Writing for Page
Fiction & Nonfiction
A selection of prose by Nicolas Ridley
Writing for Page
Fiction & Nonfiction
A selection of prose by Nicolas Ridley
Short Fiction
Alternative Navigations
First published by Arachne Press in Lovers’ Lies, 2012
Always
First published in Ariadne’s Thread, Issue 4, Winter 2012/13
Breaking-Point
First published in Barbaric Yawp, Volume 17 Number 3, July 2014
Cassiopeia’s Hair
First published in The Linnet’s Wings, Autumn 2014
Compliance
First published in Fairlight Shorts, November 2020
Losers
First published in The Magnolia Review, April 2018
Love By The Month
First published in Litro Magazine, February 2016
Made For Each Other
First published by Arachne Press in London Lies, 2012
Miscasting
First published in New Critique, 2023
Moose-head, Doe-eyes, Shrew
First published Litro Magazine, June 2012
Non-Paternity Event
First published in Tears in the Fence, May 2014
A Sweet Refrain
First published in The Summerset Review, Winter 2015
The Trees of Nature
Simon & Daisy, Daisy & Simon. Memories – soft and sharp – of an incomplete relationship that might have been, or should have been, but never really was. First job. First love. First heartbreak. Seeing things differently, seeing things clearly. Moving on,...
Unbuttoned
Super-efficient Judy Hill and her old school boss, Robin Lipton, share an oddly intimate morning ritual – but nothing more. After an IT hitch, Paolo Pereira joins the department and things become realigned. First published in Typishly, June 2020
Walking Shadows
First published in Impspired, 2021
Nonfiction
At Dr Johnson’s House
While attending the launch of a dictionary at Dr Johnson’s House in Gough Square, a moment’s exchange with a Nobel Laureate produces an uncharacteristic reaction. First published by OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters, February 2019
At the House of Anton Pavlovich
Can You Paint Happiness?
A return to Morocco to try to make sense of my time as a teacher in Casablanca. First published (as Can & Can’t in Casablanca) in Tales for a Small Planet, 2015
Gallipoli
A personal recollection of a visit to the Dardanelles in 1966. First published in Ariadne’s Thread, Issue 5, 2013
Goodbye Miss Morocco
First published by Arachne Press in Departures, November 2019
Round Pond
First published in Burningword Literary Journal, Issue 100, October 2021
The Old Man in the Bath
Travels with a Dutchman
A humorous account of travelling, as a naive young Englishman, in post-colonial West Africa, plus a fleeting glimpse of social, cultural and linguistic confusion. First published in Post Road 37, December 2020
Unarmed Combat
Lessons learnt as a schoolboy while camping on Dartmoor with the Combined Cadet Force. First published in Burningword Literary Journal, January 2019
Flash Fiction
Abide With Me
First published in The Avalon Literary Review, Winter 2021
Listen to Your Heart
“Throughout, Henry remained a gentleman. Almost too much a gentleman. Which began to irritate her a little. Twice she invited him home for a nightcap but he politely declined. Then she insisted. But when he’d finished his whisky, he stood up to go. It was time to be...
The Romantics
"He never asked for apologies or explanations. There would, he knew, be none. She was the woman he adored. This was the price he paid." First published in Burningword Literary Journal, Issue 107, July 2023
Silencer
A Story in the Sand
Uhuru
First published in 50-Word Stories, 2019
Virtually Identical
First published in Burningword Literary Journal, 2019
Other
Godfrey’s Ghost
Godfrey’s Ghost is, at its heart, the story of a father written by his son. As a young man, Arnold Ridley was chiefly known as the author of the long-running comedy thriller, The Ghost Train. Today he is remembered for his television performances as Private...