Poetic and powerfully brutal…a one-off The Times

Shortlisted for the Portico Prize

Midwinter. As former farmhand Jake, a widower in his seventies, wanders the beautiful, austere moors of North Yorkshire trying to evade capture, we learn of the events of his past: the wife he loved and lost, their child he knows cannot be his, and the deep-seated need for revenge that manifests itself in a moment of violence.

On the coast, Jake s friend, Sheila, receives the devastating news. The aftermath of Jake s actions, and what it brings to the surface, will change her life forever. But how will she react when he turns up at her door?

The Mating Habits of Stags is a journey through a life of guilt and things unsaid and as beauty and tenderness blend with violence, Robinson transports us to a different world, subtly exploring love and loss in a language that both bruises and heals.

An early version of the story was released in 2016 as the short film Edith, starring Peter Mullan and Michelle Fairley, which was Bafta-longlisted for Best British Short Film.