Stoker / Charis / Davidson A Midlands Odyssey

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9927589-9-8
Verlag: Nine Arches Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 120 Seiten

In A Midlands Odyssey ten writers take the stories of Homer's Odyssey and transplant them to the English Midlands. With a range of settings - from smart canal-side apartments to late-night launderettes - these stories are wonderfully inventive and offer a down-to-earth take on one of the world's greatest pieces of storytelling. 'The Odyssey theme, so rich with its tales of wandering Odysseus, the lure of the Sirens, the loss felt by Penelope and those gruesome reports across time from the underworld, energizes the ten writers here, providing a pretext for a fine array of inventive and imaginative stories, attuned to the legend, aslant to the Ancient World, adventurous in their address. If the topology is contemporary and centrally oriented, and the themes entertainingly current, this anthology is certainly not Midlands miscellaneous; it's the opposite of drab urban realism: a mere seagull's cry, only the odd whisper and rumour away from Ancient Greece itself.' Alan Mahar 'An inventive and intriguing project, distinguished not only by the power of its Homeric reimaginings but by the superb quality of the writing throughout.' Jo Balmer Stories edited by Polly Stoker, Elisabeth Charis and Jonathan Davidson. Includes stories by: Yasmin Ali, Lindsey Davis, Elisabeth Charis, Kit De Waal, Charlie Hill, Paul McDonald, Richard House, Dragan Todorovic, Natalie Haynes, David Calcutt. This book is also available as a eBook. Buy it from Amazon here.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stoker, Polly

Charis, Elisabeth

Davidson, Jonathan

Leseproben

YASMIN ALI

In the Lap of the Gods



Eddie walked through the car factory for the last time. His work here was nearly done. ‘You’ve seen my draft report to Frankfurt,’ said Eddie to the plant manager at his side. ‘We have two options. Both lead to productivity gains, one’s going to hurt more. What’s your take on this, Salim?’ ‘Real technical innovation? That means job losses,’ said Salim. ‘But Turkey has enough history. We need to protect the future. We’re a young country.’ ‘Good man,’ said Eddie, with a collusive nod. The phone pulsed in his pocket, but he chose to ignore it. In any case, he could guess who it was. Athene.

At the Athene offices Claire could scarcely contain her excitement. ‘I just know they’re going to love this,’ she said. ‘Maybe,’ said David, ‘but Poseidon’s after it, too. Don’t write them off. They sunk our last bid to Channel Four.’ ‘But it’s not Channel Four, is it? This is Zeus,’ said Claire. ‘They want bold, edgy…’ ‘They want ratings,’ said David. ‘Eyes on the prize, remember?’ So it was that Claire came to prepare for her meeting with the Commissioning Editor (Factual) at Zeus Television. The meeting took place at his club. The Olympus drew little attention to itself from the street; just a discreet doorway in Soho marked by a simple aluminium plate. Inside was a little different. A flunky dressed like a spangly Seventies game show host showed Claire up to the first floor library where Jolyon sat in a flamboyantly upholstered armchair reading on his tablet. ‘It’s a street in Birmingham,’ said Claire. ‘Benefits Street. It’s been done,’ said Jolyon. ‘Poverty porn, too depressing.’ ‘This has got wealth and poverty, freaks and glamour,’ Claire began. ‘Heartbreak and humour?’ said Jolyon. ‘Check,’ said Claire. ‘Really. It has everything.’ ‘Death?’ said Jolyon. ‘Absolutely,’ said Claire. ‘Athene are confident that this series reinvents reality television.’ ‘So,’ said Jolyon, picking imaginary fluff from the knee of his burgundy trousers and dropping it to the floor. The gesture warned Claire that she was losing his attention. ‘Give me the pitch in one word.’ ‘War,’ said Claire. Jolyon looked up from contemplation of his finger nails. ‘OK. A sentence.’ ‘Our cast have all been touched by war – profoundly,’ said Claire. ‘What war?’ ‘War,’ said Claire. ‘Falklands, Balkans, Gulf, Libya. We’ve even got an old couple who fled Belfast in the 1970s and ended up losing their friends in the IRA pub bombing.’ ‘I see the heartbreak,’ said Jolyon. ‘But where’s the humour? More to the point, where’s the glamour? And they’re all on one street?’ ‘Around it. Bristol Road,’ said Claire. ‘It’s quite long.’ ‘Let’s eat,’ said Jolyon. ‘I’m not sold on this, but I’m interested. I’ll hear you out.’ The walk to the dining room gave Claire the charge of energy she needed. Olympus members and their guests noted Jolyon. His aura was tangible. A red-top editor nodded, a fashionable writer stopped Jolyon for a quiet word, a BBC executive, no doubt looking for a route out of exile to Salford, air kissed the man. His power was a forcefield that took in his companion. The envious eyes of Claire’s peers and rivals took note. Athene Productions was one to watch. At the table, the best table, supplicants approached to remind the man from Zeus of projects pending, and pitches proposed. An act from the theatre of power, this ended when Jolyon’s body language signalled that lunch had been ordered, and negotiations were about to begin. ‘The story?’ said Jolyon. ‘OK,’ said Claire. ‘We’ve people with PTSD, refugees, exiles, fighters, victims. But they’ve found a way through their experiences. They’re real characters.’ ‘Characters, maybe, but where’s the story.’ ‘The arc centres on one family,’ said Claire. ‘Are they British?’ said Jolyon. ‘Our audience need people they can identify with.’ ‘Yes,’ said Claire. ‘From that longest of British wars, the class war.’ Jolyon spluttered, and reached for his glass. ‘Did you say “class war”?’ ‘It’s the conflict at the heart of this series,’ said Claire. ‘It binds everything together. Birmingham used to be the centre of the motor industry. I’ve got a guy who worked at Longbridge all his life.’ ‘Long bridge?’ said Jolyon. ‘Car factory at the end of our road,’ said Claire. ‘Or, at least it used to be. Synonymous with industrial militancy back in the day. Our old guy was a communist. Retired on a final salary pension and moved to a nice bungalow.’ ‘Communist is exotic,’ said Jolyon, ‘but I’m hearing too much ‘old’. Not sure that works for our demographic.’ ‘There’s a mid-century moderne angle,’ said Claire.’ The guy worked on the original Issigonis Mini.’ ‘Niche,’ said Jolyon. ‘Just a detail,’ said Claire. ‘The old man’s son was apprenticed to British Leyland, too, as it was called by then. That’s Eddie. He fought the management, too. Lost his job, lost his pension…’ ‘So?’ said Jolyon. ‘Lost his family,’ said Claire. ‘Had to move to find work. At first he commuted to Cowley. Then he worked at the Honda plant at Swindon. His marriage fell apart, leaving the wife behind with her baby son, Tel, but Eddie drifted on. Up to Nissan in Sunderland. On to the Czech Republic to help VW take over Skoda.’ ‘I’m losing the plot,’ said Jolyon. ‘How does any of this make for reality television?’ ‘It’s back-story, I know,’ said Claire. ‘But believe me, it works. Eddie’s ex-wife, Penny, still lives near Eddie’s dad. She’s done all right for herself. Took the license on a pub. Used to be a spit-’n-sawdust place for car workers. Now it’s a smart gastropub full of young professionals.’ ‘This is beginning to sound like some kind of anthropological study,’ said Jolyon. ‘Benefits Street, I get. Made In Chelsea, TOWIE. But what is this?’ ‘The back story’s important,’ said Claire. ‘What we want to do, across the arc of this series, is bring Eddie back. To reunite him with his dad, his son. Maybe even his wife. End the class war with a romantic meal in Penny’s bistro.’ ‘Best laid plans. What if all hell breaks loose?’ said Jolyon. ‘We can handle that,’ said Claire.

