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How it all began

One October Friday, Paul and Rebekah went dog racing in Wimbledon. Despite the thrill and dash of the races, Paul was feeling sad. Why, he asked Rebekah, does nobody like short stories? Why won't anybody publish them? There isn't even anywhere in London for short story writers to share their work -- even poets have that. Then Rebekah felt sad too. She felt the same way. With everybody rushing about the place, it seemed to her, surely demand for the short story ought to be greater than ever.

Her finances boosted by the dogs, Rebekah went off to Sussex for the weekend. She spent all day Saturday walking the South Downs with her mother - walking and thinking. On the Sunday morning she woke in her B&B, all flowers and lace. She yawned and stretched her stiff limbs. And then she had her big idea. What's to stop us from creating a platform for writers to share their work? Why shouldn't we encourage more people to read and hear and write their own stories? Tales Of The Decongested was born.

The Mission Statement

  1. To raise the profile of the short story in London
  2. To encourage and showcase new talent in the form
  3. To develop Tales Of The Decongested as far as possible
  4. Eventually to produce an anthology of the stories performed at events

Naturally, in order to do this we need your support. We need you to attend our events and to submit your stories. We also need sponsorship. If anyone has any bright ideas about how to raise money, or if you would like to sponsor us yourselves, please don't hesitate to contact us. No amount is too little, or too large.

We'd like to give a big thank you to our first sponsor - Kitchen Garden Produce of Market Rasen.

The Players

Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone was born in Kenya and has traveled widely in Europe, America, India, Malaysia and Japan. She now lives in Peckham. Since winning The Promis Prize for Young Writers in The London Writers Award 2002, Rebekah has written numerous short stories and is currently working on a novel set in London and East Africa.

Paul Blaney was born in Essex, half a mile inside the M25, and he's still there. His first published story was awarded the Tom Gallon Prize by the Society of Authors in 2001. To date he's completed three novellas and more short stories than you could shake a stick at. A freelance journalist, he also teaches creative writing in the adult education department at City University in Islington.