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…’
Runner-up in the Thresholds Feature Writing Competition: DAN POWELL recommends Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s graphic short story collection The Push Man and Other Stories: ‘Each time I return to my well worn Drawn and Quarterly edition, I am struck by their undiminished capacity to unnerve…’
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…
Over the past few weeks, the team of THRESHOLDS judges has been busy reading and re-reading the entries, debating and deliberating. Finally, we bring you.… The 2014 THRESHOLDS Features Award longlist.
THRESHOLDS EXCLUSIVE: Guardian columnist and short story writer Chris Power discusses the state of the short story and why the dominant narrative of imminent death or blazing renaissance should be rejected…
MIKE SMITH discusses the adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s short stories into films: ‘They have not necessarily damaged the story. What they have done, though, is to radically change its message…’
‘A story about opposites: the hellish North versus the open skied South, reality versus the world of dreams, life versus death…’ LOUISE HEGARTY explores the conflicts and mysteries in Jorge Luis Borges’ short story ‘The South’.
DREW WHITTET goes beneath the surface of Michael Moorcock’s ‘London Bone’: ‘Moorcock has many different styles, priding himself on his flexibility. He enjoys sticking with familiar characters, often dropping them into weird and uncomfortable settings…’
ANUSHREEE NANDE gets under the skin of ‘Witness Protection’ by Guy Ware: ‘The narrative revolves around Henry and Stella, and their seemingly routine life that hides secrets, lies and, possibly, violence…’
CAROL FENLON finds love amongst the guilt and loss in Carys Bray’s short story collection, Sweet Home: ‘These are stories of family life, at times utterly domestic. Yet the reader soon finds that the homes described are far from sweet…’
