JESSICA WHYTE, runner-up in the 2017 Feature Writing Competition, recommends ‘Miss Brill’ by Katherine Mansfield: ‘Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘Miss Brill’ was written to be read out loud. In early 1921, shortly after the story was first published in the magazine The Athenaeum, Katherine Mansfield wrote to her brother-in-law Richard Murry: ‘after I’d written it, I read it aloud – numbers of times – just as one would play over a musical composition, trying to get it nearer and nearer to the expression of Miss Brill – until it fitted her…’
COMPETITION SHORTLIST: The THRESHOLDS International Short Fiction Feature Writing Competition is now in its sixth year – celebrating all that the short story form has to offer and awarding one deserving essayist the top prize of £500…
‘Elizabeth Bowen’s commitment to the short story was extraordinary. Best known for her novels, she has said, according to Lee, that she would give up any of these for her short stories…’ AIMEE GASSTON draws us into the life and writing of Elizabeth Bowen.
PETER JORDAN examines Ezra Pound’s influence on the ending of ‘Up in Michigan’ by Ernest Hemingway: ‘Indeed, ‘Up in Michigan’s’ final paragraph might just be the place to look if you want to see where Hemingway made the leap from young budding writer to potential literary superstar…’
Runner-up in the Thresholds Feature Writing Competition: GILL THOMPSON recommends the short fiction of Katherine Mansfield: ‘The very best short story writers, and Katherine Mansfield is clearly one of these, can distill a profound theme into a word or phrase…’
COMPETITION SHORTLIST: ‘This year our team of judges found a very high quality of writing across the board, with vibrant and insightful pieces that captivated us, surprised us and even challenged our preconceptions…
Short story writer, novelist and creative writing lecturer SALLY O’REILLY ponders the writer’s notebook: ‘For most writers, a notebook is the closest thing we have to an artist’s sketch book, and the equivalent of a studio…’
We are delighted to bring you an extract from the introduction to The Postcolonial Short Story: Contemporary Essays, edited by MAGGIE AWADALLA and PAUL MARCH-RUSSELL.
In his essay CYRIL DABYDEEN discusses memories of Sam Selvon’s short stories: ‘Selvon’s story-telling became immediate folklore with long-lasting echoes, due to his natural voice in narration and dialogue.’
Over the past few weeks, the team of THRESHOLDS judges has been busy reading through the entries, drawing up a shortlist, and arguing the case for one of their own personal favourites to become the overall winner of the £250 prize.
