We are delighted to be publishing Joe Bedford's debut short story collection Mating Habits, including his Bridport Prize winning story 'Zanzibar Blue' and other prize-winning stories.
Bedford's fiercely hopeful debut novel A Bad Decade For Good People, published in June 2023, was longlisted for the Grindstone Novel Award.
"These stories are startlingly original and beautifully written glimpses into our hidden selves; the complicated inner lives of humans offered up to the reader in a very exciting collection" said Carly Holmes, the book's editor.
Joe Bedford is an award-winning author from Doncaster, UK. His short fiction has been published widely, appearing in Litro, Structo, MIR Online and elsewhere, as well as being featured in several anthologies including The Brighton Prize Anthology.
Over the past ten years, he has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, while being highly commended for the Manchester Fiction Prize and awarded first prize for Waterstones’ sophomore Write and Raise competition. He has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and graduated with a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Leicester in January 2026.
Mating Habits will be his first short story collection.
Praise for a A Bad Decade For Good People
'Bedford achieves a rare feat with this novel: he writes about disappointment in a way that is highly compelling. A Bad Decade for Good People is a fascinating exploration of political hope, friendship, difficulty, infatuation, and unrequited desire.' – Naomi Booth
'Bursting with the life and colour of Brighton and tenanted with its vivid eccentrics and revolutionaries, this deeply empathetic study of the strengths (and weaknesses) of humanity is an unforgettable and stirring experience. An important debut.' – Alice Ash, author of Paradise Block
"The novel takes in political unrest, the EU referendum, the scars we bear (whether as a mark of pride or trauma) and the fight for justice both at home and abroad, while reckoning with the politics of identity and the self... A Bad Decade For Good People is perceptive and empathetic in its quest for hope and joy." – Joshua Jones, Buzz Magazine
