MARCELLA O’CONNOR takes a look at the writing of flash fiction, in particular, that of Stuart Dybek: ‘Although flash fiction has gained recognition among writers themselves, criticism and theory have been slow to catch up and Dybek’s flash fictions are often relegated to the poetry section of literary magazines…’
THRESHOLDS Assistant Editor DAVID FRANKEL interviews author David Swann on his latest flash collection, Stronger Faster Shorter: ‘My fiction is usually too poetic, and my poetry’s too narrative-based. I think of ‘flash’ as some sort of ‘third space’ between poetry and fiction…’
JONATHAN PINNOCK explores the humour in Nick Parker’s The Exploding Boy and Other Tiny Tales: ‘…the humorous writer has a whole kit of additional tools to bring to bear on a subject. Even the serious ones. Especially the serious ones…’
TIM LOVE explores the ground-breaking stories of Lydia Davis and finds that her writing defies easy categorisation: ‘Davis sometimes isolates a sentence or idea, removing it from its context, a concept that’s analogous to placing it on a plinth in the white-space of an art gallery.’
VICKI HEATH: ‘Hershman’s uncanny use of the minutiae works with such power that these stories are still hovering in my thoughts, though I finished reading the collection days ago…’
‘ Short-story writers see by the light of the flash…’ ~ Nadine Gordimer
Wednesday 16th May is National Flash-Fiction Day in the United Kingdom. PAULINE MASUREL gets us ready for the big (little) day.
‘To make something brilliant and important isn’t easy, and nor should it be.’ NIK PERRING shows us the amount of work and craft and dedication it takes to write short, short fiction.
‘Short short? Flash? Micro? Skinny? Nano? 55 words? 100? Less than 500? We may not be sure what to call them or how to define them, but we recognise these miniature fictions when we see them.’ URSULA HURLEY looks at the growth of the smallest form.
CAROLYN THOMAS takes a brief look at shorter short story competitions and encourages us all to get writing!
