Mike Stocks writes novels, children's books, poetry and translations, and has worked both as a lexicographer and as an editor for several British publishers. He is the founder and editor of Anon, the anonymous submissions poetry magazine. His debut collection of poems, Folly, is published by Herla, and his translations of nineteenth-century Roman poet Belli by Oneworld Classics. He lives in Edinburgh.
"When it happens, it happens as these things ought to happen, in a manner appropriate to the cliches that witnesses will later attach to it - 'suddenly', 'in a flash', 'out of nowhere'. Suddenly, in a flash, out of nowhere, a white man falls out of the sky." Police Sub-Inspector (retired) R.M. Swaminathan has suffered a stroke while beating up a suspect in the lock-up of Mullaipuram Police Station. He can no longer talk properly, command the respect of his community, or give his six daughters the bankrupting dowries they deserve. Is it any wonder that Swami has lost his pride and wants to kill himself using only a puncture-repair kit? Surely a man in these circumstances has good reason to feel cursed when a white man falls out of the sky, dying at his feet and making him a laughing stock. But as further strange incidents occur, Swami's hometown starts to believe he is walking with God and life changes for ever... Mike Stock's tale of domestic catastrophe, accidental crime-busting, deluded matchmaking and mystical absurdity brilliantly exemplifies how sometimes in life meaningless events can produce meaningful effects.
