A City Burning

“A City Burning is referred to as a debut but it is a very mature collection and many of the stories have been competition winners or been published in periodicals. It is significant that Angela Graham is a TV director and screenwriter of long experience, for truly seeing and being seen lies at the heart of many of the stories. That she is also a poet is not surprising given the precision of her language and the tight focus on her subject… Whether it is as a result of a brief moment or a lifetime, most of the stories focus on a sudden realisation, an act of seeing… Hearts are weighed in many of Angela Graham’s stories and their owners are often surprised at the result.”

“The quasi-cinematic focus given to each story, which ranges from deep, intimate vignettes to more abstract, “zoomed out” streams of consciousness, gives the collection intriguing multiplicity and serves as a testament to Graham’s talent for interpersonal perception. The focus on linguistic exchange in A City Burning is also notable; English, Welsh, Ulster-Scots, and Italian all converge to create a narrative that is both highly contextual and elegantly told.”

“The short story has been having a moment for some time now with powerful but still relatively under-recognised work from writers like Helen Simpson, Carys Davies, Tessa Hadley, Claire Keegan, Chris Power, David Constantine and Mary-Ann Contantine.  This vivid, humane and beautifully-controlled collection suggests Angela Graham is another name to watch.”

“Each richly focused, tales provide finely drawn moments of realisation of their protagonist’s joy or tragedy … What fires the attention is Graham’s mastery of language and her ear for local speech of both the poetic and prosaic kind. Her experimentation with Ulster Scots in particular points to a new talent in Irish writing making us look afresh at our often shared predicaments and take consolation in the landscapes and people around us.”

“The prose is elegant with a clarity of voice and purpose. The tone matches the tales they tell providing the reader with a sense of both place and person. The use of Welsh and Ulster Scots in some of these stories brings a vivacity to the page … A City Burning presents the reader with memorable characters and thought-provoking stories, its lyrical writing and depth of perception providing insight into the human condition.”

“The making of a short story into a beautiful art form is therefore a delicate and challenging craft.  And Belfast-born Angela Graham has risen to that challenge, exhibiting in her debut collection, A City Burning, twenty-six stories which allow the reader to feel the emotional intensity of a range of characters as they stand at pivotal moments in their lives in the aftermath of personal tragedy … It is a collection that confirms Graham’s place as a serious and accomplished writer of this most beautiful, yet often under-valued, work of art.”

“There is a craft in the economy of Graham’s prose, as evocative as it is sparse, and the theme of change resonates throughout the collection, as well as the inherently human fear of it. We are not always prepared for the moment when our lives change for ever, and Graham seeks to capture that sense of knowing and not knowing here, inviting us into an intimacy with her characters that is never forced, and always elegiac.”

‘Angela Graham is a brilliant new voice. This is literature that deserves to last.’

‘In this powerful collection, Angela Graham shows herself master of the angle of vision: her tales capture the mercurial moment when a person’s world is changed forever, in a road or room, against a landscape, seascape or starscape, at the graveside or (as in the towering story, ‘Life-Task’) at a forsaken railway station in the aftermath of war.’

‘A debut collection of tales remarkable for its verve, depth and range, taking us from backstage at the theatre through priestly adventures in Rome to the dark tragedies of troubled Belfast streets.  Some of these elegantly arranged, pellucidly told and consistently perceptive stories are very carefully framed, as if the life within is viewed through a camera lens, while others are seemingly slowly refracted through the deep, clear waters of memory. Herein are arrayed snapshots, glimpses, things revealed or exposed – from the inner workings of hymns to the frailties of the human body – and all conjured up in bright words and sentences that consistently illuminate. Twenty six stories, one singular voice.’

‘A City Burning is an impressive kaleidoscope of landscape and language. Angela Graham’s short stories move rhythmically between Wales, Ireland and Italy, provoking conversation through their poetic score. ‘Acting Abby’, a play within a play, is a particular triumph and one sentence in this story serves as a metaphor for the book: ‘an invisible finger glides across the curtain like a harpist’s, releasing a ripple of movement.’ The movement is a little thought, a shift in perception as each story draws to an end.’ 

‘ ‘The Road’ is, appropriately, the opening story in this collection and by following that road we enter the world of Angela Graham. In that world we meet a large, interesting and varied cast of characters. We range across England, Wales, Ireland… and even venture as far afield as Italy. The characters are well drawn and their stories entice and intrigue. As a collection it… is to be highly recommended.’

‘Good writing is compelling. Each of these twenty-six stories takes you out of your own skin and into the lived experience of another… The writing is sparse. Every word is telling… But there’s also lyricism, a feel for the rhythm of speech and an ability to capture natural beauty… These stories are not comfortable… but they are honest, searing, insightful and very, very good.’