Why Rob is going to be ‘shorting out’ throughout the month of May

And so here we are into the month of May, and If the reading schedule at RobAround Manor wasn’t packed enough already – with both my Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist and Totally Knut reading projects running at full throttle at the moment – then things are set to get a whole lot busier around here, as I ‘shoehorn’ two important short story anthologies into my reading schedule during May, in order to meet specific review dates.

The first anthology is that wonderfully exciting Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio edited creation, Stories which I featured a couple of weeks ago in a Daily Bookshot (note: the cover shown left is the UK edition, while the shot above shows a US edition of the proof). Published in the UK on the 15th June by Headline Publishing (same date in the US but published by William Morrow), Stories not only contains close to 30 tales from some of the world’s top writers (including Joyce Carol Oates, Chuck Palahniuk, Jodi Picoult and Joe Hill), but it also comes with the lofty aspiration that the collected stories contained within, epitomise the art of imaginative storytelling.

Stories certainly does sounds imaginatively delicious, and on it’s own it would probably more than satisfy my short story hunger for the month. However there’s another feast of short story goodness waiting for me on my desk, and it’s one which couldn’t be more worlds apart than the Gaiman and Sarrantonio offering.

Published simultaneously in English and Arabic last month by Bloomsbury, and in conjunction with the Hay Festival, Beirut39 (Arabic edition HERE) is another anthology that I highlighted in a recent Daily Bookshot. And with the Hay Festival launching in a little over three weeks (May 27th-June 6th), this is an anthology that I want to have a full working knowledge of beforehand (Unfortunately I’m not going the Festival but some of the authors in the anthology are attending a number of events, both in English and Arabic).

Coming with the aim of showcasing the talent of Arab writers – along with offering a taste of their rich culture – Beirut39 features short stories, poetry and novel extracts from 39 authors around the Arab world. And talented writing is certainly what I’m expecting to get from Beirut39, given that the writers chosen to be included in this anthology – all of who are under the age of 39 – were hand-picked from an initial pool of over 450.

In terms of covering both of these anthologies on RobAroundBooks I’m not, on this occasion, going to be setting things off with a forethoughts post. I think I’ve said enough by way of introduction for both of the titles – both in in this post and in my Daily Bookshot post for each – so I’m just going to launch into the reading of one story entry from each anthology, per day, until complete. As I’ve done often in the past, I’ll be recording my thoughts, ratings etc. in the pages of my Reading Journal (which makes it’s welcome return from a short hiatus tomorrow), before collating all of those thoughts and ratings together, into a final afterthoughts post for each title. So look out for all of this, starting tomorrow.

Now, if I wasn’t giving myself enough short story reading to do throughout the month of May, then I’ve also decided that now is the best time to start reminding people once more that I don’t only read the short stories of classic authors i.e. Maupassant and Chekhov. You may remember last year that amongst other things I religiously feasted upon the weekly short stories offerings served up at Harper Perennial’s Fifty-Two Stories website, before regurgitating my opinion on each (you can find links to all of these short story reviews on my ‘Shots of Short’ hub page. Well, for one reason or another that routine fell by the wayside somewhat and I really want to get right back on board with it (mainly because Fifty-Two Stories really do serve up some amazing offerings).

Additionally, as RobAroundBooks continues towards concentrating more on short stories (along with the other three forms I’ve decided upon – translated fiction, literary nonfiction and essays (you can read more about that HERE)) I’m also adding the offerings of a couple of other short story portals into the mix. So from next week, aside from my ongoing scheduled short story reading days i.e. Maupassant Monday and Chekhov Tuesday, I’m designating a new day – Friday, as the day when I tick off my reading of these selected FREE short stories.

So, have I covered all of my short story reading bases now? Not quite . I also need to get back on board with my Trevor vs Moore Chekhovian reading project, and iPoe, my journey through the fictional writings of Edgar Allan Poe. So to cover these I’m now designating Wednesdays as iPoe day and reserving Thursdays for my Trevor vs. Moore reading.

So my short story reading is really cranking up a notch in May (and that’s even when ignoring a couple of major ‘in the pipeline’ short story projects that are in the works), and while I’m on the subject, now would probably be a good time to mention fellow blogger, Gavin Pugh aka NextRead. Not only is Gavin lucky enough to be reading the same aforementioned Gaiman & Sarrantonio anthology as me this month, but he is also dedicating the whole month of May on his blog, to the short story form.

Although Gavin is normally heavy on genre fiction i.e. sci-fi and fantasy, he is supporting his Short Story Month with a stockpile of 25+ short story anthologies/collections, which I presume to be wide-ranging in theme. So, I’m expecting (hoping) that his focus is going to be as equally wide-ranging, with a little something to suit all tastes. What’s more Gav has also scheduled a number of special guess posts throughout the month of May in celebration of the short story. So if you’re a real fan of short stories then NextRead’s website may well be one of the hottest places to visit during May.