeling for their pressure-points, their broken wings. Their land and homescapes leap to life around them, set alight by breath-catching images that bind us into the textures and electrons of each scene, skin and earth, creek, board and bone. Each brief diorama in this volume delivers us a ‘quivering glint’ of characters caught in slipstream instants, lingering on the verge of fission, or hauled into ‘dark runnels of the heart’ where currents of longing and threat inescapably converge. Holmes’ writing rubs the fibres of life between our fingers, so we feel its restlessness and wonder.” Tracey Slaughter 

“The stories that fill Mary-Jane Holmes’ Set a Crow to Catch a Crow are perfect, precise, highly burnished narrative shards that describe a moment in time but imply both what came before this moment and very likely may come after. It might only be a grain you are offered but you get a whole world. It is only writing of a very high order can pull off the feat that is pulled off here.” Carlo Gébler 

Set a Crow to Catch a Crow is very textured and very liminal. 

ISBN: 978-1-8380488-4-6

36 pages

R.R.P. £6.50

A sample flash fiction from Set a Crow to Catch a Crow can be enjoyed here.

CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK IN PRINT FORMAT BUT AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK IN THE U.K. AND INTERNATIONALLY ON KINDLE through Amazon, including Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND SYNDROME

“There could be no more apt title for Meg Pokrass's collection of brilliant and brilliantly disquieting flash fictions than 'Alice in Wonderland Syndrome', a condition in which objects appear larger or smaller than they should. Pokrass's stories are so much greater than their word count, entire worlds, but they also make the tiniest moments vital, enormous. Here, people – and, once, a rat – are on the edges of things; there is no settling in these worlds, as in ours, and animals are often more reassuring than humans. Is the ‘she’ who recurs in the stories Alice herself, or many Alices? Or is she us, trying to find our footing, to shrink and to grow, to restore some balance in a world that is forever tilting?”

Tania Hershman


“‘…there is always a story inside a story inside a dog…’ With dreamlike clarity, these beautifully choreographed stories slip, delve and spiral in and out of the quotidian and the surreal with such deftness and precision that like Alice in her wonderland, suddenly you find yourself catching your breath in the light and dark of a world both familiar and yet deliciously unsettling. Pokrass has once again produced an exquisite collection for our enjoyment.”

Mary Jane Holmes

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome is very tender yet very naughty.

ISBN: 978-1-9161096-3-6
36 pages
R.R.P. £6.50

A sample flash can be enjoyed here.

BUY a print copy of Alice In Wonderland Syndrome NOW using the paypal link below for U.K. delivery.

Currently, international shipping for this title is more expensive than usual, due to Covid-19 related issues. International customers are encouraged to use the cheaper eBook options for this title, through Amazon (link below the paypal button). 

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome (with postage & packing options)

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome (with p&p for U.K. delivery only) £7.50 GBP Alice In Wonderland Syndrome (with p&p for Rest of the World) £18.00 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome is also available internationally (outside of the U.K.) as an eBook on Kindle through Amazon here.


AN INHERITANCE

“An Inheritance is a gem of a novella. It succeeds in spanning seventy years and four generations of one family, exquisitely capturing their relationships, secrets and divided loyalties. The historical changes wrought by each decade are delicately interwoven throughout the twists and turns within the family’s life. This captivating narrative will make you weep and smile.”

Joanna Campbell

“Despite large secrets and larger financial woes, one family’s superior love, kindness and understanding pulls them through the hardest of times, from generation to generation. An Inheritance is a poignant heart-warmer of a novella-in-flash and is a useful lesson in the importance of kindness in this life.”

Nuala O’Connor

An Inheritance is very readable and very intriguing.

SHORTLISTED for SABOTEUR AWARDS 2020 BEST NOVELLA!

A sample flash from the pamphlet can be found here.

