Clive Gilson
ALLi Author Member
Location: United Kingdom
Genres: Fantasy/SciFi/Speculative, Literary Fiction, Biography, General Fiction, Crime, Other Poetry, Dystopian, Science Fiction (Sci-Fi), Speculative Fiction
Clive Gilson was born in 1962 into a household steeped in sport and rhythm. His father was a senior amateur and lower-league professional footballer, while his mother, equally formidable, was an award-winning ballroom dancer. Their spirited household didn’t just hum with ambition, it danced to it. After earning a degree in History from Leeds University, Clive took an unexpected turn into the then-nascent world of information technology in the late 1980s. Yet, the call of story and stage never left him. Alongside a thriving tech career, he freelanced as a journalist and book reviewer, earning one small by-line in the national press, and also spent over a decade performing in village halls and professional theatres across the south of England. A true inheritor of his family’s sporting zeal, Clive later pivoted into live sports broadcasting. In the 1990s, he became a trusted rugby ‘stato’ for the BBC, ITV, EuroSport, and TVNZ, bringing insight and analysis to major tournaments including the Heineken Cup, Six Nations, World Sevens, and Rugby World Cups. As a writer, Clive has made his mark across genres. His debut novel, Songs of Bliss, was published in 2017, followed by A Solitude of Stars in 2019, and the companion piece to Solitude, A Symphony Of Sorrows, in 2026. He has released four acclaimed short story collections, The Mechanic’s Curse, The Insomniac Booth, Melodies in Black Ink, and most recently in 2026, Proud Jenny Jay. He is also an award-winning poet and the author of a biography detailing the life of a former professional footballer, namely his father. Since 2018, Clive has served as Managing Editor of the Firesides Tales Project, a global storytelling initiative that has published over 30 collections of folktales, fairy tales, myths, and legends from around the world. Today, Clive continues to write fiction rich in folklore, memory, and quiet transformation, combining his deep love of narrative with a lifelong fascination with the human spirit. For more about his work, visit clivegilson.com, where stories are always waiting to be found.
Clive Gilson's books
Genres: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Short/Flash Fiction Collection
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
In this enchanting new collection of original short stories, Proud Jenny Jay brings the corvids of British folklore to vivid life. Ravens, crows, magpies, jackdaws, and jays step out from the shadows of myth to claim stories of their own. From windswept moors to ancient woodlands, these tales reimagine the legendary birds of Britain as cunning tricksters, quiet guardians, fearless wanderers, and seekers of truth. At the heart of the collection is Jenny Jay, a bold and curious spirit who, like many of her kin, must learn that real power comes not from mimicry or borrowed splendour, but from embracing one’s true self. Woven with magic and grounded in centuries of folklore, Proud Jenny Jay is a lyrical celebration of transformation, identity, and the age-old stories whispered in feather and wind. Ideal for lovers of fable, fantasy, and the enduring mystery of the natural world.
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Dystopian, Literary Fiction
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 18+
What if history had taken a different turn, and you were on the wrong side of it? In a world reshaped by a single turning point, England is no longer a global power, but a fractured, war-ravaged state struggling at the edges of survival. Crumbling cities, ration lines, and foreign aid define daily life in a country left behind by history. The victors? The prosperous, united Muslim nations who now lead the world in science, culture, and diplomacy, their influence stretching from Casablanca to Jakarta. Marwan Tayeh navigates this precarious world with quiet defiance. Haunted by his past and burdened by impossible loyalties, Marwan’s story unfolds as both a harrowing personal memoir and a sweeping tale of a shattered nation. Acts of Faith is a hauntingly beautiful novel of speculative dystopia, told in lyrical, evocative prose. With piercing insight, it confronts our assumptions about empire, identity, and who gets to...
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction, Short/Flash Fiction Collection
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
In Melodies in Black Ink, Clive L Gilson gathers stories sparked by great contemporary music, the kind that gets under the skin and stays there. Each tale begins with a song’s mood, a lyric’s turn, a rhythm that you can feel, then steps away from the track and becomes its own world. These are lives caught at the edge of the everyday, where one choice shifts the tempo, and everything that follows changes key. Across rain-slick streets, bright stages, and far-flung starscapes, Gilson writes with a clean eye and a steady hand. Some stories are dark, some tender, some shot through with dry humour, but all of them carry that musical charge, a sense of beat, of lift, of sudden silence. Open the book, and listen closely. The ink keeps time.
Genres: General Poetry, Love Poetry, Political / Social Commentary Poetry
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
All of these poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies published between 2001 and 2011. Although I did produce an earlier, less inclusive edition of Out Of The Walled Garden a few years ago, this new edition includes all of my previously published pieces.
Genres: Biography, Memoir
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
Cup finals, a business rollercoaster, love, loss and laughter - a memoir by a former professional football player, who plied his trade in the 1950s and 1960s, before embarking on a business career just as rife with promotions, championships and relegations. This is Les Gilson's story.
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
The Insomniac Booth continues many of the themes that first emerged in Clive Gilson's earlier collection of short stories, The Mechanic's Curse. This second collection continues with the investigation of magical realism and the glories of traditional folk and faery tales, and, as ever, these are intimate tales, focusing on broad but subtle themes and personal recollections.
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 12-15, 18+
The Mechanic's Curse brings together Clive Gilson's collected short stories in a single volume. These stories have been previously published in anthologies and online magazines. Clive's love of magical realism from writers such as Angela Carter, and the glories of traditional folk and faery tales shines through. These stories in particular mix the macabre and the fey and tradition with a loving touch.
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy/SciFi/Speculative, Science Fiction (Sci-Fi)
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 18+
A Solitude of Stars is disturbing and breathtaking in equal measure. It could be called a science-fiction dystopia, but I think the book goes much deeper than that. What interested me very much was how to tell the story of the Apparat and Dirigiste societies ranging across our local planetary system seeking peace by waging war to achieve it – much as we do today - while also weaving in elements of a wider galactic history, a history that links both forwards and backwards to the core narrative. Solitude raises the question: is humanity actually capable of peace? Solitude is an incredible flight of imagination – creating these worlds, technology, and pathos with considerable authority. "I have edited Clive Gilson’s books for over a decade now – he’s prolific and can turn his hand to many genres: poetry, short fiction, contemporary novels, folklore and science fiction – and the common...
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Suspense
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Age Groups: 18+
Just how far will a father go to protect his daughter, especially when his 'protection' is so fundamentally flawed? Billy Whitlow, one time "Don of Doo Wop", has survived his days of drink, drugs and groupies, settling now into a more peaceful life centred on his blossoming seventeen year old daughter Bex. Revising for her 'A' Levels, Bex visits Billy one Easter but the longed-for simplicity of father-daughter happiness is shattered one night in a local nightclub. A crime thriller set amid the tranquil beauty of North Devon's rolling hills and seaside towns