Instructions for the Working Day

Joanna Campbell lives in Gloucestershire. She studied German at university and as a student spent a year living in West Germany. Joanna has worked as a teacher of both German and English, and now writes full-time. She is very interested in the Cold War particularly the communist state of East Germany partly as a result of studying the era for her university course and also from living with West Germans devastated by the division of their country and separated from their loved ones. She loves to write about the themes of separation and isolation as a result of this interest. She is learning to paint and most of her efforts involve abstract cityscapes reminiscent of battle-scarred Berlin. Her debut novel Tying Down the Lion was published in 2015, and her short story collection When Planets Slip Their Tracks (2016) was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her novella Sybilla won the 2021 National Flash Fiction Day Novella-in-Flash Award. Her short fiction has been published in many anthologies and literary magazines, and has won several awards including the London Short Story Prize.

'a clever reflection on ramifications of the Stasi era in East Germany, is an elegant, chilling reminder of what happens when people set out to deliberately disintegrate another person's spirit' -The Independent'An evocative and poignant novel exploring home and family and the hold of the past. Totally absorbing' -Alison Moore, author of the Man Booker shortlisted The Lighthouse'I love how this seemingly quiet novel is also one of extremes: funny and tragic, captivating and disturbing. Joanna Campbell has written a mind-bending and enigmatic story that blurs the lines between thought and reality' -Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground'Instructions for the Working Day not only weaves an uncomfortable, gripping story of foreboding but also leads the reader to a better understanding of the deeply felt ramifications of the post-war era of the German Democratic Republic for a whole country and its residents, the echoes of which can still be felt today' -Kerry Mead, The Mechanics' Institute Review'I've been a fan of Joanna Campbell's short stories for some time now and it's a joy to see her turn her considerable talents to the novel. I hope this wonderful book brings her the wider recognition she so deserves' -Paul McVeigh, author of The Good Son, winner of the Polari Prize 2016