Comma scoops Constantine's fifth short story collection

Author of the Oscar-nominated film “45 Years” David Constantine has signed a deal for a collection of short stories, The Dressing-up Box, with Comma Press.

Constantine, who has also won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2010 and Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize in 2013, will have his fifth collection published in September 2019 by the Manchester-based indie.

This collection will bring together short stories spanning his 30-year career, including seven previous unpublished tales, and the publication will be accompanied by book by launches and festival appearances across the UK.

Manchester's Comma Press c.e.o. Ra Page bought world rights directly from the author. 

Page said: “Comma is delighted to be publishing David Constantine's new collection. It demonstrates that small presses can indeed maintain long-term relationships with authors even after awards, international acclaim, and Oscar-nominated film adaptations. When a writer has such a clear and unique voice, like David's, large, loyal audiences can be built around them, despite what people might say about the commercial limitations of the short story.”

“Comma Press is the place to be," Constantine said. "No editor has done more for the short story – and so for contemporary literature altogether – than Ra Page.”

Born in Salford in 1944, Constantine is also a writer, poet and translator. He has published four short stories and lives in Oxford. His short story “In Another Country” was adapted into “45 Years”, a major film, directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling. It scooped a number of awards and was nominated for an Oscar.