PETER JORDAN profiles the life and writing of Anton Chekhov: ‘…no writer gets closer to articulating the human condition. It took me a long time to understand what he was doing, I still don’t fully understand, I simply know that when reading his work I feel some emotional shift…’
ALEX RUCZAJ explores the shapes and patterns of story writing: ‘In Kurt Vonnegut’s wonderful lecture on the shapes of stories, he draws curve after curve on his blackboard, showing the story arc – the ‘beautiful shapes’ that all traditional stories follow…’
In a special festive post, we bring you Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘New Year Martyrs’: ‘”Happy New Year, Happy New Year…” he mumbles, staring blankly at the ceiling and breathing heavily…’
In his essay, DAN POWELL recommends Anton Chekhov’s short story collection The Exclamation Mark, and discusses how the playful stories take us on a journey of a writer finding his voice.