About the author

Jonathan Page lives in Bronllys, close to the Black Mountains. He works as a senior technical author and writes literary fiction in his spare time. His current project is Century, a novel of closely connected stories that spans a hundred years in a Welsh border town.

Jonathan is the winner of both the Earlyworks Press short story competition 2015 and the Earlyworks Press Flash fiction competition 2017. The Hill Farm took second prize in TheShortStory.net short story competition 2016.

Three of his stories were longlisted for the inaugural Cambridge Short Story Prize 2017, and four others were shortlisted for the Earlyworks Press short story competition 2017 (a record, he was told). Jonathan received a commendation in the Cinnammon Press short story competition 2016. He has also written two novels, Swindleman and Minotaur.

His stories have appeared in five anthologies between 2016 and 2017.

Anthologies

Best of the Short Story: Volume 2 | Edited by Kerry Barner (2017)

Includes The Hill Farm by Jonathan Page.

"[Jonathan] conjures up a full life in just a few pages: we read of work, love, war, separation, death and birth. Thomas is a hill farmer cum preacher who goes off to war, leaving his wife and unborn child behind. There is a simple rhythm to the prose. No bells, no whistles, just quiet, elegant story telling that was just beautiful. It could almost be read as a prose poem with some striking images, ‘the pub sweats men’. Very little of the story happens in real time which, to me, gives it a dream-like quality, and yet the ending is full of quiet, powerful emotion."

Judge's comments, TheShortStory.net short story competition 2016.

The Sorcery of Smog | Edited by Kay Green (2017)

This Earlyworks Press anthology includes two stories by Jonathan Page - Superyacht and Blue Woman.

Origami Poems and Towering Stories | Edited by Kay Green (2017)

This Earlyworks Press poetry and flash fiction anthology contains two pieces of 100 word flash fiction by Jonathan Page. Horseplay won the Earlyworks Press Flash fiction competition 2017.

The second piece, Superyacht, was the starting point for a much longer story, published in The Sorcery of Smog anthology.

Apples, Shadows and Light | Edited by Kay Green (2016)

Includes The Apple by Jonathan Page. The story helped inspire the title of this Earlyworks Press anthology.

Journeys Beyond | Edited by Kay Green (2016)

Includes The Teacher and The Mountain. The Teacher won the Earlyworks Press short story competition 2015.

Sample stories

Century

Century is a novel of closely connected short stories, spanning a century from 1916 to 2016 in a Welsh border town.

Like Jenny Erpenbeck's The Visitation or Adam Thorpe's Ulverton, the collection shows how the past lives within the present and continues to influence the future. Places and characters reoccur - the Hill Farm, the chapel, Thomas and Aggie Evans, the artist Rose Hartwood - subtly altered by war, work, love and loss. And though each story stands alone, collectively they reveal a world in slow transition.

Other stories