Comma Press Interview

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The Quickest Way to the Hospital by danshaw

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Writewords talks to Ra Page of Comma Press, whose recent short story collection, Under the Dam by David Constantine, is out now

Tell us about Comma Press- history, ethos, list etc

I’ve only really been working on the press for a year and half now – although I had a few trial runs under the name of Manchester Stories before that. The main thrust of the press is to get behind the short story: a form shunned by the bigger publishing houses and turned away from even by independents when they don’t sell as well as they’d hoped. Comma was set up first and foremost to offer an opportunity for writers place their short stories – either individually, or in sequences and occasionally whole volumes. Nor are we interested in championing one particular type of short; we’re looking for all types – from rigorous, tautly plotted ones, that tie a little knot at the end that brings everything together, to looser types of story, that present you with a single image which opens and goes on opening up as you read, and with each re-reading.

What kind of writing do you look for?

Writing that’s confident and relaxed in what it does, but isn’t so confident it’s blinkered, or decides to have a set take on things. Condensation is obviously key to the short story, so whatever type of story it is, everything has to be inch perfect: if it’s an open story, the central image has to vivid, built-up to, sustained and then unfettered; or if it’s a closed, plotted type, the scenes and themes, the inter-cutting, and the timing have to be rehearsed to the point of instinct; everything has to be as greased as an eel’s pocket.

How do you find your writers?

By reading. The first batch of Comma projects came from knowing a store of writers in the North West, who were either unpublished or not published as short story writers – in many cases their Trusthouse Forte. I also knew the quantity and range of talent in the poetry world (as a closet poetry fan), so it was a no-brainer to do a book like Hyphen, which invited a whole tribe of poets to storm the No Man’s Land of the short story, wailing and screaming, tearing their hair and howling at the moon.
Since then, more and more of the good stuff comes to us by recommendation from others and directly, unsolicited. Our new writers series, which started with Bracket, and continues this year with Parenthesis, is bringing in more and more writers we want to do larger books with.

Who are your favourite writers/writing and why?

There are so many. I’m extremely fond of Gerard Woodward, who we’ve published now and again, and am pretty pissed Chatto & Windus have got his first collection and not Comma. Gerard’s probably the most talented writer I’ve ever met. I’ve been re-reading Jeremy Dyson’s Never Trust a Rabbit and think it’s the benchmark in Britain, and the UFO story in Murukami’s After the Quake is something to build a little temple to. It’s not a writer thing, it’s a story-by-story thing. At the moment I’m in a very plotty mood; I want every story I read to go snap at the end, so fast it takes the skin off my fingers.

What excites you about a piece of writing-

I love it when a writer says: ‘Look at this… now forget you ever saw it’. Again, it’s my plot mood. I’m excited by writers who use sleight of hand to distract you and keep distracting you; when they’ve got a main story going on that’s so engrossing, you don’t have time to remember the weird secondary thing they set up beforehand. I love having the sensation as a reader ‘hang on, you’re playing with me know’ which you actually enjoy don’t want ruin by slowing down, thinking about the clues and predicting the end. The essence to all of these kinds of stories is speed, I guess. Keeping the goats gambolling.

and what makes your heart sink?

Judgmental voices. In fact any obsession with the internal voice of a character. Leave it to the sodding novel, or the dramatic personae poem. Or better still, just leave it. What is an internal dialogue anyway, but the author’s very external droning? I’m not interested in the author’s personality, their wry perspectives, or - horror of horrors - their ‘wit’. I’m interested in characters, and whatever type of short story it is, the reader usually has as much possession of the protagonist as the author. Short stories are so short no-body really gets to know their protagonists that well and as such they’re more independent, more alive.
For the editor, purgatory is a pile of manuscripts, each one beginning with a volley of attempts by the young author to convince you they’re hilarious.

A longer version of this interview is available to WriteWords Full and Community Members.
Click here to learn more about becoming a member.

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Comments by other Members

anisoara at 22:34 on 02 June 2005 Report this post

Thank you, this is superb. Sharps insights into the short story. Funny too. Thanks!

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PS - just bought the book.