STEPHEN DEVEREUX takes us into the surreal underworld of Graham Greene’s short Story ‘Under the Garden’: ‘Greene plays with our desire for a plausible explanation, for a resolution of the mystery, but never supplies one…’
‘I have come across quite a few such readers who react vehemently to the Saunders worldview. They wonder why he bends the moral situation so far that it almost breaks. But some, like me, may beg to differ…’ JOSE VARGHESE takes us into the intricacies of George Saunders’ ‘Escape from Spiderhead’.
‘The history, landscape and natural rhythms of the Orkney Islands were Brown’s inspiration…’ CAROLA HUTTMANN examines the life and writings of George Mackay Brown.
Join Vicki Heath in conversation with ZOE GILBERT, winner of this year’s prestigious Costa Short Story Award…
ROSEMARY GEMMELL takes a look at the short stories of one of the giants of English literature: ‘D.H. Lawrence has left a profound legacy of stories that explore what it means to be human, fragile, and capable of great love and deep cruelty…’
‘If I told you that a short story collection saved me as a reader and as a writer, would you believe me? Probably not. But it’s true…’ GINA PARSONS finds her writing self through the stories of Robert Shearman.
In a special follow-up post to his shortlisted feature, Stephen Devereux interviews the elusive author Helen Harris, gaining insight into her writing processes, her choice of narrative perspective, and teaching creative writing…
CHRISTINE GENOVESE considers the influence of fairy tales on the short stories of Thomas Hardy: ‘The magic in ‘The Fiddler of the Reels’ is illusory. Hardy does not pull rabbits out of hats. That would upset the balance…’
FRANCESCA CREFFIELD explores the life and writing of George Mackay Brown: ‘…once I started reading the stories I was immersed in a rich culture of storytelling unlike any I had ever known before. Gone were the creative writing rules of beginning, middle and end…’
PRATIBHA CASTLE takes a reflective look at Kevin Barry’s award-winning short stories: ‘Barry’s stories creak with trouble. His words throb dark and heavy on the page. His landscapes are hostile…’
