Microfiction & Short Stories
What You Might Find is a Microfiction and Short Story Collection published by Spineless Wonders. Reviewing it in The Australian, Ed Wright wrote,
‘Holt displays great nimbleness in the juxtapositions and twists that make these small works resonate, and wonderful curiosity in the way he leaps unashamed into his wide range of subjects. He creates surprises, which makes What You Might Find a tonic for readers in search of new angles from which to spin the world around in their heads.’
What You Might Find is available from Spineless Wonders.
Colony
Not long after the commencement of the crisis a colony formed on abandoned farming land in the north-east. It wasn’t as if there’d been a government edict – though there’d been plenty of those. There’d been no social media campaign either. When the ‘sufferers’ (many of whom were perfectly happy, having come to terms with their new conditions) talked about it, one word kept coming up. But it was no longer abstract, the way it had been before the contagion. Instinct, they agreed. No question. All the answers to what they must do, where they must go, already there for
them, before anything was asked. They called it Birdsville. They built homes and nests, depending on their needs, and, though they squabbled, found security in their swelling numbers, and the closeness that had been denied them in their old cities and towns.
Contact Richard via the contact form (by clicking the menu button), for more information or to purchase Corella Virus Stories
(The Boys)
Chances are Elroy and the boys ’ll be at the side of the track when there’s a train about to come through. They’ll share a couple of Elroy’s pa’s cigarettes as they wait. Sometimes whiskey from a long night, when a finger or two at the bottom of an abandoned bottle won’t be missed. Pulses quickening. Too much anticipation for talk. The steam train is best of all. Everything gets clouded as she passes. Revealed in her wake. All that heavy steel smashing over whatever they’ve left on the tracks. Coins or rocks or firecrackers are good.
A shotgun shell, once, from Jimmy’s uncle’s place. Fruit from the orchard. Smashed to smithereens. A telephone, its innards exposed like slashed veins. A rat found rotting behind Carter’s Butchery, carefully positioned for decapitation.
Contact Richard via the contact form (by clicking the menu button), for more information or to purchase Train Songs for 5-string Banjo
Poetry
Richard Holt’s poetry has appeared in Australian Love Poems (Inkerman and Blunt), small press collections and been broadcast on ABC Radio National. His visual poetry has been published in Unusual Work (Collective Effort Press) and produced as public text/art in various locations.
Non- Fiction
Non-Fiction, primarily focused on arts and culture or sport, has appeared in Journals and Collections including Best Australian Sports Writing, Footy’s Greatest Players, Footy’s Greatest Coaches, World Art, Art Monthly Australia, Like, Dialogue and Architectural Review Australia.
Story Coaching & Manuscript Development
Extensive experience assisting writers to develop their fiction projects. Use the contact form (click the menu button) for more information.
[ Header image: Train Songs for 5-string Banjo and Corella Virus Stories (text, illustration & book/cover design) ]
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richard holt 