The 2014 Competition Longlist
Over the past few weeks, the team of THRESHOLDS judges has been busy reading and re-reading the entries, debating and deliberating. Finally, we bring you.… The 2014 THRESHOLDS Features Award longlist.
The Short Story is Dead! Long Live the Short Story!
THRESHOLDS EXCLUSIVE: Guardian columnist and short story writer Chris Power discusses the state of the short story and why the dominant narrative of imminent death or blazing renaissance should be rejected…
Short Stories on the Big Screen
MIKE SMITH discusses the adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s short stories into films: ‘They have not necessarily damaged the story. What they have done, though, is to radically change its message…’
Vintage Borges
‘A story about opposites: the hellish North versus the open skied South, reality versus the world of dreams, life versus death…’ LOUISE HEGARTY explores the conflicts and mysteries in Jorge Luis Borges’ short story ‘The South’.
Digging in Moorcock’s Subterranean London
DREW WHITTET goes beneath the surface of Michael Moorcock’s ‘London Bone’: ‘Moorcock has many different styles, priding himself on his flexibility. He enjoys sticking with familiar characters, often dropping them into weird and uncomfortable settings…’
Under Witness Protection
ANUSHREEE NANDE gets under the skin of ‘Witness Protection’ by Guy Ware: ‘The narrative revolves around Henry and Stella, and their seemingly routine life that hides secrets, lies and, possibly, violence…’
Love, Life and Longing
CAROL FENLON finds love amongst the guilt and loss in Carys Bray’s short story collection, Sweet Home: ‘These are stories of family life, at times utterly domestic. Yet the reader soon finds that the homes described are far from sweet…’
On My Travels
VICKI HEATH examines Once Upon a Time There Was a Traveller, the 2013 anthology of Asham Award-winning stories: ‘As I read, I considered each story carefully, wondering what made these particular pieces stand out for the judges…’
Do You Need to Keep a Notebook?
Short story writer, novelist and creative writing lecturer SALLY O’REILLY ponders the writer’s notebook: ‘For most writers, a notebook is the closest thing we have to an artist’s sketch book, and the equivalent of a studio…’
Flame Lurid
STEPHEN DEVEREUX explores the enigmatic world of D.H. Lawrence’s short story ‘Fanny and Annie’: ‘It is, I would argue, one of the best short story openings in English. What does it tell the reader? Nothing. And everything…’