STORGY was founded in 2013 by Tomek Dzido and Anthony Self as a means by which to explore the short story form and engage with readers and artists alike. An online literary short story magazine consisting of a core group of dedicated writers, STORGY aims to inspire artistic collaboration and provide opportunities for creative minds to meet.
MISSION
STORGY seeks to publish and promote exceptional literary fiction whilst providing authors with the opportunity to reach a wider literary audience. We take pride in discovering new and emerging talent, whilst also celebrating the work of established writers. If you have a passion for short fiction and an urge to weld with ink, read on to discover more about STORGY and our mission.
At STORGY we search for short stories which challenge literary conventions and experiment with genre, style, form and content. We are looking for innovative fiction which examines the human condition and explores the struggle of survival. We want writing which forces the reader to face the reality in which we live, or the illusions in which we hide. We want soul, be it broken or bruised, or endless and almighty. Tell us, teach us, transform us.
We are also extremely keen to collaborate with other artists. Whether you are a painter, illustrator, photographer, or thinker, we seek creative folk with whom to explore new ways of creating short fiction. If you would like to submit artwork or discuss collaborating with us, drop us a line and introduce yourself. Our mission is to mingle. Welcome.
STAFF
MANAGING DIRECTOR & HEAD OF SHORT FICTION – TOMEK DZIDO
Tomek Dzido is a London based writer. He is the author of two novels, Anamnesis and Spit and Polish, and a short story collection Soapsuds Island. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University and is presently working on his third novel, Mind The Gap. In 2013, his short story Ya Get Me was a semi finalist in The New Guard Literary Review Machigonne Fiction Contest. Further short stories have been published in The Alarmist and Front & Centre.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEAD OF FILM – ANTHONY SELF
Anthony Self is a London based writer. He Co-founded STORGY with Tomek Dzido in the hope of exploring the short story format and engaging with other artists and writers. He began writing theatre scripts and one of his short plays ‘Maybe the moon didn’t want Armstrong’ was performed at Hampstead Theatre. His love for prose was bolstered when he entered a short story competition and Margaret Atwood commented that his style was Kafka-esque. He has also directed several music videos and short films, one of which, Anticipation won an award judged by British film maker Shane Meadows. He is currently writing his first novel and hopes for a publication date some time before 2065. {tonyself@storgy.com}
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEAD OF BOOKS – ROSS JEFFERY
Ross Jeffery is a Bristol based writer and short story film director. He is a long time collaborator with Tomek and Anthony and is an avid reader of an eclectic mix of fiction. A lover of the Short Story who has written with Tomek Dzido an unreleased anthology called ‘The Bog Blog’. Ross is currently working on a Science Fiction Novel called ‘Alcon Blue’ which will appear in STORGY Magazine in the future. Ross has a Degree in Media Arts and Video Production and has been recruited into the role of Marketing & Social Media by STORGY for his expertise and success in this field. {rossjeffery@storgy.com}
MARKETING DIRECTOR – TABITHA POTTS
Tabitha Potts grew up in East London and much of her work is inspired by this fascinating and unique city. She studied English Language and Literature at university and went on to work on TV and radio dramas and documentaries, reading, script editing, researching and producing. More recently she’s been helping UK charities grow their online presence as a digital manager and marketer. She has published four short stories (two in anthologies) and some poetry and is currently working on a novel, when she isn’t kickboxing and walking the dog. Find out more on www.tabithapotts.com.
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR – ALICE KOUZMENKO
Alice Kouzmenko is an English Literature with Creative Writing student currently based in Norwich. First published at the age of nine, Alice has been writing ever since. She loves the work of Zadie Smith and Toni Morrison and aims to, one day, capture the human experience as accurately and brilliantly as they have. Alice’s stories have received gold keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and she has performed her poetry on the radio. Her publication on the STORGY website encouraged her to reach out to Tony and become a part of the team. Alice dreams of becoming a full-time writer and is currently working on an idea for a novel.
