‘Positive and Negative’ collects the best of Nick Black’s flash fiction, as seen in lit mags including Ellipsis Zine, Spelk, Splonk, Okay Donkey, Lost Balloon and Jellyfish Review. The book is a chorus of many voices – female, male, old, young, lonely, loving, scared, shrill, laughing – in a variety of settings that range from haunted Hampstead flatshares to a husband-heavy afterlife, from swampy pre-history to a malfunctioning spaceship, from post-apocalyptic golf courses to a metal-grinding Tesco car park. These are stories tailor-made to entertain and to express what’s so often left unheard.
To whet your appetite for this full collection, you can read his most recent piece published in Ellipsis, which is also included within ‘Positive and Negative’, here: With Her Soft Hat On.
When I first started writing very short pieces, before I really knew what flashfiction was, I read some of Nick’s stories & thought, Aha! so this is what they’re talking about, this is what ‘flash’ can do.
Sharon Telfer, author of The Map Awaits
This is such a brilliant collection. Nick Black’s prose is shining, muscular and glittering with unforgettable images. Each piece takes the reader into the depths of humour, tragedy or menace with skilful sparsity of words and mastery of language. A bold new voice, and a must-have for your bookshelves.
Catherine Menon, author of Fragile Monsters.
Dystopian, anarchic, witty, subversive – a Nick Black story is instantly recognisable and never to be forgotten. This collection of his flash fiction zings with energy and knife-sharp voices that both disturb and disarm, but there is also a haunting gentleness that will linger with you long after you put the book down. Positive and Negative is a tour de force of everything flash fiction can be.
Fiona Mackintosh, author of The Yet Unknowing World
‘Positive and Negative’ is available to buy via Ad Hoc Fiction
…
Biography
Nick Black manages two suburban libraries in London. His writing has been published in lit mags including trampset, Okay Donkey, Splonk, Spelk, Lost Balloon, Ellipsis Zine and Jellyfish Review. He tweets about things he likes as @fuzzynick
