Botanical Short Stories: Contemporary Writing about Plants and Flowers

“The stories are all so very different, some of them being quite compelling and tender featuring an interesting variety of voices and nationalities with a wide range of characters and settings” ―Advolly Richmond

A group of botanists in search of rare species dismiss local custom at their peril. Love in all its wildness and wonder is found clinging to crumbling chalk cliffs and growing through cracks on city streets. A scientist takes a radical step to understand her houseplant. A poet remembers her beloved flowers, and the longing for a magnificent tropical garden outlasts death.

From tokens of love to neolithic burial gifts, bridal bouquets to seasonal wreaths and healing potions to artistic masterpieces, flowers and plants have a multitude of meanings and a long and complex relationship with us. They brighten our homes and delight us in garden and countryside, convey our emotions and symbolize the stages of our human lives. Throughout the anthology, interactions with the natural world bring opportunities for new beginnings, transformation, and a chance to heal.

This rich and wide-ranging collection celebrates the deep connection that exists between people and plants in fourteen short stories as varied, diverse, and global as the botanical world itself.

Born in New Zealand, into a family of florists, Emma Timpany studied botany for two years as part of her undergraduate degree before graduating with a degree in anthropology. She worked as a florist in New Zealand and London, and, after moving to Cornwall, ran a small flower-growing business for five years. Emma’s short stories have won three awards including The Society of Authors’ Tom-Gallon Trust Award. Her books include The Lost of Syros, longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2016, and Travelling in the Dark, winner of the Hall and Woodhouse DLF Prize 2019. She co-edited Cornish Short Stories which was shortlisted for a Holyer an Gof Award 2019. She teaches creative writing, mentors emerging writers and works as a ghostwriter for a private autobiography company. Alongside Felicity Notley she organizes the Falmouth-based writing group Telltales, which showcases and inspires new writers.