Modern Gothic launch with Lauren Archer, Pete Hartley, Michael Bird, Lerah Mae Barcenilla & Alyssa Lloyd

MODERN GOTHIC (Fly On The Wall Press, Oct ’24) invites ghoulish readers on a chilling journey through captivating, nightmarish tales; where they will encounter sinister landlords, ethereal housemates and a glass-encased jungle built by an eccentric father. A collection that blurs the lines between dreams and reality, weaving a tapestry of macabre encounters and festering secrets…

We’re delighted to be celebrating the launch of MODERN GOTHIC at the Bluecoat (School Lane, L1 3BX) on Wednesday, 23rd October at 6pm with contributing friend of the shop / pro-goth Alyssa Lloyd in conversation with contributing authors Lauren Archer, Pete Hartley, Michael Bird & Lerah Mae Barcenilla, who will also be reading from their works.

Lauren Archer is a writer of the gothic, surreal and strange based in Liverpool,
UK. Her short story 'Out of Water' was published by Crow and Cross Keys
literary journal. In 2022, her short story 'The Allotment' was longlisted for the
Mslexia Short Story Prize.

Fiction by Michael Bird has been published constantly over the last few years,
most recently on urban witchcraft, ‘The New Client’, in Panel Magazine,
(Budapest, 2023), on deranged fandom, ‘I Named Every Donut in My Shop After
Scorsese Movies. No One Bought The Departed’, in Daily Drunk Mag (New
Orleans, 2023), and on family politics during the pandemic, ‘A Drive Through
the Park’, in Porter House Review (Austin, Texas, 2022). Mixed media ‘These
Walls of Me’ was Winner of Second Prize on www.theshortstory.net (UK, 2018),
and he has also been published by British journals and sites Lune, Grist, Storgy,
Bandit Fiction, and in two anthologies of the annual Bristol Short Story Prize. In
2022, his body horror story about a McDonald’s mascot from the 80s, ‘Fry Girl 4
Eva’ (USA), was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He also works as an
investigative and narrative journalist, with features published on organised
crime, stray dogs, vampire-hunters, killer home-made drugs, food emergencies,
the war in Ukraine and organic farming.

Pete Hartley boasts an extensive writing career with numerous accolades,
including winning the BBC Radio North West Playwriting Competition and the
Cheshire Community Council playwriting competition. His plays, such as
"Making the Grade" and "Gertie and the Guild Machine," have received critical
acclaim and have been produced in various venues.

Lerah Mae Barcenilla grew up in Cuartero, Capiz in the Philippines full of magic,
superstition and tradition before moving to the UK. Her work touches on topics
of the diaspora, memory, mythology, folklore and the state of duality. Her
writing has appeared in Harana Poetry, with Verve Poetry Press, was Highly
Commended in The Literary Consultancy’s PEN Factor Award–Novel (2021) and
won the Creative Future Writers Award–Platinum Poetry (2022). When she is not
writing, she works as a marketing officer for the charity responsible for two of
Birmingham’s iconic concert halls and as a researcher for Maniwala Movement,
an Instagram account sharing resources on the cultures, customs and beliefs of
pre-colonial Philippines.

Alyssa hosts Book Club in the Pub and - along with Lauren - the small-press focused inclusive book club Feminist Fiction.