Songs for the Elephant Man

Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, had extensive deformities and earned a living as an exhibit in freak shows and fairgrounds, horrifying the public with his appearance. Later he became a medical curiosity and something of a celebrity, meeting royalty and members of London society. Treated as a monster, he was actually a gentle and thoguhtful soul. His life was the inspiration for this collection of short stories about outsiders of all kinds, and their tormentors. The tales range from realistic fiction, through horror, science fiction, humour and fantasy, but they all contain characters who are in some way separate, different, alone. Some might appear monstrous, some embrace their otherness or rise above it, and some do terrible things. But as we see how they are treated by the mainstream we may ask, 'Who are the real monsters here?'

About the Author :
Matthew Pegg is an editor for Mantle Lane Press and director of its parent company Mantle Community Arts. He is also a playwright, writer and graphic designer. Before working for Mantle Arts he worked in Education and Outreach roles in a number of regional theatres in the UK, followe by a brief stint as Theatre Officer for The East Midlands at the Arts Council. Garrie studied Art in Bradford, wrote for a music magazine in Northampton, worked as a special needs teacher in Birmingham, and currently trains civil servants. Unthology 5, Blackheath Books, 3 AM Magazine, and many others have published his work. Mantle Lane Press have published two books, Night Swimming, and Submerged. Radio Wildfire broadcast a selection of his work including a song, and he has a poem on a headstone in Polesworth Abbey. He writes short stories, scripts and novels, is a member of the Tindal Street Fiction Group, and Room 204, and runs creative writing workshops for Writing West Midlands. He has also delivered writing workshops for prisons, mental health settings, schools and museums. He writes about the gaps between lives, the pauses between stations, the static hiss of the city and the thick knuckles of the earth. Electricity is published here for the first time. DC is an award-winning short story and flash fiction writer with over 150 stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologies. DC's stories have appeared in: So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Lunch Ticket, Raven Chronicles, Silver Pen, Scarlet Leaf Review, and many others. Billy Luck was nominated for Best of the Net 2017 Anthology and was also a semi finalist in ScreenCrafts 2017 Cinematic Short Story Competition. Billy Luck won first place at Defenestrationism where it was first published in July 2016 by Professor Punk Reaves. DC lives on the California central coast with her wife and animals.