We are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Ian Gouge‘s latest collection of short stories, Dead-heading Roses in the Museum Garden and Other Stories, on 14th March 2026.
Some say there is but a thin dividing line between tragedy and comedy, victory and defeat. Many of the protagonists in Dead-heading Roses in the Museum Garden and Other Stories find themselves treading just such a line — and often falling on the less desirable side of it.
Consider the bride abandoned at the altar, the young woman being told ‘no’ in the Social Security office, the man whose declaration of love is rebuffed.
Occasionally tragedy strikes in a very real and physical sense — yet balanced against the negative are moments of hope, redemption, opportunity.
Whether mundane and humdrum or challenging and spiritual, in Dead-heading Roses in the Museum Garden and Other Stories we are given insights into such lives and such outcomes — and thus surely a private lens through which to view our own lived experience.
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The eighth edition of our New Contexts anthology will be published on 28th March 2026. The collection will comprise of quality contemporary poetry and fiction, and will be made available worldwide in both Paperback and ebook formats via internet retailers and on order from bricks-and-mortar bookshops.
Although you might be tempted to group the subjects which preoccupy writers into broad categories — love, grief, war, nature and so forth — the truth remains that creative writing is triggered by an infinite variety of moments, thoughts, experiences. Not only do New Contexts’ contributors immerse themselves in this bottomless pool of inspiration, they can also be relied upon to tackle depictions and interpretations of what they find in a myriad of ways.
New Contexts: 8 is no different.
Describing the volume as an anthology of poetry and prose might therefore be seen as belittling the achievements of the writers concerned. In fact, what they are gifting us are widows onto our world; windows of different shapes and sizes, their panes of glass stained in multifarious hues, embossed with designs ranging from the weird to the wonderful.
And because our readers come at the world through their own slant too, it is highly likely that you will find something here — either poetry or prose — which will strike you as ‘just right’…
Pre-order links available soon!
Coverstory Books - Ian Gouge, Publisher 
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