‘Consider the word ‘quirky’. Consider the number of times the word is applied to the works of Ali Smith … But maybe it’s not that these stories are ‘quirky’, it’s that so many others are too sedate…’ TRACY MAYLATH looks beyond the quirkiness of Ali Smith’s stories.
PAT TOMPKINS considers the flawed but powerful story of human aspiration and the consequences of industrialisation: ‘Life in the Iron Mills’ brings us a view of outsiders, those ignored and disdained by the wider society. As the best short stories do, it gives voice to the lonely…’
JL BOGENSCHNEIDER finds humanity in Richard Yates’ short story ‘Fun with a Stranger’: ‘He has a particular knack of empathising with even the most flawed of his characters; fanning out their vulnerabilities like a poker hand to prove that they’re human, like the rest of us…’
HOLLY DAWSON examines the themes and preoccupations of David Constantine’s short stories: ‘If there were a handbook on how to be human when sadness and cruelty are an intrinsic part of being alive, Tea at the Midland would be it…’
‘These tales are not classic ghost stories to be read aloud by candlelight at the fireside. They are unlikely to keep you awake at night, twitching at the creaks and groans of an empty house. But they will linger long after reading, as they haunt the deepest recesses of your psyche and buried fears…’ TRACY FELLS takes us into the beating heart of these ghostly tales.
PODCAST: In the first instalment of this series of Short Story Masterclass podcasts, Jac Cattaneo talks with MICHEL FABER about keeping the reader in safe hands, writers making things up, sadness and poignancy, and stories determining their own lengths.
MIKE SMITH compares two stories from James Salter’s collection Last Night: ‘The trajectories of both narratives, although not quite parallel, run close enough for the reader to be aware of the similarities between them. It is as if the author has been testing the same theory under alternative conditions…’
SUSMITA BHATTACHARYA tells of the stories that remind her of home in Murzban F. Shroff’s collection Breathless in Bombay: ‘It breathes on my bookshelf, picked up by me time and again, flooding my home in England with the sights, smells and chaos of my homeland.’
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…’
‘It is not often that a modern writer achieves the dubious honour of having an adjective coined as a result of their work. But a word has been added to our lexicon in the case of J. G. Ballard…’ DREW WHITTET explores the development of Ballard’s science fiction short stories.
