In June of 2023, I received an email from Raef Boylan with an exciting proposition. I already knew Raef from Fire & Dust, an excellent Coventry Poetry Open-Mic night (currently celebrating an amazing ten years). It is at Fire & Dust I performed my first ever poetry in front of an audience, and I already had Raef (and Anne and Amy) to thank for providing such a wonderfully supportive atmosphere to poets both old and new.
Raef had enjoyed my story, "Moonlight Sonata" in the Coventry Writer's Group anthology, "Telling Tales". One of many stories inspired by our fair city, it told the (fictional) exploits of the crew of the (actual) only German Bomber to be shot down during the Blitz. He asked if I would be willing to contribute to a new anthology being produced by Comma Press. They're responsible for the wonderful "Reading the City" series, and they were proposed a Book of Coventry to join the lineup.
How could I say no? A new story began to form - a semi-autobiographical tale based around a very fateful early 1984 February morning in Coventry, and the draft was duly submitted. Usually the title comes first and acts as inspiration for the story, but in this case it was the other way around - the title came very late in the process, but - in reflection - seems like an obvious fit.
And so it is that "Four Minute Warning - Three Minute Hero" is featured in the new Book of Coventry by Comma Press (the bit of the title before the hyphen will become apparent when you read the story, the bit afterwards is my homage to Coventry's own The Selecter). It's a story of growing up in Coventry under the spectral shadow of the mushroom cloud - and is a rare departure from my usual genres of Horror and Sci-fi. The book will be officially released on October 10th, 2024 and will be available in all the usual places- but there's a way to get it in advance. There's a launch party to be held on the 26th of September, where you can meet the authors and get a copy of the anthology; tickets are available from here.
Check out the wonderful cover at the top of this article, by the brilliant David Eckersall. Do you recognise all of the Coventry landmarks portrayed on it? Give it a go - answers below! Each answer has a link with more details about the appropriate landmark.
Hope to see you on the 26th!
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