Autumn 2025
Paradise Press
Gay Authors Workshop
Welcome to your
new Queer e-MAG!
Editorial
Welcome to the first edition of Flash PPink, the new quarterly online magazine published by Paradise Press which is the publishing arm of Gay Authors Workshop (GAW).
We launch our new venture at a sad time, announcing the death of our last founder member, Kathryn Bell, at the age of 91. Kathryn was there in 1978 when LGBT+ authors first started to meet and read each other's' work in East London. She was there even earlier, along with her life partner Elsa Beckett, when Mike Harth set up Stepney CHE's writers' group in 1972.
In GAW she was not only the administrative 'spine', running the membership system and sending out the newsletters for many years, but also the beating heart. Her criticisms and comments were always sharp but kindly, and she helped many a writer. Though she rarely wrote herself, we were proud to include her last known story Travelling Hopefully, written at the age of 89, in our anthology Flash Dances.
Though we don't intend to publish reprints in Flash PPink, we feel this is a justified exception. There is also a very moving memory of Kathryn written by her long-time friend and GAW writer, Beth Lister. These two items appear at the back of the magazine.
For the rest, we are mainly including stories by people who have taken part in our weekly workshops at the King's Arms, Poland Street, W1. While they have priority, we also welcome submissions from other members of the Gay Authors Workshop, and those interested in joining. (We will accept two pieces before we ask you to join GAW.)
What will we take? Short-form fiction up to 1000 words; poems up to 70 lines with a narrative theme; memoir of the same length. We like work with a strong story arc and a good denouement. We will also publish in each issue one Star Story, up to 1500 words. Novelists are also welcome to run extracts from new work past us, subject to the same constraints of space.
We hope readers will be encouraged to explore the rest of the Paradise Press catalogue and maybe buy something which takes their fancy. Anyone submitting is also welcome to send up to two photos or illustrations, as long as there are no copyright issues.
This magazine is accessible to the general public, so we will exercise editorial control to ensure the highest standard of contribution. 'We' being Stephanie Dickinson and Peter Scott- Presland, the co-hosts of the weekly workshops. Although the magazine is for LGBTQ+ writers and our allies, the subject matter is limitless. We are more than the sum of our sexual activities.
Contents
- Embarrassment - Allan MacWilliam (331)
- Please Mind the Gap - Craig Binch (218)
- Dog Names - John Dixon
- Flooded Out - Susan Miller (248)
- Odd One Out - Craig Binch (276)
- In Your Dreams - Peter Scott-Presland (271)
- they cut my heart out - Elly Clarke
- Beige Buffet Lady Heroes - Craig Binch (390)
- 50 Things to Say to A Lesbian - Emily Hay
- To the Stage - John Skerritt (493)
- The Welsh Catholic Jubilee - Tim Mathias (532)
- The Vase - Stephanie Dickinson (708)
- Fireside - MargaretAnne Khoury (990)
- Star Story: Serendipity - Kevin Crowe (1055)
- Travelling Hopefully - Kathryn Bell (497)
- Memories of Kathryn - Beth Lister (980)
(Figures in brackets = word count)
Legal Notice:
All stories and other materials remain the copyright of the individual authors, and no downloading is permitted or licensed. If anyone wishes to use any of the material herein, they should apply to the author(s) via the publishers.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the author/publisher.
No AI Training:
Without in any way limiting the author's exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to 'train' generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The publishers and the authors reserve all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
This publication is entirely created by humans.
If you would like to join Gay Authors Workshop please contact them.
If you would like to submit a story for the next edition, please see HERE for more information. The deadline is 23 November 2025.
If you'd like to contact the editors, leave us feedback or a comment for publication, please contact them.
If you'd like details of future writing workshops, or to join the mailing list, please contact Peter Scott-Presland.