Agnes Owens
The Complete Short Stories

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 ’Her black humour and piercing observation bear comparison with the work of Muriel Spark,’ - Guardian

’It’s almost impossible to pick up this substantial collection and find anything more worthwhile to do for the rest of the day than read it cover to cover,’- Rosemary Goring, The Herald

’The woman is a genius,’ - Daily Mail

'Essential reading. It is Agnes Owens at her subtle, concise best - truthful, humane and quite brilliant' - Times Literary Supplement

’Her stories...carry the emotional clout of a knockout punch,’ - Observer

’Owens is a rare treasure,’ - Allan Massie, The Scotsman

 

 

’Acerbic, wicked, utterly honest, sly, gothic, brilliantly black deadpan funny,’ - Liz Lochead, Sunday Herald

The complete life work of Agnes Owens in short stories - everything from Gentlemen of the West, Lean Tales, People Like That and 14 brand new unpublished stories. Witty and dark, Owens’ spare prose shocks and delights. Her talent for pithy, unsettling tales is as sharp as ever, confirming her place as one of Scotland’s finest contemporary writers.

 

Agnes Owens has been married twice and raised seven children, and has also worked as a cleaner, typist and factory worker. Her books include People Like That and For the Love of Willie, which was shortlisted for the 1998 Stakis Prize. Her short stories have also appeared alongside those of her friends and fellow authors James Kelman and Alasdair Gray in Lean Tales. Bad Attitudes, which consists of two novellas (Bad Attitudes and Jen’s Party), was longlisted for the 2003 Saltire Literary Awards.