The first of an elegant new Showcase series: distinguished guest editors introduce original short story talent. Imaginative, intriguing stories ranging from wintertime in small-town Canada to a family settling in 1960s Nigeria; the strange intensity of a mother-daughter relationship in contemporary Birmingham to the shocked silence of New York in autumn 2001. Four talented short story writers explore themes of anger, love, isolation and change. With author photos by young music scene photographer Mark Johnson. Lesley Glaister - one of Britain's finest writers - is the author of Honour Thy Father, which won the Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award, and more recently Easy Peasy, Sheer Blue Bliss and Now You See Me. Her tenth novel, the menacing and engrossing As Far as You Can Go, was published by Bloomsbury in March 2004. Lesley teaches a Masters Degree in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University.