REVIEW TEAM
BOOKS
ROSS JEFFERY – Head of Books
Ross Jeffery is a Bristol based writer and short story film director. He is a long time collaborator with Tomek and Anthony and is an avid reader of an eclectic mix of fiction. A lover of the Short Story who has written with Tomek Dzido an unreleased anthology called ‘The Bog Blog’. Ross is currently working on a Science Fiction Novel called ‘Alcon Blue’ which will appear in STORGY Magazine in the future. Ross has a Degree in Media Arts and Video Production and has been recruited into the role of Marketing & Social Media by STORGY for his expertise and success in this field
JOSEPH SALE – Reviewer
Joseph Sale is a Graphic-Horror writer, editor, gamer and creative. Originally from Bournemouth he studied English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.
He is a regular contributor on GameSpew. His short stories have appeared in magazines and journals such as Silver Blade, Edgar Allan Poet Journal 2#, NonBinary Review and Fiction Vortex. His story ‘Descent’ was chosen for Dark Hall Press’s Technological Horror Anthology. His first horror novel The Darkest Touch was released in April 2014, published by Dark Hall Press. He was nominated for the Sundress Award for Literary Excellence 2014. He has since gone on to author Seven Dark Stars, Across the Bitter Sea, Orifice and The Meaning of the Dark.
Author of ‘The Darkest Touch’
DANIEL SOULE – Reviewer
Dan was once a university lecturer, and even wrote a PhD about the language of nationalism in Scottish politics. He also co-wrote a book about it. But the sentences proved too long and the words too obscure. Northern Ireland is where he now lives. But Dan was born in England and raised in Byron’s home town, which the bard hated but Dan does not. They named every other road after Byron. As yet no roads are named after Dan but several children are. Dan tries to write the kind of stories he wants to read, which means a mix of literary fiction, horror and fantasy, with an occasional pinch of science fiction. Dan’s stories have featured in the Incubator, Storgy, the Dime Show Review, Short Tale 100, Phantaxis and the horror magazine Devolution Z.
Twitter: @Grammatologer
Web: http://www.writing.ie/member-emerging-writers/daniel-soule/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriterDanielSoule/
JOSEPH SURTEES – Reviewer
Joseph lives in London. He wonders why more people don’t read Bruce Chatwin.
Twitter: @josephsurtees
Personal blog: https://medium.com/@JosephSurtees
JESSICA GREGORY – Reviewer
Jessica is a London based writer and editor. By day she is a Librarian and consequently one of an increasingly endangered species, by night she attempts some constructive (and some not so constructive), creative and critical scribblings. She was Reviews Editor with Inky Needles before its sad demise (not so constructive) and her short stories have been published with The Unstituite, Words With Jam and Storgy (more constructive). She writes reviews of literature with Sabotage Reviews and occasionally attempts her own rambling theoretical and cultural articles on her own platform, dengeneratesblog. She studied Cultural and Critical Theory at Brighton University (whatever that means) and she is forever getting lost, but is never without a book, or two.
MATT BRANDENBURG – Reviewer
BARBARA FIESCHI-JONES – Reviewer
FILMS
ANTHONY SELF – Head of Film
Anthony Self is a London based writer. He Co-founded STORGY with Tomek Dzido in the hope of exploring the short story format and engaging with other artists and writers. He began writing theatre scripts and one of his short plays ‘Maybe the moon didn’t want Armstrong’ was performed at Hampstead Theatre. His love for prose was bolstered when he entered a short story competition and Margaret Atwood commented that his style was Kafka-esque. He has also directed several music videos and short films, one of which, Anticipation won an award judged by British film maker Shane Meadows. He is currently writing his first novel and hopes for a publication date some time before 2065.
Matthew Blackwell
Matthew Blackwell earns his bread as a graphic designer, but don’t let that fool you – he’s really a writer. His influences are Cormac McCarthy, Bret Easton Ellis, the screenwriter Walter Hill, Stephen King and 2000AD scribe John Smith. He lives in Guildford, Surrey.
