In the second instalment of this series of SHORT STORY MASTERCLASS PODCASTS, acclaimed author DEBORAH LEVY talks with Steve Wasserman about enigmas, filling in the gaps, and the difference between writing short stories and poetry.
For Jackie Kay, the short story form is like drinking whisky: ‘You can have a wee malt but if you tried to drink a whole pint of whisky you’d be dead, so there’s something about the intensity…’ GINA CHALLEN examines Jackie Kay’s writing styles in Wish I Was Here.
‘Homework and tea. Pretty much the extent of concern for any average teenager on returning home after a day’s schooling. On top of that, though, this teenager is dealing with the sense that their mother’s gone mad…’ KATHRYN HALL takes us inside ‘The History of History’ by Ali Smith.
‘Aimee Bender is a writer who turns the ordinary into the extraordinary, and vice versa…’ In this Author Profile piece, DEBBIE KINSEY looks at the influences behind Aimee Bender’s writing life.
In this feature, MIKE SMITH explores The World’s Thousand Best Short Stories: ‘Some of the stories are still well-known and still anthologised regularly. Some of the authors are still household names. But many, too, are long forgotten and it is amongst these that I have found the greatest reading pleasure…’
INTERVIEW: We are delighted to bring you this exclusive and rare interview with William Trevor, winner of the inaugural Charleston-Chichester Award.
TRACY FELLS explores Kate Atkinson’s Not The End Of The World, a collection that, like all her novels, ‘resonates compassion and humanity’.
Our SHORT STORY MASTERCLASS PODCASTS are back. To begin the series, DAVID VANN talks with Steve Wasserman about Tarantino-like moments, first drafts, and the unbreakable rule of subtext…
In her essay, ALEX RUCZAJ looks at time travel in short fiction and how three contemporary authors shift from the present moment into the past…
‘What do we think of when we hear the word ‘witch’? We think of someone dark and evil, someone to be feared…’ EVER DUNDAS takes a look at Shirley Jackson’s controversial short story ‘The Witch’.
