Galley Beggar pays tribute to author Uschi Gatward

Independent publisher Galley Beggar has paid tribute to author Uschi Gatward, who has died following a battle with cancer. 

Her death was confirmed by the publisher on 3rd January. Gatward had emailed the press before Christmas, apologising for "bringing the jollity quotient down” and asked them to prepare a statement because she was “conscious of time ticking”.

Galley Beggar released her short story "Beltane" as an e-book in 2016 and published her debut collection English Magic, which explores Englishness, politics, the natural world and mysticism, to critical acclaim last September. It was later announced as a Guardian Book of the Year. 

In a joint statement, co-founders of the Norwich press Eloise Millar and Sam Jordison said: "It is bittersweet to know that so many other people felt the same excitement about Uschi’s writing as we did, but we are very glad that she got to experience some of the recognition she deserved.

"We are also grateful that we had the experience of working closely with Uschi in the year leading up to publication. Uschi was funny. She was direct. She would cut to the chase adroitly, with good humour and without apology. But while she often made us laugh, we also always knew how serious she was about her writing and the world. She had a burning sense of justice — just read My Brother Is Back – inspired by the poet and translator Talha Ahsan, who was imprisoned without trial in first a UK and then a US correctional facility for seven years. 

"As an author, she was the real thing. She took all comments seriously. Any suggestions she didn’t agree with, she didn’t change. But she always took the time to say why. Above everything else, she was specific. The big picture – the structures and the arcs of a story – were important to Uschi. Just as important were the sentences. She scrutinised every comma, made the kind of tiny adjustments – a word here, a punctuation mark there, a minuscule cut or repositioning – that belied an absolute dedication to craft and to getting the prose right."

Gatward was born in east London in 1972. Her stories have appeared Best British Short Stories 2015 (Salt), Flamingo Land & Other Stories (Flight Press), and in the magazines the Barcelona Review, Short Fiction, Southword, Structo and Wasafiri. She was shortlisted for the White Review Short Story Prize 2016.