Harry Gallon
Harry Gallon’s work features in numerous publications and has won (and almost won), several competitions. His debut novel, The Shapes of Dogs’ Eyes (Dead Ink Books), was first runner up for Best Novella at the 2016 Saboteur Awards, and was longlisted for Not the Booker Prize 2016. His second is being published in spring 2017. He lives in London.
Emily Harrison
Emily is a North Yorkshire based writer and reviewer, who delivers pizzas by night (no joke). Taking a year out from University having graduated from Loughborough with a BA in English & American Studies, she writes somewhat mediocre poetry during the day, and spends many an hour re-watching movies she’s already seen ten times, before heading out for the night shift. She has previously written for varying lifestyle sites, where she penned articles about the latest adidas trainer, and has also served a year as Music Editor for Loughborough’s student magazine Label.
Jade O’Halloran
Jade is a Bristol-based writer specializing in short fiction, movie reviews and (occasional) poetry. She has lofty aspirations of being a novelist one day and is currently working on her first attempt. She loves The Twilight Zone, her favourite writer is David Foster Wallace and she has an aversion to strong cheeses and Mel Gibson.
Joseph Sale
Joseph Sale is a Graphic-Horror writer, editor, gamer and creative. Originally from Bournemouth he studied English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.
He is a regular contributor on GameSpew. His short stories have appeared in magazines and journals such as Silver Blade, Edgar Allan Poet Journal 2#, NonBinary Review and Fiction Vortex. His story ‘Descent’ was chosen for Dark Hall Press’s Technological Horror Anthology. His first horror novel The Darkest Touch was released in April 2014, published by Dark Hall Press. He was nominated for the Sundress Award for Literary Excellence 2014. He has since gone on to author Seven Dark Stars, Across the Bitter Sea, Orifice and The Meaning of the Dark.
Author of ‘The Darkest Touch’
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CONTRIBUTORS
STORGY consists of the following contributors:
Lauren Bell
Tomek Dzido
Sian Evans
Benjamin Hewitt
Ryan Licata
Anthony Self
Cathy Vella
Sally-Anne Wilkinson
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Previous Contributors:
Amber Koski
Tom Dowding
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You can check out their profiles and read all their previous publications by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page.
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We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to support and share the work of our contributors and guest writers.
Twenty-four short stories, exclusive afterwords, interviews, artwork, and more.
From Trumpocalypse to Brexit Britain, brick by brick the walls are closing in. But don’t despair. Bulldoze the borders. Conquer freedom, not fear. EXIT EARTH explores all life – past, present, or future – on, or off – this beautiful, yet fragile, world of ours. Final embraces beneath a sky of flames. Tears of joy aboard a sinking ship. Laughter in a lonely land. Dystopian or utopian, realist or fantasy, horror or sci-fi, EXIT EARTH is yours to conquer.
EXIT EARTH includes the short stories of all fourteen finalists of the STORGY EXIT EARTH Short Story Competition, as judged by critically acclaimed author Diane Cook (Man vs. Nature) and additional stories by award winning authors M R Cary (The Girl With All The Gifts), Toby Litt (Corpsing), James Miller (Lost Boys), Courttia Newland (A Book of Blues), and David James Poissant (The Heaven of Animals), and exclusive artwork by Amie Dearlove, HarlotVonCharlotte, CrapPanther, and cover design by Rob Pearce.
You can help support independent publishing and purchase of copy of EXIT EARTH here…
Unlike many other Arts & Entertainment Magazines, STORGY is not Arts Council funded or subsidised by external grants or contributions. The content we provide takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce, and relies on the talented authors we publish and the dedication of a devoted team of staff writers. If you enjoy reading our Magazine, help to secure our future and enable us to continue publishing the words of our writers. Please make a donation or subscribe to STORGY Magazine with a monthly fee of your choice. Your support, as always, continues to inspire.
If you like short stories, ‘like’ our faceboook page and help spread the words of STORGY.
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