Its not often that I get a chance to read purely for pleasure but the installation of a new bedside reading light has opened up a new world of opportunity. As a chronic insomniac of many years standing I have often found that lying awake reading until I doze off is the only healthy and acceptable remedy. Alcohol works a treat of course but it has its obvious disadvantages.

Anyway, whilst rummaging through my bookshelves for some late night reading fare yesterday I came across a copy of Granta that I had been hoarding for a rainy day . Granta is a literary publication that specializes in short fiction and excerpts from forthcoming novels. Ideal! No chance of staying awake all night in a frantic effort to finish the book . Just three or four 'shorts' and I should be ready for lights out.

And so it proved. But Granta entertained me for several hours before I hit the switch.

The theme for this edition was 'Broken Britain'. Now I don't happen to think that Britain is any more ( or less ) broken than anywhere else but but it does have its fair share of historic and contemporary conflicts and some of them are faithfully mirrored in the stories in this collection. I particularly enjoyed 'Hands Across The Water' by Rachel Seiffert. This story revolves around the adventures of a young Glaswegian who is a member of an Orange marching band. It features a brief cameo appearance by an unidentified and heavily disguised 'UDA member'. But this is not a grim or overtly political tale, indeed it ends comically. The dear old Wiki has this to say about Rachel :-

Seiffert's subject is the individual in history: how political and economic upheavals impact on ordinary lives. Her characters have included the 12 year old daughter of an SS officer in 1945, a Polish seasonal worker on a German asparagus farm after the fall of the wall, and a London painter and decorator who killed a civilian as a 19-year old squaddie with the British Army in Northern Ireland. While the situations her characters experience are often harsh, a common thread in Seiffert's stories is the push and pull of family, the persistence of love, and the poetry of everyday life.

So it would appear that Granta has achieved its goal. I for one will be looking for more from the pen of Rachel Seiffert.

Of course I rarely read anything that has no Welsh relevance or content whatsoever and this was no exception. This edition includes an excerpt ( The Hunt ) from a forth coming novel by one of Wales most promising new writers - Cynan Jones. There are no details of publishing dates etc but if this excerpt and the quality of his previous offerings are anything to go by the new Cynan Jones will be well worth the wait.

There is also an excellent short poem on the subject of Tryweryn by Jamie McKendrick

If you happen to be looking for some bedtime reading there are a few suggestions below. Unfortunately the AmeriCymru bookstore doesn't sell bedside lamps ( or alcohol ).

Granta 119 Britain

The Long Dry - Cynan Jones

Everything I Found on The Beach - Cynan Jones

Bird,Blood,Snow - Cynan Jones

Field Studies - Rachel Seiffert