Pigskin

Single story chapbook - 'Animal Farm' for the Plant-Based Age
Fly on the Wall Press, 2021
Part of the 'Fly on the Wall Shorts' series

Something strange is happening to the animals on the farm.

A pig becomes bacon, chickens grow breadcrumbs, a cow turns to leather, a goat excretes cheese. As food becomes scarce and the looming ‘pot-bellies’ threaten to invade the safety of the sty, Pig knows he must get to the bottom of this strange phenomenon or face imminent death. Reminiscent of Animal Farm and darkly satirical, David Hartley interrogates the ethics of farming and the potential problems of genetic engineering, asking important questions about our relationship to the food – or animals – we eat.

“Pigskin is a knife-sharp, knowing fable about animal instincts and human ingenuity. David Hartley has a gift for creating stories that leave scars.”

- Aliya Whiteley, author of Greensmith