Solstice Shorts

Sixteen short stories that chart the meaning of time, and explore what it can do to us, and for us.



Broken hearts, lives lived on fastforward, missed chances, and catastrophic meetings on the road. Time stolen, time wasted, time captured and time lost. A warning from the past, a second that changes a life, a failed glimpse into the future and a study of funeral rites. Ready-made families, weekly liaisons, and an all-night radio show.



From the First ever Solstice Shorts Festival originally read live in 2014 on the Greenwich Meridian, on the shortest day of the year, from sunrise to sunset.



David Mathews is one of the winners of the Solstice Shorts Festival Short Story Competition. His story in Solstice Shorts: Sixteen Stories about Time is Wednesday Afternoon.



For 35 years David was a work psychologist. That gave him a license to mind other people's business. He comes from Wales and lives in Bath and SW France. Recently his collection of short stories was shortlisted for the Impress Prize, Brittle Star magazine published his story 'Florence, who made mustard', and Audio Arcadia are currently recording 'Removed' about a man who looks for stones.

Pippa Gladhill's work has been supported by Arts Council bursaries, her stories have won awards, been broadcast on Radio 4, Radio 3, and been read at spoken word events in Bristol and Bath. She have recently begun writing plays which have received script in hand performances at the Ustinov Studio, ( Theatre Royal, Bath) Rondo Theatre (Bath) and Marlowe Studio (Canterbury).

Pippa's story for Solstice Shorts is Winter's Evening in Bécéscsaba

Helen Morris was one of five winners of the Solstice Shorts competition 2015. She lives and works in Essex. She tries to fit in writing stories between doing the washing for three sons, swimming too much, eating delicious food and drinking good beer.



Helen has stories in Arachne anthologies Solstice Shorts Sixteen Stories about Time, No SPider Harmed in the Making of This Book, and Liberty Tales



Helen is one of five authors of Five by Five