STORIE: EXPERIMENTS IN PROSE

Join us for the final event of our third season & hear from a line-up of Midlands-based STORIE alumni as they return to the mic to share short, sharp new EXPERIMENTS IN PROSE.

Featuring work from: JOSH ALLEN - ANIA BAS – SASHA BUTLER - CURTIS EBANKS FALCONER - ALAN KANE FRASER - TOM MAGUIRE - KATE MASCARENHAS - BETH PREECE

With STORIE co-curators: TAYLOR BURNS & CLIVE JUDD

JOSH ALLEN is a Birmingham based creative non-fiction writer. He has written for publications including: The Observer, New Statesman, London Review of Books Blog, Source magazine, Red Pepper, Apollo magazine, Recessed.Space and The New Internationalist alongside all manner of regional, specialist publications. Much of his current practice revolves around walking, especially in the Midlands region, with pieces recently published by Left Cultures, Floodgate Press, Heath & Mud and the Derwent Press. A major forthcoming project in this vein is the "Radical Urban Walks" pamphlet, an illustrated collection of 11 radical urban walks from across the UK, which he is editing for Left Cultures, due for publication in late 2026 or early 2027.

ANIA BAS is an artist, writer and arts organiser working across text, performance, publishing and social engagement. Originally from Poland, she works in her second language. Her work has been commissioned by Tate, Whitechapel Gallery, Art on the Underground, Whitstable Biennale/Cement Fields and Coventry Biennial. Her debut novel Odd Hours (2022) was named the Irish Examiner’s Novel of the Year, described as “an enigmatic and idiosyncratic gem… eccentric, quirky and utterly original.

TAYLOR BURNS is a writer from Birmingham & a a graduate of City University's Novels MA programme & current Writer-in-Residence at Voce Books. His fiction has appeared in the Digbeth Stories and Night Time Economy anthologies, both from Floodgate Press, and has also been featured in Fictive Dream and GRASS magazine. Taylor’s debut novel ‘Trav’ will be released in July 2026 on Zer0 Books. He is the co-curator of STORIE.

SASHA BUTLER debut novel ‘The Marriage Contract’ (Salt) was published in 2025, and was listed as a Sunday Times best historical fiction book of 2025 and awarded ‘Best historical fiction to take you back in time’ by the 2025 Cosmopolitan Book Awards. Prior to publication, the novel was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award and Cheshire Novel Prize in 2022. Sasha also writes short stories, which have featured in Floodgate Press’ anthology, ‘Night Time Economy’ and the Derwent Press literary magazine. Sasha lives and writes in Birmingham, and is currently working on her second novel.

CURTIS EBANKS-FALCONER grew up in Handsworth, Birmingham but now lives in the Black Country after attending Brunel University, completing a Batchelors & Masters in Creative Writing. He is currently in the process of publishing his first novel, ‘The French Bet’, a historical fiction novel involving the conflicts that arise from a tontine between a group of soldiers during WW1. Curtis is also developing a script for a comedic romantic drama, a sophomore post-apocalyptic novel & short stories in the historical & science fiction genres.

ALAN KANE FRASER is a writer originally from Handsworth, Birmingham. His debut stage play ‘Random Acts of Malice’ won the inaugural Derek Lomas Award for New Writing at the Wellington Literary Festival and received productions in Telford, Birmingham, Leeds and London. His short stories have been published by Floodgate Press, Derwent Press, and After Dinner Conversations and the piece that he read at Storie in December 2024 will also be appearing in an anthology from Zer0 Books in 2027. His novel ‘The Muse of Hope Falls’ was published by Lightning Books in 2023. He still lives in Birmingham and now writes predominantly about the city and the wider West Midlands.

CLIVE JUDD is an award-winning writer, literary curator, and bookseller originally from Worcester, now based in Birmingham. His debut play HERE—winner of the Papatango Prize—was staged at the Southwark Playhouse in 2022 & is published by Nick Hern Books. Clive is the co-owner of Birmingham-based independent bookshop Voce Books, & Festival Programmer for the Birmingham Literature Festival 2026. He is the co-curator of STORIE.

TOM MAGUIRE is a writer and DJ from North Brum. His fiction and essays appear in Floodgate Press, Derwent Press, Concrete Mag and elsewhere. He is perpetually working on his first novel about a flooded Birmingham.

KATE MASCARENHAS is an author based in Birmingham. She has a PhD in Literary Studies & Psychology and is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society. Previously she has written for The Guardian, Observer Magazine, Big Issue North, & Mslexia. Her novels include ‘The Psychology of Time Travel’, ‘The Thief on the Winged Horse’, & most recently, a roaring twenties supernatural horror called ‘Hokey Pokey’.

BETH PREECE is a fiction writer, essayist, and PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Birmingham. Her short fiction and essays can be found in the likes of The Stinging Fly, Folding Rock, Extra Teeth, and The London Magazine. She is interested in love, sex, frustration, and how the stories we tell about ourselves both contort and shape our lives. Beth is currently working on her first novel.

This event is supported using public funding by ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND.

TICKETS: Free

Please reserve your ticket here on our Eventbrite page.

KILDER BAR is located at 5 Shaw’s Passage, Digbeth with step-free access via the entrance on Shaw’s Passage.

For further enquiries about the event, please email [email protected]

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