Hi Mat, thanks for taking part in this author interview. Urban Pigs Press are beyond grateful for your brilliant story “This Tender Monster” for our Hunger anthology. Now you’re part of the UPP family, can you tell us a little about yourself for our readers?

I’m Mat. I’m a dad, husband, and writer from Birmingham, UK. I grew up in Bury St Edmunds, just down the road from Urban Pigs. My day job is marketing and student recruitment for a university, but over the years I’ve worked as a removal man, a pheasant farmer, a local newspaper reporter, and a barman.

I’m an avid reader and film-watcher, with eclectic tastes – everything from Stephen King and Airplane! to Samuel Beckett and The Holy Mountain. I love comics and graphic novels, especially the works of Alan Moore and Junji Ito. I adore art that challenges me, unsettles me, or stretches my brain somehow. And I’m utterly obsessed with David Lynch’s filmography, especially Twin Peaks.

Foodbanks have become a part of our life. What started as a means to support those in financial difficulty has now turned into a long-term lifeline for many. Do you think that we will ever be free of them, or do you believe they will be here to stay?

I think we’re seeing the outcome of deliberate social policies on the part of successive governments – perpetual austerity, gouging cuts to local services, stagnant wages, and growing corporate greed. It really is a perfect storm that’s threatening to consume the most vulnerable in our society.

What they’re calling a cost-of-living crisis is actually a crisis of avarice. Private companies are enjoying record profits year after year, paying huge dividends to wealthy shareholders, while working people are stretched beyond breaking point.

Sadly, I think foodbanks are here to stay, for now at least. I try to remain positive, but I don’t hold much hope for meaningful change even if Labour wins the next election. Their rhetoric has become so Tory-fied, it feels like there’s little to choose between the main parties on some of the biggest issues we face.

Do you think it is down to the volunteers and fellow man to keep food banks going or should the government be doing more to intervene?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s heartwarming and life-affirming to see people reaching out and helping one another – coming together as communities rather than falling apart as individuals. If you ever lose faith in humanity, just check the foodbank donation point at your supermarket. See the volunteers who keep these schemes running week after week. The people who donate and volunteer often don’t have very much themselves, and they’re helping those whose need is even greater. They do it because they’re kind and because it’s the right thing to do.

But a government that allows reliance on food banks to become part of the fabric of modern Britain is a disgrace. Absolutely they should be doing more to intervene. If they taxed corporations and millionaires fairly, if they forced companies to pay a living wage, if they firmed-up protections for gig workers and benefit claimants, then they could solve this problem overnight. It’s not hard. It’s just that the current government is unwilling.

Here at Urban Pigs Press we believe that the indie writing scene is an incredible place of support. From fellow writers to zines and indie presses. Who is your favourite writer in the indie community and why?

I’ve been lucky enough to encounter so many wonderful people in the indie writing scene – editors, writers, readers, designers. When I joined the Writers’ HQ forum a couple of years ago, I stumbled on the most supportive, nurturing, creative community anyone could wish for. And from there I’ve made a few really close friends. We share drafts, offer feedback, collaborate, encourage, and inspire one another. They have all consistently pushed my writing beyond anything I could have hoped for without them.

So picking one favourite writer is tricky. But right now, I’m absolutely loving everything that Sarah Royston writes. Sarah’s stories are lyrical, rich, almost visionary at times – in the style of William Blake or T S Eliot. Her writing explores themes of ecology and myth, technology and rewilding – layering different times across one another, allowing past to bleed into present with magical and uncanny effects.

Sarah has a collection of stories coming out with The Braag later this year, and some of her best pieces are only available in print (Long Player in Issue 4 of Cloister Fox Zine is a stone-cold stunner), but if you want a free-to-read starting point, you should definitely check out She Walks In Fields Of Light on The Rumpus.

Tell us about your latest work? Do you have any books you would like our readers to know about?

I managed to land more than 40 publications in 2023 – and while that was loads of fun, I’m deliberately taking things more slowly this year.

A lot of my writing time is currently being ploughed into a short story collection I’m pulling together with DarkWinter Press. We’re aiming to release in January 2025 and I’m really excited. These strange tales are my best work to date.

The bulk of the collection is made up of twelve interlinked, overlapping stories set in Dantalion – a small town lost in time, haunted by trauma and tragedy, where generations and social classes fight a silent war, and weird creatures stalk the shadows. My story in the Hunger anthology, This Tender Monster, is one of these Dantalion tales, so Urban Pigs readers are getting a sneak preview of the work.

I’ve got a complete list of publications on my website, including my debut collection of uncanny, haunting stories See My Breath Dance Ghostly, published by Alien Buddha Press.

How did you first hear about Urban Pigs Press?

I think it was on Twitter, during the Life of Dirt call you put out towards the end of last year. It was a great theme, really inspiring and I was thrilled that my story made the cut for publication.

Thanks, Mat. It’s been a pleasure finding out a little more about you. We already think you’re an incredible writer but it’s safe to say you’re a sound chap. We can’t wait to share your clay baby with our readers.

“This Tender Monster” by Mathew Gostelow is an uncanny tale of loss and living clay, centred on a mother, a daughter, and a strange, unnatural creature. It views knotty relationships and lost time through a skewed, weird lens.

– Read it from the 7th of March in the HUNGER anthology.

Mathew Gostelow (he/him) is the author of two collections; See My Breath Dance Ghostly, a book of speculative short stories (Alien Buddha Press) and Connections, a flash fiction chapbook (Naked Cat Publishing). He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. @MatGost

Release date for the HUNGER anthology!

We have good news! The release date for the HUNGER anthology is set for the 7th March. Initial release will be through Amazon and Kindle but we hope to have physical copies in local book shops soon after. One place you can be sure to find this incredible collection will be Dial Lane Books in Ipswich. Andrew has been as much a part of this fantastic cause as all our contributors. We couldn’t be any more excited to share this with everyone. 23 different authors have given up their time and talent to help us make a difference to those in need and we are beyond grateful to each and everyone one of you. Jo Andrews has gone above and beyond to deliver us a cover that represents everything we set out to do. Cody Sexton has also contributed with an incredible piece of talent for our title page. We are both proud and humbled by the incredible efforts of everyone involved. Stephen J. Golds and Rob Jelly (BBC Suffolk) have also given their time to praise this darkly beautiful collection.

As part of our promotion for the anthology we will be posting interviews from the authors involved. Judging by some of the answers given already, I can confirm that we really have discovered a great bunch of humans in this anthology.

This book won’t put an end to poverty or hunger. Neither will it change the agendas of our politicians. But it will make a direct impact to a few of those we hope to represent. And for now, we’ll take it. So, please set that date in your calendar and help us to make that difference.

The Hunger anthology is a collection of 23 stories by 23 different authors. Tales of brutal reality, dark horror, gritty crime and dark humour sprawled out upon each page. Each story delivering a unique take on the prompt HUNGER. A true representation of some of the strongest talents within the writing community.

“A collection of stories that are as close to the bone in literary class as they are in their scathing analysis of a broken society.”

– Stephen J. Golds

Author of Say Goodbye When I’m Gone