Category: short fiction

fiction, short fiction4 Comments

Fisher Girls | Island

Barry Lee Thompson

One of my short stories is published in Island today. You can read ‘Fisher Girls’ here. I hope you like it. While you’re there, why not check out some of the other content. Since our beginnings in 1979 (as The Tasmanian Review), Island’s mission has remained the same: to produce a magazine with a national vision and audience that supports new, emerging and established writers and artists, and to bring works of excellence and variety to the reading public throughout Australia and overseas. Island Magazine Happy reading! Continue reading Fisher Girls | Island

short fiction2 Comments

Short Is Sweet

Barry Lee Thompson

In the end it is the mystery that lasts and not the explanation. Sacheverell Sitwell, For Want of the Golden City A few months ago a friend recommended I read a short story by the English writer Robert Aickman. ‘The Real Road to the Church’ is in the collection Cold Hand in Mine (1975), and my friend wanted to discuss the story with me. And so I abandoned the novel I’d been reading, and have been enthusiastically devouring Aickman’s “strange stories” since then. Last week I was asked why I’m drawn to writing short fiction. I talked about the form … Continue reading Short Is Sweet

fiction, microfiction, short fiction1 Comment

THE GHOSTS

Barry Lee Thompson

It’s a squarish room, plain by day, and nothing to speak of. But after dark, when the lamps are lit and the candles positioned, the room takes on an inviting glow, and were you to walk inside from the chill of a wintry evening, throwing off your coat and rubbing your hands together, you’d think it had the air of an old-fashioned club. A suggestion of wood-panelled age, perhaps; of capacious leather armchairs, and small low tables ready for heavy tumblers of whisky. You might describe it as a pleasant room, a cheery welcoming place. A place where a roaring … Continue reading THE GHOSTS

Extract, fiction, short fiction

Chumi Falls Out | Tincture Journal, Issue Twenty

Barry Lee Thompson

“He went out for a walk. There was a group of ducks on the river, near the wetlands. One of the ducks swam towards him. He told it to fuck off, and it moved away. He sat on the edge of the river with his legs drawn up, hugging his knees. It was a warm morning, so he took off his shoes and socks. His socks were slightly damp where his problems had seeped out through the soles of his feet. He dangled his feet in the water. The ducks swam away, far from the slick of worry on the … Continue reading Chumi Falls Out | Tincture Journal, Issue Twenty

fiction, short fiction11 Comments

Playful Arrangements | from Roomers #59

Barry Lee Thompson

He’s up with the birds, usually. Before them, even. Reeling at the shock of cold water splashes on pasty skin. This is always where the day starts: staring out into the sky, into the depths of dark yard silence. Waiting for light to peel over the edges. In this way, he considers the things done the day before, and how these activities might easily become those for the day ahead. He could visit once again the strangers who live by the bridge. He could stare along the river’s reach, towards the lumbering shipyards, and at the fishermen dotting the rocks. … Continue reading Playful Arrangements | from Roomers #59