LANE SEVEN: now on BBC Radio 4
This week, my short story LANE SEVEN aired on BBC Radio 4.
Still can’t quite believe I get to say that.
If you’ve not heard it yet, you can listen again on BBC Sounds here.
It’s about Jack, who is unsettled when he spots his ex-girlfriend in the next lane at his local swimming pool. Hadn’t she always said she was afraid of the water?
LANE SEVEN was commissioned by BBC Radio 4’s Short Works, which broadcasts new 15-minute stories every week. Huge thanks to producers Beth O'Dea and Mair Bosworth in Bristol for commissioning the piece and bringing it to life.
It’s the first fiction I’ve published since my third novel, What July Knew, came out in 2023, which makes this one feel especially meaningful to me.
The story was inspired by my own twice-weekly swims at the local pool, and I loved writing the swimming itself - trying to capture the strange rhythm and intimacy of sharing water with strangers.
“Margarita gracefully slices through the water on the other side of her lane, hardly seeming to disturb its surface.”
Here’s actor Sam Swann recording the story, whose reading brought exactly the right balance of humour and unease to the piece.
Sam is a stage and screen actor whose theatre work includes productions at Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, the Almeida, Royal Court and the RSC.
On screen, he has appeared in One Day (Netflix), Mr Selfridge and Jekyll and Hyde (ITV), alongside numerous BBC dramas. Film credits include The Current War and Been So Long.
Alongside all of this, Sam has also built a devoted online following with his brilliantly observed and hilarious Instagram videos, in which he plays a friendly American tourist on a tour around the UK, picking up all sorts of regional dialects from the people he meets.
My favourite, as a Bristol resident, is this one.
I first announced the broadcast here and was genuinely blown away by the kind messages from readers before it aired. Thank you to everyone who listened and supported it.
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Frequently asked questions
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Yes! If you sign up to my newsletter you’ll get a free short story as your joining gift.
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You can listen to the story here.
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I mainly write psychological suspense novels and short fiction. My work often explores relationships, memory, and the consequences of difficult choices.
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Here’s a list of the wrong ways to say it: Emily Kosh, Emily Cough (how my kids used to say it!), Emily Cox, Emily Koff, Emily Kotch. It actually has a guttural “ch” sound at the end, made in the back of the throat - think of the German words “Bach” (as in the composer) and “achtung”. I wrote an article about it here.
