Clive Sinclair’s ‘Wingate Football Club’ story is an elegiac account of an English Jewish childhood. Exploring questions of diaspora Jewish identity, the pain of growing up and, of course, football.

The totally true storytelling club returned for JBW 2011. We selected some of our favourite writers who revealed true moments of beauty, awkwardness, tragedy and hilarity all packaged in 10-minute stories and told with no notes. JBW 2011 theme was ‘Close Call’.

The stories in Clive Sinclair’s fourth collection range from New Orleans and Texas to Peru and Venice, and their cast includes Davy Crockett, Princess Diana and Shylock. Dealing mostly with loss, the fear of loss, and love – especially that between husbands and wives and fathers and sons – they are as cruel as life, and as funny.