Leon Coleman
Leon Coleman lives and writes in Manchester, England. His first publication was in 2019, when he placed third in the Henshaw Press Short Story Competition. Since then, Leon’s fiction has appeared in Litro, The London Reader, The Fiction Pool, Bandit, Literally Stories, Misery Tourism, Henshaw Three and elsewhere. In 2020 he won The Cheshire Prize for Literature short story award. His next goal is to publish a collection.
Q: If you could travel back in time, which of the great writers would you like to meet and why?
A: Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Because it would be incredible to meet the person who created some of the most complex, flawed and compelling characters I’ve ever read.
Q: What is the first book you remember reading or having read to you as a child?
A: The first book I remember reading is Glooskap’s Country. A collection of stories inspired by the folklore of the indigenous inhabitants of Canada. Why do spiders have eight legs? Why do turtles have a shell? Where do stars come from? It answered many questions I had as a nine-year-old. And still does in some ways.
Q: Is there a book that you keep going back to, and if so, how many times have you read it?
A: Dubliners, by James Joyce. Three or four times.
Q: If you could teleport yourself anywhere, real or fictional, where would it be and why?
A: Emerald Cave in Koh Muk, Thailand. Being there is like having a lucid dream.
Q: Who is your personal inspiration?
A: Everyone.
