Jonathan Gibbs

Jun 21, 2024 | apersonalanthology.substack.com | Julian Girdham |Jonathan Gibbs

I have been teaching teenagers English for almost 40 years, and my selection  here is of short stories which work well in the classroom. There are few more unforgiving audiences than schoolchildren, and so you can be sure these stories have survived that test. I have read all of them out loud: no-one is too old to close their eyes and listen, and a live audience really tests the quality of the writing.

May 10, 2024 | apersonalanthology.substack.com | Jonathan Gibbs

A Personal Anthology is a regular bulletin from a series of guest contributors, each of whom is given the opportunity to dream-edit their own personal anthology of short fiction. The task is to pick and introduce a dozen stories.

May 3, 2024 | apersonalanthology.substack.com | Jonathan Gibbs

In one of my selected stories, an unnamed narrator is asked what she's been reading lately. Her mind goes blank and the present moment is distilled as the author skilfully depicts the multitudinous thoughts that pass in the space between thought and speech. When first asked which stories I'd like to include in my anthology, a dozen rose like a flash – an instinct.

Jan 12, 2024 | apersonalanthology.substack.com | Jonathan Gibbs

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Jan 12, 2024 | apersonalanthology.substack.com | Jonathan Gibbs

I volunteered for this job, you know. I wanted to talk about two things: stories that I love, and writers who I feel could do with being better known. And while some of these stories are loved by many people, and so are some of the writers, it’s nice to see them all together in one place: stories of my life and others, to paraphrase one of the authors.