Short Fiction

Short Fiction by Derek Perry

I began writing fiction in 2023, very  late in life, when I participated in  a community history project about the East India Company. Instead of presenting a factual report or exhibition, we were tasked with producing historical fiction based on our research. My story,  Seedlings of Empire, can be found below.
    I enjoyed learning a new skill so I joined a local U3A creative writers' group in south London which I continue to attend regularly. We are given writing exercises  which we read out at meetings and are commented on by other group members. I am grateful to my fellow group members for their encouragement, and the guidance of the group leaders.
    I present here some of the short fiction I have written for the group, with the occasional competition entry (as yet winning no prizes). Click on the title to access the complete item.

2023 

Green Fingers
A city banker adrift when made redundant. Written as a competition entry with a 'green' theme. Submitted April 2023. 

Charlie is my Darling
An ordinary man haunted by a prince. A competition entry for King Charles III's Coronation Year. Submitted September 2023.

2024 

Seedlings of Empire
The story of Will Norrys, a chandler's assistant in Deptford who joins a ship to the Spice Islands. Published in an anthology of 15 stories about the East India Company. June 2024.  

Bibliography
A tribute to my father-in-law who died in October 2023.  Presented July 2024.

2025 

A Last Letter from Paris
Occupied Paris, 1940s. Presented June 2025.

Pretty woman
A woman alone at night. June 2025.

The Exquisite Loneliness of a Popinjay
Narrated by a parrot. July 2025.

The Ragged Watcher
Inspired by a photograph of an old scarecrow. September 2025

Silent Echoes
An exercise in very short fiction in a single sentence. October 2025.