CJ Stone

CJ Stone‘s first story was called Witch Way Out Of Here, quickly followed by Still Life Behind Drawn Curtains, both written in the early part of 1993. He sent these off to the Guardian Weekend on the off-chance, having read a story about council estate life there.
A few weeks later his A4 stamped addressed envelope returned, but without the manuscripts. His stories had been accepted! The first Housing Benefit Hill column appeared in the Guardian Weekend in September 1993. The column continued until September 1996. It was a great success, and made the writer – temporarily – famous. Other columns followed. On The Edge in the Big Issue. Free Party Chronicles in Mixmag. CJ Stone’s Britain, which replaced Housing Benefit Hill in the Guardian, and which continued till March 1998. In this time two books were also written: Fierce Dancing and The Last of the Hippies, both published by Faber & Faber. There have also been two more books: Housing Benefit Hill, published by AK Press, and The Trials of Arthur (with Arthur Pendragon) published by Thorsons/Element.