Brilliant Blue

Karen Stevens draws her fiction from real-life experiences of growing up working class in the south of England. In her late twenties  higher education gave her a different perspective on her roots - but you don't change your roots. She has been published in a variety of anthologies and journals, including The Big Issue, Fish Publishing, Salt Publishing and Valley Press. She was runner-up for the prestigious ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award in 2023. Her edited collection of essays Writing a First Novel: Reflections on the Journey was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. Her co-edited collection of short stories High Spirits won a Saboteur Award for Best Anthology in 2019. Karen is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester and lives in West Sussex. Brilliant Blue is her first collection of short stories.

• Among the CrowsParchedOff-KilterWhere You're HeadingVast and DeepThe VigilBlissful BlueNorwayThe Real Deal

"Brilliant Blue deserves every prize going. Bold, beautiful and ebullient, it fizzes with life as we journey through the unseen and overlooked landscapes of Britain today. From a sinkhole estate to the aspirational suburbs of southern England, we watch Stevens' characters grapple with loaded odds, human fallibility and the failures of love. Yet Brilliant Blue is no grim examination of working-class life. It dazzles with the sheer power and intelligence of Stevens' vision. Her stories kick back with honesty and an off-the-scale daring even as they reveal the tender intimacies and affirmations that sing through the everyday. I don't think I've ever read a writer whose eye is more acute."– Alison MacLeod, author of Unexploded and All the Beloved Ghosts"The short stories in Brilliant Blue are perfectly constructed mosaics of recognizable, daily life. Sensitively written, they show us how often moments of intimacy happen alongside undercurrents of violence and misunderstanding. Fans of Sarah Hall and Jon McGregor will appreciate the craftsmanship in these wonderfully written stories that reflect and comment on our current time."– Suzanne Jonson, author of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar"Karen Stevens' moving and powerful stories go straight to the heart of the human condition. Many of her characters are fighting: for money, for friendship and love, for family. There are so many moments of humour and grace and beauty. This is such an important book, and I loved it."– Ed Hogan, prizewinning author of Blackmoor and The Electric"Stevens pairs raw circumstance with a fierce, steady compassion. Her people have worries that could crush them, yet they keep reaching for connection, however fleeting. The prose itself flashes, but there’s precision beneath the sparkle."– Paul Taylor-McCartney, Everyboy's Reviewing