It had taken some careful positioning to beat Poseidon to the Zeus commission, but Claire and her colleagues were determined to make this series Athene’s calling card in the business. Now all they had to do was make the programmes. Izzy the intern rented flats for the crew in the Rotunda, a converted office building near the Bull Ring that was once the distinctive centre of the Birmingham skyline. Researchers armed with notes from Claire and David charmed the ‘cast’ and solicited the permissions. Claire herself worked on Eddie’s family. With their help, she felt, this project could be epic. First, she visited Len, Eddie’s elderly father. ‘Come in, bab,’ said Len, answering the door of his neat bungalow. ‘Nice to see a pretty face.’ Len basked in Claire’s attention. She listened intently to his tales of working with Red Robbo, and made a show of taking copious notes. ‘You’ve got great tales to tell, Len,’ said Claire. ‘The stuff about your days as a shop steward is brilliant, but you must have some personal stories, too.’ ‘I thought this was about class war?’ said Len. ‘We never called it that, mind.’ ‘The human touch, Len,’ said Claire. ‘That’s what helps people to engage. Like when your son joined the firm as an apprentice. You must have been proud that day, walking in to work with him.’ ‘I was on nights that week, bab,’ said Len. ‘Anyway, we took it for granted that if we had a lad he’d join us on the shop floor. ETU rules. Well, it was probably EETPU by then.’ ‘What was that?’ said Claire. ‘EPU, or something?’ ‘Frank Chappell’s lot,’ said Len. When Claire shook her head slowly, he added, ‘The electricians’ union.’ ‘But you must have been pleased Eddie wanted to work with you, family pride?,’ said Claire. ‘Oh, ar,’ said Len. ‘I’ve always been proud of Eddie. Did well at Shenley Court, bab. And he didn’t let the battle for Longbridge defeat him. Works all over the world now. The stories he could tell you.’ ‘But you miss him?’ said Claire. ‘Can’t say I don’t,’ said Len, ‘but the lad’s got his own life to lead.’ Getting Len to sign the consent forms had been easy enough. Getting him to stick to the script once they started filming was likely to be more difficult. They had cast him as a lonely old man who wants to see his son again before he dies. Still, it was all in the edit. Penny was harder work. Claire couldn’t ingratiate herself with the woman, so David tried an approach. In the flat over the pub he picked up a photograph of Penny’s son. ‘Is this your...