"One hundred and fifty words by Gaffney are more worthwhile than novels by a good many others"
The Guardian
"David Gaffney is, I think, one of very few contemporary British Writers who have mastered the very short form" Nicholas Royle, Best British Short Stories
about david
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David Gaffney is the author of the novels Never Never (2008), All The Places I’ve Ever Lived (2017) and Out Of The Dark (2021), and the flash fiction and short story collections Sawn-Off Tales (2006), Aromabingo (2007), The Half-Life of Songs (2010) and More Sawn-Off Tales (2013). He has published two graphic novels with Dan Berry – The Three Rooms In Valerie’s Head (2018) and Rivers (2021) – and is working on a third. He has just published a chapbook, The Country Pub, with Nightjar Press, and this year publishes a new short story collection with Salt Publishing, Concrete Fields, and a pamphlet, Whale, with Osmosis Press.
David's prose poetry adventure 2024 - read about his mentors
NEWS David will be reading live in Edinburgh at Typewronger Books on Monday 23 July with Vik Shirley, NIcky Melville, and Sarah-Clare Conlon
CONCRETE FIELDS
NEWS: David's next collection of short stories, Concrete Fields, is out in 2023 on Salt Publishing.
"Haunting, funny stories that explore the theme of town versus country with a dark humour and a surreal spin."
'David Gaffney’s stories are enchantingly strange, pleasingly perverse, fabulously entertaining and highly recommended.' Alison Moore 2023
OUT OF THE DARK
David's 2022 novel Out Of The Dark is available here
“The story has the bleak neo-noir feel of Mike Hodge’s Get Carter by way of 1967’s The Whisperers and Ramsey Campbell’s unsettling urban horrors. Memory, duality, illusion and reality, the past and the present all merge throughout as Gaffney’s deft touches skilfully blur the lines of what we take as reality and how Daniel sees the world around him. Like a pitch for the best film noir you’ve never seen.” Christopher Witty on Substack May 2023
'An eerie tale of obsession, tragedy and grief—if you’re looking for something a little more serious, then Out of the Dark by David Gaffney is the one for you. Follow Daniel Quinn’s compulsive and repetitious routine of endlessly re-watching an old British film noir in a small flat at the very top of a high-rise block in Birmingham as you soon unfurl what he is searching for in this odd B-flick. A story of corruption and deceit, read on to explore the ways Gaffney blurs the lines between the film noir genre with Quinn’s personal journey of grief.' Manchester Wire April 2023
‘A twisted and darkly funny neo-noir that somehow channels the restless spirits of both David Lynch and Shane Meadows while remaining intensely literary.
Stephen May
'Out Of the Dark is an ingenious, idiosyncratic and unnerving noir, in which Ballard meets Jim Thomson meets Mike Leigh in a high rise block next to a motorway in the Black Country. '
Luke Brown
“Relocates the meta-mystery of Paul Auster from New York to the Midlands M5/M6 junction in the 1980s. Film noir, stuffed animals, empty garages, 80s bands (Red Guitars!) but which are red herrings?” Ivan Wadeson, Manchester Unesco City Of Literature
"Full of twists and turns, genre-playfulness and sharp observations, it all takes place in actually-existing concrete landscapes of marginalisation, disconnection and dereliction…rather more grungily quotidian and irreal-adjacent than anything in Ballard – closer, perhaps, to M. John Harrison or Ramsey Campbell."
Mark Bould
Order your copy here
RIVERS
Rivers, David's new graphic novel with Dan Berry is out now. Here's some early review quotes:
"A tapestry of individual stories, one that weaves together all the individual subplots and characters, eventually binding them tighter and tighter. A touching adventure, with twists and thoughtful sidebars."
Fanboy Factor
"A soulful ensemble piece"
Publishers Weekly
"clever, profound, whimsical, and altogether real. It’s the perfect antidote for our 5G world and perfect reading for lovers of storytelling, the comic book art form and each other."
Biff Bam Pop
"Rivers is a story that melds science fiction and slice of life into a beautiful tale. The story by Gaffney is heartfelt and relatable. The art by Berry is gorgeous. Altogether, an excellent story that understands the need for human connection."
Graphic Policy
In May 2022 David was writer in residence on The Whale Project in Whitehaven - see here for more about this
"Great read, these twisted wee tales"
Johnny Vegas - more here...
Johnny Vegas - more here...