ISBN: 978-1-9161096-5-0
44 pages
R.R.P. £6.50

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An Inheritance (including P&P/delivery options)

An Inheritance (including P&P for the U.K. only) £8.00 GBP An Inheritance (including P&P for Rest of the World) £13.99 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

THE NEVERLANDS

“The Neverlands, a virtuoso mosaic of microfictions by Damhnait Monaghan, tells the story of Nuala, a child caught in the crossfire of her parents' troubled marriage. This is a family epic in flash form, masterfully and movingly distilled, both devastating and hopeful. A gorgeous debut.” Kathy Fish

“The Neverlands is a heart-tugger of a collection. In pitch-perfect colloquial prose, Damhnait Monaghan waltzes us through the sorrows of a poverty-stricken Irish family, who struggle to love each other well. Funny, clever, warm and sad, this is a beautiful book.” Nuala O’Connor

The interconnected stories in The Neverlands are very raw and very real.

WINNER of SABOTEUR AWARDS 2020 BEST NOVELLA!

A sample flash can be read here.

36 pages
ISBN:978-1-9165052-6-1  
RRP £6.50
NB cover design above is the Kindle version.

CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK IN PRINT FORMAT BUT AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK IN THE U.K. AND INTERNATIONALLY ON KINDLE through Amazon, including Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here.

MIDNIGHT LAUGHTER 

The short fiction in Midnight Laughter is very funny and very unsettling…

“These are fantastic, absurd, coruscating, disturbing and laugh-out-loud funny gobbets of communication from journeys into that bizarre realm between dream and reality. Brilliant testaments to the power of the human imagination and the mad computer of the brain, each of these little detonations of alluring oddness make the world seem simultaneously stranger and sounder than it is. Superb stuff.” Niall Griffiths

“I absolutely loved Midnight Laughter and will be pressing it upon everyone I know. These are precision cut gems of stories – little shards of darkness, pathos, unexpected tenderness and wicked humour. A beautifully crafted collection.” Catherine O’Flynn

A sample flash from the pamphlet can be found here.

36 pages
ISBN: 978-1-9165052-5-4
RRP £6.50

BUY Midnight Laughter NOW using the paypal options below.

Midnight Laughter (including P&P/delivery options)

Midnight Laughter (including P&P for the U.K. only) £7.50 GBP Midnight Laughter (including P&P for Rest of the World) £12.99 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

THERE'S SOMETHING MACROCOSMIC ABOUT ALL OF THIS

The short fiction in There’s Something Macrocosmic About All of This by Santino Prinzi is very human and very heart-provoking.

“Hilarious, playful, profound and fierce, these stories ring with wonder at the messy world of sex and love. Prinzi's fiction is addictive because of their unflinching sensuality and sharp attention to emotional detail.” Meg Pokrass

“InThere's Something Macrocosmic About All of This, Santino Prinzi looks for the big truths in everyday moments. From coming out to falling out, each of these stories is a nuanced study of human nature – full of insight and wit.” Christopher Allen

40 pages

R.R.P. £6.50

A sample story from There's Something Macrocosmic About All of This may be enjoyed be here.

BUY a copy of There's Something Macrocosmic About All of This now using the paypal options below. 

There's Something Macrocosmic About All of This (including P&P)

There's Something Macrocosmic About All of This (P&P in UK only) £7.50 GBP There's Something Macrocosmic... (P&P for Rest of the World) £12.99 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

THREE MEN ON THE EDGE

Three Men on the Edge is a flash fiction novella by Michael Loveday featuring three men living on the edge of London.

The story of the three men – Gus, Denholm and Martyn – is narrated in three distinctive sections: Denholm – Cause for Alarm; Gus – The Invisible World; Martyn – Chewing Glass. 

