Longlisted for The Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2023

Ambitious and playful, darkly humorous and imaginative, these strikingly original stories move effortlessly between the realistic and the fantastical, as their outsider characters explore what it’s like to be human in the twenty-first century. Whether about our relationship with the environment and animals, technology, social media, loneliness, or the enormity of time, they reflect the complexities of being alive. Beautifully written and compelling, you won’t read anything else like them.

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It is both thought-provoking and entertaining, perhaps because of the author’s constant focus on building a sense of atmosphere … A collection that manages to balance heavy topics, while also leaving the reader with a sense of hope, Leeb hits a balance … Skillfully ambiguous, dark and also optimistic, Mammals I Think We Are Called is a wonderful contribution to the local literary world.