The authors whose work we heard were George Saunders (performed by Jason Hewitt) and Sarah Butler (performed by Gaye Poole). The evening was adeptly introduced and concluded by Sarah Franklin.

Sarah Butler's story was very well read by Gaye Poole. It considered the ending of a relationship, moving on from the past and contained some particularly effective imagery. I enjoyed the particular style of her writing and the story's conclusion.

Short Stories at the Old Fire Station runs every month, is only £5 for a ticket and was a lovely way to spend a cold January evening. In addition to the excellent entertainment, it is also possible to drink wine, enjoy cookies and buy the books of the authors attending. I would like to attend again and would thoroughly recommend the experience overall.

Short Stories Aloud at the Old Fire Station presents short stories by published authors, read out by professional actors. Enthusiastically presented by Sarah Franklin and fuelled by complementary and complimentary cake, this evening's stories were performed by Sue Cook, a writer and broadcaster alongside an actor called Alex. Both Sue and Alex or just Alex, I know not, worked with a director. Sadly, writer Stuart Evers couldn't join us due to the cancellation of trains out of Paddington.

The night was split into three parts, the first two consisting of two flash stories and a longer story each, and the third being a Q&A session. The first two parts began with (somewhat mediocre) stories about superheroes. I don't know who they were by.

Does this all sound a bit vague? Well, a number of things were unclear. Who there was an actor and who was a writer? Who wrote half the stories? Who is Sue Cook? - she had a meta-introduction, being introduced only as someone BBC Oxford had recently introduced as 'a legend'. Why didn't she read a story of her own? - or did she? Why would a professional actor need a theatre director to tell him how to read a short story aloud? And perhaps most confusingly, who were the panel we were coming up with questions for, and on what topic? It turned out to be Sue Cook (who didn't appear to have read any of her own writing so we couldn't discuss that), and, bewilderingly, a man who works at Blackwell bookshop who was a fan of Evers' book and was roped in to talk about it.

Some of these questions I could answer by my prior research, some I'm still pondering. In either case a lot more context to the proceedings is desperately needed for newcomers.

Despite such ambiguities (alongside uncomfortable chairs and harsh strip lighting), there was much that made for an enjoyable night. The two longer stories were of a writing quality that transcended any quibbles and they were both absorbing and ably delivered; Rose Tremain's tale of a downtrodden family man seething with quiet desperation, and Evers' gripping tale of an uncomfortable family reunion. It's a real shame Evers couldn't make it - this would have transformed the night and it's no-one's fault he couldn't be there.

As for the Q&A, to everyone's credit it was an interesting discussion despite the potential pointlessness of it all - turns out a bookseller enthusing about a book he had read still makes for fairly stimulating discussion.

All in all then, this is a night with potential that needs some wrinkles ironing out, and the loft at the Fire Station is a bad combination of stark and small that lends itself more to meetings than relaxing evening entertainment. But absorbing moments of storytelling shone through. They always do.