Why The Short Story? “Goosebumps,” says Dennis McFadden
Dennis McFadden lives and writes in an old farmhouse called Mountjoy on Bliss Road, just up Peaceable Street from Harmony Corners in upstate New York. “Diamond Alley,” from his collection of linked stories, Hart’s Grove (Colgate University Press, June, 2010), was recently selected for inclusion in Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Mystery Stories 2011. His […]
Bath Spa and Tessa Hadley
In the fall term of 2008, I had the remarkable opportunity to be a visiting lecturer at Bath Spa University in their very impressive Creative Writing program. This was part of our on-going exchange between Columbia College Chicago, where I direct the undergraduate programs in Fiction Writing, and Bath Spa University. It is a good […]
“Respect the Storyness.” Gerard Woodward answers “Why The Short Story?”
Gerard Woodward was recently long-listed for The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award with a prize of £30,000 (nearly $50,000 in today’s currency market—holy sheepskin!) for his single short story, “The Family Whistle.” (Who says there’s no value in the short story?) Gerard is also author of an acclaimed trilogy comprising August (shortlisted for […]
And the Winner Is…pt 1
The votes are still being tallied for Favorite Short Story, and this being Chicago, many of the voters are following our city motto: “Vote Early and Often.” So far, though, more than 60 separate short story titles have been named favorites by more than 50 readers. And this is just a small sampling of the […]
Why The Short Story? Lawrence Sargent Hall Reads “The Ledge”
I’ve been surveying my friends (Facebook and otherwise) to find out what short stories they have found important, influential, inspiring, or just plain entertaining. The list is long and varied and still grows even as I write this; I’m excited to have a whole slew of new stories to read. Soon, I will compile the […]
“Why The Short Story?” Gina Frangello says…
Gina Frangello is the author of two critically acclaimed books of fiction, Slut Lullabies (Emergency Press 2010) and My Sister’s Continent (Chiasmus 2006). The longtime editor of the literary magazine, Other Voices, she co-founded its book press, Other Voices Books, in 2005, where she is the current Executive Editor. She is also the Editor of the […]
Vanessa Gebbie on “Why The Short Story?”
Vanessa Gebbie has won numerous awards for her short fiction, including Bridport and Fish prizes. She is the author of two collections of stories:Words from a Glass Bubble and Storm Warning, and contributing editor of Short Circuit – a Guide to the Art of the Short Story (all Salt Publishing). Her debut novel, The Coward’s Tale, is forthcoming from Bloomsbury in […]
Why The Short Story?
Like so many writers, I loved to read when I was a child. I remember SRA books—do you remember those? You’d have to be of a certain age, and maybe of a certain region of the world. Anyway, SRA was a reading comprehension program for grade schoolers where you could read at your own pace, […]
For Saint Valentine’s Day
All right, I’ll admit it. I am a fan of the whole love thing. So in honor of the day that honors it: THE GOOD-MORROW by John Donne I WONDER by my troth, what thou and I Did, till we loved? were we not wean’d till then? But suck’d on country pleasures, childishly? Or snorted we in […]
Conversations
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