'I’m Afraid that’s All We’ve Got Time For' is the debut short story collection by writer and literary translator Jen Calleja.

These thirteen stories pick apart the hidden motivations behind our desires, and the ways we seek out distraction from difficult truths. They investigate histories, power dynamics, rituals, institutions – the roles we adopt, as well as the ones we inherit.

A novelist questions why she’s been shortlisted for the Prize of Prize’s Prize; an artist duo has a messy break up; a schoolgirl is saved from a predator by a flash flood and a gang of dead animals; a surgeon has an incurable identity crisis; a budding actor can’t see what’s so funny; a pregnant food writer gets a craving for luxury consumerism.

Known for her acclaimed poetry and translations, and as a performer in numerous bands, these facets manifest in an attention to the latent ambivalence of language, and the nature of storytelling itself. This writing is direct and considered – it asks to be read, read out loud, retold, refashioned into fables with a distinctive mouthfeel.

'I’m Afraid that’s All We’ve Got Time For' is a sharp, bold, inventive and prescient fictional debut from a versatile and brilliant writer.

‘Calleja’s writing combines wit, guile and style – social intricacies and powerplay are explored and exploded in this formidable collection.’ — Eley William

 

‘Calleja creates worlds where “there is so much space between molecules that we never really touch anyone or anything.” Reading about busses on detours, short windows opening and closing, erased identities, air kisses, blank books and books yet to be written, I felt held at arm’s length of something crucially important. Deferral and near misses are at the core of Calleja’s writing, yet this collection entirely hits the mark. I loved it.’ — Isabel Waidner

Jen Calleja is a writer and literary translator originally from Shoreham-By-Sea, West Sussex, and now based in London. Her debut collection of poetry, Serious Justice, was published by Test Centre (2016), followed by the pamphlet Hamburger in the Archive (If a Leaf Falls Press, 2019). Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications and anthologies including Ambit, 3:AM, Somesuch Stories, Funhouse, Another Gaze, Hotel, Structo, Prototype and Spells: 21st Century Occult Poetry (Ignota, 2018). She was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2019 for her translation of Marion Poschmann’s The Pine Islands (Serpent’s Tail) and was the inaugural Translator in Residence at the British Library. She plays or has played in the bands Sauna Youth, Feature, Monotony, and others.

Prototype, 2020, 180pages.