Witness poems and short fiction by Josef Hammer — writing as record of labour, exile and survival. Novels, stories and the full archive.https://josefhammer.co.uk/en-gbhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-choice-warehouse-short-story/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-choice-warehouse-short-story/A short story by Josef Hammer. A badge that will not scan, unpaid compliance training, a lunch debt printed in red, and a union flyer folded small.Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTShort storyJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/miller-industrial-realism/https://josefhammer.co.uk/miller-industrial-realism/A short story by Josef Hammer. The graveyard shift on the reject arm: a loose tooth kept as a private clock, and a belt that will not stop.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTShort storyJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/neo-lumina-a-gritty-dystopian-short-story/https://josefhammer.co.uk/neo-lumina-a-gritty-dystopian-short-story/A dystopian short story by Josef Hammer. Ayla sells turnips, hands out pamphlets, storms a tower — and inherits the paperwork.Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTShort storyJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-name-i-set-on-fire/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-name-i-set-on-fire/A short story by Josef Hammer. A bus north, a lumber mill, a forearm set without lidocaine, and a business card flicked into a burn barrel.Sun, 30 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTShort storyJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-night-she-asked-for-escape/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-night-she-asked-for-escape/A short story by Josef Hammer. A knock at eleven at night, a girl of sixteen, a cousin of thirty-six, and eighty dollars that were next week's rent.Sun, 30 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTShort storyJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/bread-and-breath/https://josefhammer.co.uk/bread-and-breath/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. A woman kneading before light, the end piece shared out still warm, and the cracks in her knuckles.Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/heel-lands-hard/https://josefhammer.co.uk/heel-lands-hard/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. Salt on the door mat, a threaded button, a needle that sinks then checks, and the night clamping home.Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-switch-drops-home/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-switch-drops-home/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. An overtime slip folded into a glove, a mended uniform seam, a prepay meter showing red, and the last of the heat.Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/lockout-on-the-landing/https://josefhammer.co.uk/lockout-on-the-landing/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. A rent card laid flat, a meter at zero credit, a boiler lockout code, and a valve that stays shut.Sun, 02 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/red-light-archive/https://josefhammer.co.uk/red-light-archive/Read Red Light Archive, a three-line witness poem by Josef Hammer. A door pulled in, a latch, and the sound a fixed penalty makes. Free to read in full.Sun, 02 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-spectacles-red-light/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-spectacles-red-light/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. A red diode on the landing, a Section 21 folded on the hall radiator, and rage billed back to the tenant.Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/cache-of-a-woman/https://josefhammer.co.uk/cache-of-a-woman/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. A fall measured across a sill, a hairline opening at the arris, and a sleeping bag that covers the shoes.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/casefile/https://josefhammer.co.uk/casefile/A witness poem by Josef Hammer built from legal articles: the head of the house, the father's signature, and one-half a son.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/girls-of-tomorrow/https://josefhammer.co.uk/girls-of-tomorrow/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. Grit stamped into a threshold, heel wear rounding the kerb, and the load path a street quietly alters.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/still-alive/https://josefhammer.co.uk/still-alive/A witness poem by Josef Hammer. Sodium light on stairwell tiles, a lapsed inspection tag, and a list of what can be carried.Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammerhttps://josefhammer.co.uk/the-shifts-true-ledger/https://josefhammer.co.uk/the-shifts-true-ledger/A witness poem by Josef Hammer written as a docket: batch numbers, a weighbridge ticket, gloves in size XS, nine respirators stamped deficient.Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPoemJosef Hammer