Close Up and Urgent
We are pleased to be able to publish the speech made by Joanna Trollope at the awards ceremony of this year’s Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Prize.
New Ways with Words
Podcast: BBC Editor of Readings, Di Speirs, hosts a discussion on modern modes of experiencing short fiction – with readings from Joe Dunthorne, Geoff Dyer and Tessa Hadley.
Starting Block – An Exercise
In The Sound of Music, Maria sings: ‘Let’s start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.’ That might be the case if you’re an ex nun in the Swiss Alps but it doesn’t work so well in short story writing.
A Masterclass in Character: ‘Weep Not My Wanton’
MIKE SMITH continues to explore the techniques that writers use to create their stories. In this post, he looks at A.E. Coppard’s use of characterisation in the story ‘Weep Not My Wanton’.
We Recommend – Gold Boy, Emerald Girl
‘The characters are quietly clinging to something else, holding something for themselves, finding their own way.’ AMANDA OOSTHUIZEN discovers a quiet voice talking, in Yiyun Li’s extraordinary collection ‘Gold Boy, Emerald Girl’.
The Greatest Show on Earth
JOSE VARGHESE reports back from the Jaipur Literature Festival – ‘the greatest literary show on earth’.
The Highs and Lows of Site Specific Writing
CLARE REDDAWAY discusses two of her recent writing projects which were inspired by the historic cities of Bath and Bristol.
Ten ways of looking at the Short Story in 2012
STEVE WASSERMAN peers through the lens of The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award longlist.
Story: ‘Dust’ by Bidisha
We are pleased to now make this short story available to the public.
All Bone and Muscle
‘When an idea has been tightened, skinned, moulded, crafted until it can be honed no more, what remains is crisply worded bliss.’ BIDISHA discusses the 8-year process of crafting and redrafting her story ‘Dust’.