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Haywards Heath

“Hayward’s Heath” is a short story that took a minor character from a published novel and placed him in an entirely new setting and narrative. It worked on creating a voice that was his own with a view to using him in a longer form narrative at another time. The challenge I set myself in composing it was to create a piece of work that would work equally well in the oral and written forms. This imposed restrictions of length (the story is a only 1,000 words) as well helping to shape form and voice. The story was also an experiment in character. The story was broadcast by BBC Radio’s The Verb in 2009 and also selected for the Granta Book of the African Short Story. It was written during the early growth and appeal of podcasts and the onset of a general trend towards podcasting short stories. “Hayward’s Heath” was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Awards 2010.