#5minutestories

I’ve had a great time this weekend as a poet-in-residence at Bunhill Fields. I’ve met all kinds of people come to explore this wonderful historic site in the centre of London: some who live nearby, others who have travelled from abroad for the Open Garden Squares Weekend; some with an interest in plants, flowers, trees […]

What if the dead could return, for just one night? An old Chinese folktale says this is exactly what happens – but not quite as we might expect. This week’s #5MinuteStories is about love, loss, and coming home. You can download the podcast or listen below:   Or you can click through the digital story […]

Have you ever met anyone who has lived two lives? Perhaps you’re one of those people, whose life seems split in two. Maybe sometimes you look back and think: I used to be a completely different person. This week’s #5MinuteStories is about how a single hour can change the course of a life. It’s about […]

Do you ever get the feeling that there is nothing new in the world? Are we all just doing the same things that have been done many times before? This week’s #5minutestories is about how our lives echo across history. It’s about origami prayers, Hong Kong moviestars, and warring emperors, but most of all it […]

Do you have a head for numbers or do they multiply your problems? This week’s story is about ants, stolen skeletons, the numerical beliefs of Hasidic Jews and the mysterious disappearance of the Neanderthals. This is a story about how we try to make sense of the world with numbers, but how they only seem […]

Do you have a self-destruct button? Do you ever find yourself thinking: I’m my own worst enemy?   This #5MinuteStories is one for Lent: about the things we know we shouldn’t do, but end up doing all the same. It’s about the bad habits we can’t kick, the reckless impulses we can’t quit. As ever, […]

We’ve all met people who don’t seem to care about anything else except themselves. But is is possible to care too much? This week’s #5MinuteStories is about those people who only seem to say what they think you want to hear. We’ve all met one – someone a little too eager to please. And so […]

Have you ever felt like your passions were controlling you? And do owners really grow to resemble their pets? The third of my #5MinuteStories gatecrashes a wild party thrown by Marlon Brando in his Sixth Avenue apartment, and follows Dante Gabriel Rossetti into Highgate Cemetry to dig up his dead wife.   Listen to the story […]

Have you ever wondered what might be hiding in the dark? Are there some limits to human knowledge that we can never bridge? This week’s free story is about how far we might see. It’s also about those strange and majestic creatures that rule the ocean: whales. From the legends of the earliest books, to […]

Welcome to the first of my #5MinuteStories. These are the shortest of short stories to experience on a busy commute, or while stuck in a waiting room. They are the perfect length to be enjoyed on a coffee break, or with a cup of tea (biscuits are optional but certainly recommended). They will entertain you, […]