Hieronymus Bosch – Cath Barton

That’s the cry of the owls. And there are a lot of owls in my new short story collection, published this month by the independent Welsh publisher Atomic Bohemian and available on pre-order from them now.

The nine stories in the book are all inspired by the paintings and drawings of the Northern Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch. His most famous work is the extranordinary The Garden of Earthly Delights. And yes, it does feature in the collection. Or rather, characters from it do.

Look in almost any Bosch painting or drawing and you’ll find an owl peeking out. I love their mystery and their stealthy flight. They found their way into my stories by chance rather than design, but I ‘m so happy to have them there.

I’m thrilled that this collection is finally out in the world. It has found its perfect publisher.

I’d love you to read it.

Earlier this month I wrote about joining when The Lonely Crowd, when my story The Wood has Ears, The Field has Eyes was published in the magazine of that name.

I’ve now written an essay about how I came to write the story and you can read it here

That particular story is one of what I hope will be a collection of short stories inspired by the work of Hieronymus Bosch. Read more about how that came about in my essay.

Owls feature in Bosch’s work and in mine. They are beautiful creatures – but are they always benign?

Statue on flying buttress, St John’s Cathedral, Den Bosch, The Netherlands
(Photo: Cath Barton)

While you’re here, do hop over to my Stories page for links to my latest flash fiction on-line.

Tag: Hieronymus Bosch

Tu-whit Tu-whoo!

Mr Bosch and his owls