The short story gets big

'ARMINTA WALLACE

IS 2012 THE year of the short story? It certainly looks that way; as winter turns to spring, story collections are blossoming all over the place.

One of the UK’s biggest publishing houses, Bloomsbury, is bringing out a book of short fiction every month from now until May; at the other end of the publishing scale, the tiny Irish publisher Arlen House has a whopping six collections in its spring pipeline.

Already you can find Éilis Ní Dhuibhne’s Shelter of Neighbours and Adrian Kenny’s Portobello Notebook in the shops. Kevin Barry’s new book of stories, Dark Lies the Island , is due in April, Joseph O’Connor has a new book of stories on the way and, to top it all, the Dublin City Libraries One City: One Book choice for this year is James Joyce’sDubliners .

So what’s the story? Is it all just a coincidence or is something new in the literary air?'

Comments

Open newslist

Guardian open up their newslist. Helpful and insightful or another step towards the takeover of less-informed citizen journalism and media cost-cutting/ job cuts? Discuss... More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/series/open-newslist?fb=native In other media news... The Times and Sunday Times cut 150 editorial posts More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/20/times-job-cuts?fb=native

On Being a Writer in Wales: Odette Debono

'I was never going to write a book about my family, about our most intimate moments, but somehow it leaked out of me, bit by bit, even though over the years I have tried to think about, to write, anything else.' Read Odette Debono 's piece on writing her debut memoir White Sheep on Nation.Cymru ... Odette launches White Sheep at Newport Festival of Words on Sat 21st March. Order from Parthian Books or your favourite bookshop.

Time to stand and stop and stare interview: Locked in to Lockdown with Susie Wild

I'm the featured artist in the new issue of Time to stand and stop and stare this week, a place where artists and makers share their experience of isolation and creativity during the Coronavirus lockdown 2020: Hello and welcome to issue 9! Something a little different today as we’re joined by the very talented Cardiff writer Susie Wildsmith, hope you enjoy! Locked in to Lockdown with Susie Wild (AKA Susie Wildsmith) Are you ready? Here goes... Can you tell us a little about your creative practice - what attracted you to this particular art form; when and how did you begin? I couldn’t not write poetry. I have written it since I was a little girl, secretly, and then less secretly, and less secretly again as I have grown. I was rarely bored as I learnt poems off by heart and recited them in my head, I wish I could learn words quite so quickly now. My first collections of poetry and short stories concern themselves with relationships, human quirks and oddness, the strange and the ma...

Wildlife

Search This Blog