A FORMER Argus reporter and award-winning author is following up his widely-acclaimed book of short stories with a second.

Nigel Jarrett, from Abergavenny, worked at the Argus in a range of roles, including reporter, chief sub editor and business editor, between 1971 and 2002. He took early retirement in 2002, continuing to write on music for the paper.

A one-time winner of the Rhys Davies prize for short fiction, Mr Jarrett has written for Wales Arts Review, The French Literary Review, and the British Music Society Journal since leaving the Argus.

The Welsh independent publisher Parthian bought out his first collection of short stories called Funderland in 2011. It received praise from the Guardian, the Independent and the Times.

Alfred Hickling, of The Guardian, praised Mr Jarrett for his “marvellous ear” while Lesley McDowell, of the Independent on Sunday, noted how he was “not afraid of unusual perspectives”.

Four years on, another independent publisher - the Kent-based Cultured Llama - is to publish Mr Jarrett’s second collection of short stories, called Who Killed Emil Kreisler?

The collection of 14 stories - an eclectic mix of tales Mr Jarrett has had published in literary magazines in the past six years - will be released next year.

Listing the likes of Hemmingway, D H Lawrence and Graham Greene as his inspirations, Mr Jarrett said he has found writing short stories a seamless process.

He said:“It's a lucky or super-talented writer who can persuade a publisher to bring out a raft of previously-unpublished tales. That said, you need staying power and a belief in your work.

"Being a newspaperman and working long and often unsociable hours must have had a bearing on it.

“I can usually knock out a story at three sittings. Novels take much longer if you're exhausted and short of time.

“Writing is addictive. Not writing at all would be like being a kid who'd had his Curly-Wurly snatched away."

For more information visit https://nigeljarrett.wordpress.com.