Conradology: A celebration of the work of Joseph Conrad

Kamila Shamsie · Paul Theroux · Wojciech Orlinski · Giles Foden · Sarah Schofield · Jacek Dukaj · SJ Bradley · Agnieszka Dale · Zoe Gilbert · Jan Krasnowolski · Grazyna Plebanek · Farah Ahamed · Dr Richard Niland · Prof Robert Hampson

Nov 2017 · Comma Press

About this ebook

 A merchant sailor works for a decade, captaining a yacht up and down the coasts of Malaysia, in the hope that his crooked employer will stay true to a promise...

Years after a pandemic sweeps across Europe, wiping out its all-white population, a pilgrim returns to his Polish birthplace in search of the only other non-white kid he knew at school...

An inscrutable hotelier loses his composure when a secret passage is discovered in his hotel, leading to a mysterious room and a previously hidden existence...

Born in what is now Ukraine to Polish parents, naturalised as a British citizen, and schooled on the high seas of international commerce, Joseph Conrad was a true citizen of the world. His novels bore witness to the dehumanising repercussions of empire, explored a world in which state-sponsored terrorism ruined individuals' lives, and pioneered complex narrative structures and subjective points-of-view in what was to become the first wave of literary modernism.

To mark his 160th birthday, 14 authors and critics from Britain, Poland and elsewhere have come together to celebrate his legacy with new pieces of fiction and non-fiction. Conrad felt that the writer's task was to offer 'that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.' In an age of increasing isolationism, these celebrations remind you of the value of such glimpses.

About the author

<b>Farah Ahamed</b> is a short fiction writer, who has been published in The Massachusetts Review, Thresholds, The Missing Slate and Out of Print among others. She has been nominated and shortlisted for numerous awards. <b>SJ Bradley</b> is a writer from Leeds. Her short fiction has appeared in various journals and anthologies including New Willesden Short Stories 7, Queen Mobs, Litro magazine, and Untitled Books. Her first novel, Brick Mother, and second novel, Guest, are both published by Dead Ink. She is the editor of the Saboteur Award-winning anthology Remembering Oluwale (Valley Press). <b>Agnieszka Dale</b> is a Polish-born London-based author. Her short stories have been selected for BBC Radio 4, Liars' League London, Tales of the Decongested and The Fine Line Short Story Collection. Her feature articles have been published by Stylist, and her song lyrics performed on BBC Radio 3's In Tune Live from Tate Modern. Her solo collection, Fox Season, was published by Jantar in 2017. <b>Jacek Dukaj</b> is one of Poland s most important writers of science fiction and fantasy. In 2009 he was winner of the inaugural European Literary Prize, and has also received the Koscielski Award and the Janusz A. Zajdel Award for his writing. His books include In the Land of the Infidels, The Black Seas and the bestselling Ice. In 2003 filmmaker Tomasz Baginski adapted his short story The Cathedral into a short animation that was nominated for an Oscar. <b>Giles Foden</b> is the author of the acclaimed The Last King of Scotland (1998), is set during Idi Amin's rule of Uganda in the 1970s and won the Whitbread First Novel Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, a Betty Trask Award and the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.He contributes regularly to the The Guardian and is books review editor for Condé Nast Traveller magazine. <b>Zoe Gilbert</b> s short stories have appeared in anthologies and journals in the UK and internationally. Her story Fishskin, Hareskin won the Costa Short Story Award 2014. <b>Jan Krasnowolski</b> is a writer, essayist and translator. He is the author of four books of creative fiction and the winner of three Machina Magazine creative writing awards. In 2017, his book &#34;Syreny z Broadmoor&#34;, which translates as &#34;The Sirens of Broadmoore&#34;, was published by Swiat ksiazki. <b>Dr. Richard Niland</b> is Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He published his book Conrad and History with OUP in 2010. In 2013 he was the recipient of the Adam Gillon Award for Best Book on Conrad published 2009-2012 from the Joseph Conrad Society USA. <b>Wojciech Orlinski</b> trained as a chemist but has devoted most of his professional life to writing about science fiction, as a journalist, writer, and blogger. Since 1997, he has been a regular columnist for Gazeta Wyborcza. <b>Gra yna Plebanek</b> is a writer, columnist and author of bestselling novels &#34;Illegal Unions&#34;, &#34;Portofino Girls&#34; and &#34;Box with pins&#34; (2002). She is a Golden Owl winner for promoting Poland abroad. <b>Sarah Schofield</b> is an award-winning short story writer based in Lancashire and currently teaches Creative Writing at Edgehill University. Her stories have appeared in several of Comma's anthologies. <b>Kamila Shamsie</b> is the author of seven novels, which have been translated into over 20 languages. Home Fire was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Burnt Shadows was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and A God in Every Stone was shortlisted for the Bailey s Women s Prize for Fiction. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and one of Granta s Best of Young British Novelists . <b>Paul Theroux</b> is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best-known work is The Great Railway Bazaar. He has published numerous works of fiction, some of which were adapted as feature films.