“A beautifully crafted novella-in-flash, small and perfect slices of life written with skill and heart.” Kit de Waal

“In his debut novella Michael Loveday sketches with a delicate brush the colourful lives of three troubled men living on the edge of London. With poetic language and emotional precision, Loveday writes like a cartographer about the wilderness we call ‘the human heart’.” Meg Pokrass

“This is a novella full of the aches and bruises left by loneliness. It's written in fragments, like a bottle smashed during a solitary boozing session, but it coheres around the vividly captured edgeland that haunts the three men. This a heart-felt book, but its prose is controlled by a steely intelligence. It's funny, too – and moving and scary. Michael Loveday is a name to watch. He's writing a new kind of fiction.”  David Swann

Three Men on the Edge is very richly shaded and very unconventional.

Shortlisted in Saboteur Awards 2019 Best Novella category!!!

92 pages

R.R.P. £9.99

Sample flashes from each of the three sections of the novella may be enjoyed here.

BUY a copy of Three Men on the Edge now using the paypal button below.

Three Men on the Edge (including P&P)

Three Men on the Edge (including P&P for the U.K. only) £12.50 GBP Three Men on the Edge (including P&P for Rest of the World) £17.50 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

WALKING BACKWARDS

The short fiction in Walking Backwards by Charlie Hill is very human and very distinctive.

"With Walking Backwards Charlie Hill gives us dense fragments of closely-observed lives, obsessive interiors and broken, unspoken loves. The result is touching, funny, melancholy.”  AL Kennedy

“Charlie Hill dissects the solitary, dignified struggles of day to day life with great tenderness – his stories are beautiful and moving, a balance of cool observation and tenderness. A brilliant collection.” Catherine O'Flynn

“Charlie Hill writes artfully about the gaps between people, of those caught out by love or hushed by pain, or others seeking order within chaos, solace in the face of change.” Catherine McNamara

The title story from the collection may be enjoyed here.

R.R.P. £6.50

NOW SOLD OUT

THE CHEMIST'S HOUSE

The short fiction in The Chemist’s House by Jude Higgins is very evocative and very colourful.

“A collection that pokes softly at the spaces between people: sister, brother, father, mother, neighbour, friend. Higgins’ stories reveal moments where small truths, and lies, dwell. Understated and quiet, these small fictions paint lives gently, but oh so colourfully.” Michelle Elvy

“In interconnected, finely wrought flash fiction stories, Jude Higgins creates a  coming-of-age tapestry — of family love and conflict; and of a girl’s passage into womanhood. Higgins' flash pieces blend into one masterly and moving whole: poignant, loving, and profound in emotional impact.” Meg Pokrass

A sample story from this pamphlet, 'Out of bounds', can be found here.

BUY a copy of The Chemist's House now, using the paypal link below.

The Chemist's House with packing and postage

The Chemist's House with P&P for the U.K. £7.50 GBP The Chemist's House with P&P for Rest of the World £12.99 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK IN THE U.K. AND INTERNATIONALLY ON KINDLE through Amazon, including Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here.

HOMETOWN

Hometown is a pamphlet of short fictions by Carrie Etter, published in April 2016, and V. Press's first flash fiction title.

Hometown brims with emotion-charged stories, distinctive characters and situations of hidden and not-so-hidden tensions in everyday lives in the American Midwest. From characters’ differing sense of responsibility to themselves, their friends and their families, to the wide-ranging aftermath of a white man’s accidental killing of a black man in central Illinois, these flash fictions illuminate the daily struggle of being human. Hometown proves very immediate and very engaging from start to finish.

"Etter's stories climb into your head and reboot it from the inside, from the squealingly joyous to the darkly sad, some with gear changes that fling you backwards in your seat, some told in voices so strong you could lean against them, and then some fragile, as if the page held nothing but the faint impression of a delicate and long-dead insect. I can't wait for more." David Gaffney

R.R.P. £6.50

Buy a copy of Hometown now: 

Hometown (with P&P options)

Hometown (with P&P in the U.K.) £7.50 GBP Hometown (with P&P for the rest of the world) £12.99 GBP

N.B. Any international customs/duty charges are the buyer's responsibility.

A sample story from Hometown can be read here.