Latest Previews (Forethoughts)
Forethoughts: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
In the short fiction world, Nathan Englander is huge. Yet, I’ve never read him. Stay tuned, I’m about to rectify that.
Forethoughts: Suddenly a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret
This is the first collection of short stories that Etgar Keret has published in ten years, and it promises to be a cracker.
Latest Reviews (Afterthoughts)
Afterthoughts: Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry
Reading Dark Lies the Island has reinforced my belief that Kevin Barry is one of the greatest short story writers living today. If you’re looking for a definitive lesson in the art of short story telling, then this is it.
Afterthoughts: Various Authors
With this being a debut anthology from a new publisher I didn’t expect it to be anything more than an average publication. I was however quite taken aback. Various Authors turned out to be surprisingly mature and refreshingly entertaining.
Individual Short Story Reviews
Short Story Review: ‘Faithful Wife’ by Morley Callaghan
Faithful Wife is a triumph – a story of certain depth relayed with lightness and ease.
Short Story Review: ‘An Escapade’ by Morley Callaghan
All in all, as short as An Escapade is, it’s a fine story and it shows that Callaghan has a real talent, not only for exploring the minutiae of the human condition but in also painting beautiful story worlds.
Short Story Review: Miss Lora by Junot Díaz
Miss Lora offers itself as a great introduction for those unfamiliar with Junot Diaz’s unique culturally-enriched style of fiction, while saying something on the inequality of thinking that exists with older-younger relationships.
Short Story Review: The Dig by Cynan Jones
I can think of little to fault this one. It stands as perfect example of how a good short story should be written.
Short Story Review: Evie by Sarah Hall
Don’t get me wrong here, Evie is an accomplished piece of writing I guess, but personally I found it to be so explicit that it reached a point of being repellent to me.
Short Story Review: The Gun by Mark Haddon
A truly remarkable tale from Mr. Haddon. There are stories which come along every now and again that for whatever reason you never forget. This for me is one of those stories.
Short Story Review: Call it “The Bug” Because I Have No Time to Think of a Better Title by Toby Litt
I found this story to be refreshingly original, while at the same time being quietly tender.
Short Story Review: ‘The Beholder’ by Ali Smith
I’m indifferent about these kind of experimental stories. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. In this case I don’t think this one did work for me, but it doesn’t make it a bad story.
Short Fiction News
Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award 2013 longlist
The longlist for the 2013 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award was announced on Friday. In the running this year for the world’s richest prize for a short story collection, is a globe-spanning field of seventy five authors. With thirty of the longlisted authors hailing from the US, the American writers dominate the longlist this [...]
Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2013 longlist announced
The Edge Hill Short Story Prize longlist for 2013 has been announced, revealing a record entry for the UK’s only prize for single-author collections of short stories published in the UK. Now running in its seventh year, the 2013 Edge Hill Short Story Prize longlist of thirty eight titles has a strong Irish presence, with [...]
Junot Díaz wins Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2013
Dominican-American writer, Junot Díaz has been chosen as the winner of this year’s Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, for his story Miss Lora. Recently a finalist for The Story Prize for the same collection that his winning story is taken from (This Is How You Lose Her), the former Pulitzer Prize winner [...]
Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2013 shortlist unveiled
The shortlist for this year’s Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award has been announced, revealing a final selection of six stories which are as wide-ranging and eclectic as the authors themselves. Heading the shortlist this year is Dominican-American Junot Díaz with his sexually charged story Miss Lora, which is taken from his highly [...]
Short Fiction Feature
Tasting the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2013: Part 1
Wishing to do more around the Edge Hill Short Story Prize than simply report on it, I hit upon the idea of sampling each of the collections on this year’s longlist. I do so to not only shine much needed light on an under featured prize, but also to offer some impression on the stories [...]
Who’s going to win the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2013?
Well, this year’s Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award was announced a little earlier today, and being in the position of having read all of the shortlisted stories I thought I would offer an opinion on who I think is going to win the prize overall. Before I go on to reveal which [...]
Costa Short Story Award: And my vote goes to…
With public voting in the Costa Short Story Awards closing tomorrow (Wednesday 24th January) I thought now would be a good time to offer up some thoughts thoughts on which story I think is most deserving of the overall prize. If you’ve been keeping up with RobAroundBooks this past week then you’ll have seen me [...]
Adopting new system for reading short stories, and an outrageously ambitious reading project
I need to find a faster way to work through short collections and anthologies, and I think I have. And to test to see if my new system works, I’m setting myself the goal of reading the entire 2012 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award longlist (77 titles), in a year.
If you only read one short story this week…
…then please make sure it’s one from Bloomsbury’s ‘Year of the Short Story’ Sampler, created to give a taste of each of the five collections that they are publishing during the first five months of 2012, in celebration of their ‘Year of the Short Story’.
If I had to pick a favourite literary form then short fiction would undoubtedly be the one. I love its scope, its variety, and I love that it can consumed in a single effortless 'bite'. Short fiction is revered here at RobAroundBooks, in all of its forms. From the memorable shorts of the classic authors to the genius snappy creations of the modern story tellers, all are represented on RobAroundBooks, and very much loved.
