Gold SF – a feminist speculative fiction/sci-fi imprint at Goldsmiths Press – is to publish a new short story collection by FiN member A. J. Ashworth.
The publisher, whose aim is to promote ‘voices that answer to the unprecedented times in which we find ourselves’, acquired worldwide rights to Ashworth’s second collection Maybe the Birds in September 2024.
The book features 14 short stories, all of which engage with the figure of the bird to greater or lesser degrees. One of the stories was selected for Best British Short Stories with other stories winning or being listed in prizes such as Short Fiction’s Wild Writing Prize.
Ashworth, who gained her PhD from Edge Hill in 2022, said, ‘Many of the stories were workshopped in FiN meetings and I’m really grateful for the valuable feedback I received from fellow members of the group.’ She added, ‘I’m delighted that the lovely folk at Gold SF/Goldsmiths Press wanted to work with me on the book and I can’t wait to see it flying out into the world.’
Ashworth worked at the university as a Graduate Teaching Assistant during her PhD and also as an Associate Tutor and Lecturer until earlier this year. Her first collection Somewhere Else, or Even Here won Salt Publishing’s Scott Prize and was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. She was also the editor of Red Room: New Short Stories Inspired by the Brontës in aid of The Brontë Birthplace Trust. She has won awards such as a K. Blundell Trust Award and is Associate Editor of the journal Short Fiction in Theory and Practice.
Maybe the Birds is set to be published in autumn 2025.