Mary Byrne is an artist as well as a writer and has had short stories published.
In 2019, Mary won the Leicester Writes Short Story Competition.
In 2020, she was shortlisted for the H.E. Bates Short Story Prize, and in 2021, ‘Highly Commended’ in the Frome Festival Short Story Competition.
Uncharted Constellations Contribution
Valentina is a heartwarming short story in which Valentina Tereshkova appears as a kind stranger who encourages the teenage protagonist to pursue what makes her happy, instead of doing as she was told.
Here’s a snippet:
‘Yes and no.’ Anne wasn’t likely to ever meet them again and her mother wasn’t listening. ‘I used to go to ballet lessons. A long time ago. I was quite good. I loved those lessons more than anything.’ She paused. ‘More than the whole world actually.’ It was a ridiculous thing to say to someone who’d gone round the whole world forty-eight times, but when Pavel translated, Valentina put her head back and laughed loudly.
Listen to Mary Byrne read an extract of Valentina here:
Severed Souls Contribution
Bronius is a beautiful love story about a young artist in war-torn Scotland and a Lithuanian music teacher/refugee whose bonds overcome the disapproval of the local community.
Here’s a snippet:
She didn’t understand the words but it didn’t matter. She heard the suffering and, behind that, some terrible, unbearable pain. Clouds of incense suffocated, the rows of people enclosed her, the church was so hot, it seemed on fire. She would faint. She held onto the pew edge, her hands sweating.
It was over. He sat down, breathing fast. She didn’t look at him. No one moved. The organ played on.
Listen to Mary Byrne read an extract of Bronius here:
Space Cat Press 