Today is officially PUBLICATION DAY for ON THE BODIES OF STRANGERS by Hannah Stevens and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
Shortlisted for the W&A Working Class Writers’ Prize 2022 this collection of short stories is linked by the theme of tattoos.
Our lives, our experiences and the people we encounter leave behind indelible marks. On the Bodies of Strangers explores marked lives and marked flesh. The stories in this collection are linked by a single thread: the tattoos of their protagonists, traces of experiences and meaning etched onto their skin.
These are stories about the chaos of ordinary lives, about people who are flawed, complicated, but always deeply human. From domestic abuse to unexpected friendship, mixing horror and hope, intimacies and lies, ON THE BODIES OF STRANGERS explores the many ways we mark each other and ourselves as we deal with the complexities of human behaviour.
You can order your copy direct from us at the Wind&Bones Bookshop here.
Endorsements
‘Meticulously observed and emotionally compelling, this collection shows Hannah Stevens is a vital voice in contemporary short fiction.’ - Victoria MacKenzie
Victoria MacKenzie is author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain.
‘A collection that pulses with yearning for connection and desire for change… As finely drawn as a beautiful tattoo, Hannah Steven’s stories reveal both the pain and joy that life can bring, and how a line as thin as that laid down by the tattooist’s needle can lie between the two.’ - Dan Powell
Dan Powell is author of Looking Out of Broken Windows.
‘As incisive as a tattooist’s needle, they demonstrate that sometimes beautiful things come from pain.’ - Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor is the author of books including Scablands and Other Stories, Entertaining Strangers and Take Me Home.
About Hannah
Most of you here will know Hannah as co-director of Wind&Bones Books, alongside Will Buckingham. And in addition to all the work she does as part of Wind&Bones, Hannah is also a writer of fiction and non-fiction. In Their Absence, her debut collection of stories was published by the Stretto imprint of Roman Books and was translated into Bulgarian by Ana Pipeva for Altera Press.
Her writing has also featured in numerous anthologies including The Fairlight Book of Short Stories, High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories and Unthology 10: Fight or Flight. She is widely published in literary journals and magazines globally including Archer Magazine (Australia), Loose Lips (Canada), Necessary Fiction (US), Litro Magazine, Idle Ink, Losslit, Fictive Dream and TSS Publishing (all UK).
We are hugely excited to have this beautiful collection out in the world. And as a small independent publisher, we always appreciate your support.
Order ON THE BODIES OF STRANGERS directly from us at the Wind&Bones Bookshop here.
We really hope you love this book as much as we do. When you’ve read the book do get in touch and let us know!
