Communicating Something Truthful — an Interview with Stuart Rathe

Stuart Rathe's story "O Is for OCTOPUS" handles difficult topics such as grief, identity, and alienation with wonder and grace. Read on to get a more detailed picture of the man behind the cephalopod.

What's your favorite underappreciated novel or short story (a work you rarely hear anyone else talking about)?

I love Kazuo Ishiguro, but whenever I hear people talking about The Unconsoled (which is my favourite) they invariably talk about throwing it across the room in frustration. It’s about a concert pianist called Ryder preparing for a gig in Europe. Absolutely crazy, dreamlike stuff happens: he’s taken to a room to rehearse, and it turns out to be a toilet cubicle, or he’s at a function and realises he’s still in his dressing gown while someone is telling him an anecdote about a dog with rigor mortis. You just have to surrender to the anxiety dream madness and roll with it. It makes no sense and absolute perfect sense all at the same time… 

Do you plan on writing a novel, or have you started and/or completed one (or more)? No wrong answers.

I would love to write a novel, but given the amount of time I sometimes spend on 2,000-word short stories, I think it’s unlikely I’d finish anything before shuffling off this mortal coil. And I’m not sure I could pull all the plot threads together. I’m a very disorganised person. 

Do you write by hand or at the keyboard? Why do you prefer one or the other?

If I wake up at night with an idea, I’ll write that on paper. But then when I get up the next day, the idea is usually absolute nonsense. Other than that, always at the keyboard. I’m very proud of my touch-typing abilities—I used to regularly take online typing tests for fun to see how many words per minute I could achieve. Sad, but true. 

What is a word or phrase you find yourself using too much? Why do you think that is the case?

I like unreliable narrators and so when I’m writing in the first person I have this tendency to use qualifiers like “perhaps” or “maybe” to destabilise things. I like doing it, but I know I do it far too much and end up fixing it during editing. 

Is cereal soup?

Most of the time, no. Stuff floating in milk can’t really be soup, can it? I reckon a soup has to have some texture to truly qualify as soup. Maybe if you mushed up some Weetabix in milk and heated it up, you could call that a soup. A friend of mine used to do that. Although she specifically called it “Hot Mush,” not soup. So, in conclusion, no—cereal is not soup. 

When did you realize you were weird?

There is quite a lot of evidence, so I’ll pick just one thing: I’ve seen Kylie Minogue in concert eleven times since 1992. I guess a lot of people would say that’s weird—or perhaps borderline stalker behaviour—although I think it’s eminently admirable and that everybody should do it. 

What would you tell another weird writer or artist to help them continue the practice? 

I think that writing is such a great space to be a little bit odd. You’ve got permission to go wherever you want, be a bit transgressive and still keep the day job. Take risks, write it for yourself, and only show it to people if you want to.  

What is your favorite museum or gallery?

There is a great art gallery near Liverpool called the Williamson. It has an open exhibition for amateurs and pros alike every year and, most importantly, a lovely outdoor coffee shop area. 

Weirdest search query you’ve written while researching a story?

“I want to have a name for a nightclub that sounds like it could be underwater or where an octopus lives. What do you suggest?” I’m always really polite when I type search queries too—it’s like I’m having a conversation with the search engine. 

Thoughts about sea cucumbers?

I didn’t know anything about them until I just googled them. They look like something Sigourney Weaver would take a flamethrower to. I’m sure they’re lovely though. 

Unpopular opinion, go: 

Hot cheese is disgusting. Unless it’s mozzarella on pizza. If the cheese bubbles or goes gooey when it’s hot, then that is not acceptable. The worst thing anyone could buy me is a fondue set.

Why write?

I’ve only just started writing fiction in the last eighteen months. I always resisted it because I didn’t think I could come up with any halfway decent ideas. As a relative newbie, I think the creative process of writing is itself very rewarding—wrestling an idea into shape and trying to make it work as a finished piece. So on a personal level, I write because I enjoy it and it feels good (if a bit scary) to put stuff out there with your name on it and hope people respond. On another level, I think that writing is a vital way of communicating something truthful—whether that’s an emotion, an idea or just a silly joke to make people laugh. 

Stuart Rathe is a primary school teacher on the Wirral, where he specialises in bringing Shakespeare to youngsters. He started writing short fiction last year, and his story "Other People's Hands" won the Henshaw Short Story Prize in September 2025. His fiction focuses on memory and identity, with a few pop culture references thrown in for good measure. He lives with his boyfriend and their Russian Blue cat, Ripley. Instagram @mintostu