Out today! Listen to Elizabeth Baines talk about her career as a writer: from the first short story she ever published to her upcoming projects, passing through the times when she worked as a writer of radio plays and the co-editor of a short story magazine. www.spreaker.com/episode/a-ca...

New episode out today! In which short story writer and essayist Vicky Grut discusses what it means to be a short story writer in the heyday of the digital revolution, and at a time of hyper-connectivity. Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/writ...

Out today! In which short story writer David Hartley discusses the importance of Voice in short fiction. What is Voice? How many voices can a short story writer have? How far can one trespass into alien territories when seeking for a character’s voice? Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/the-...

Out today! In this episode, @vlopezliendo.bsky.social takes a closer look at Groff’s representation of the relationship between humans and the environment, and how this relationship reflects the inequalities that plague contemporary society. Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/laur...

New episode! In which I chat with William Weightman about his short story “Green Green Grass”, which won first place in this year’s @bristolshortstory.bsky.social. Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/on- winning-a-short-story-prize-with-william-weightman--72670449

Very happy to share that my article on American short fiction and Covid-19 is now available online, and it’s open access! doi.org/10.1080/0013...

Narrating the Pandemic: American Short Fiction, Covid-19, and the Feminine Sublime

This article investigates how the American short story responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. It shows how several authors turned to an aesthetic that Barbara Claire Freeman defined in 1995 as the “fe...

doi.org

New episode out today! In which Sam Reese tells the fascinating story of four writers who in those years used the short story as an outlet for countercultural expression. Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/the-...

New episode coming out soon! In which Sam Reese tells the fascinating story of four writers who used short fiction as an outlet for countercultural expression. Stay tuned!

New episode out today! 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Infinite Jest, arguably David Foster Wallace’s most famous and celebrated book. In this episode, prof. Marshall Boswell discusses Wallace’s three brilliant short story collections. www.spreaker.com/episode/davi...

New episode out today! In which Naomi Kanakia (a.k.a Woman of Letters on Substack) tells the fascinating tale of the so-called “New Yorker short story”. Listen here www.spreaker.com/episode/the-...

New episode out today! Richard Brautigan is most famous for his iconic novel “Trout Fishing in America”, but he was also a prolific short story writer and poet. Listen to Chris Gair talk about Brautigan’s beautiful short story collection “Revenge of the Lawn” (1971). www.spreaker.com/episode/rich...

New episode! Listen to Chigozirim Nwaosu discuss the representation of gender and sexuality in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 collection The Thing Around Your Neck. Chigozirim is a PhD candidate in the School of Literature and Languages at the University of Surrey. www.spreaker.com/episode/chim...

New episode out today (you really don’t want to miss this one)! What can fictional representations of blocked short story writers teach us about writer’s block and what causes it? Listen to this episode with @acolton.bsky.social to find out! Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/writ...

Out on 26th February! What can fictional representations of blocked short story writers teach us about writer’s block and what causes a writer to feel blocked? In the next episode, I’ll discuss these questions with Aaron Colton, Associate Professor at Emory University in Atlanta. Stay tuned!

Out today! Listen to Paul March-Russell discuss the importance of women writers in science fiction and the legacy of the short story collection “Women of Wonder” (1974) edited by Pamela Sargent. Paul March-Russell is the co-founder of GoldSF. Listen here! www.spreaker.com/episode/wome...

Out on Thursday 5th February! Listen to Paul March-Russell talk about the legacy of the short story collection “Women of Wonder” (1974) edited by Pamela Sargeant. Paul March-Russell is the co-founder of GoldSF, an intersectional feminist science fiction imprint of Goldsmiths Press. Stay tuned!

Out today! Meet Alexander Manshel, Associate Professor of English at McGill University. How is contemporary short fiction in America influenced by the people and institutions that contribute to its production, circulation, and reception? Listen here to find out: www.spreaker.com/episode/the-...

How is contemporary short fiction in America influenced by the people and institutions that contribute to its production, circulation, and reception? Stay tuned to find out! Alexander Manshel is Associate Professor of English at McGill University in Montreal (Canada).

Do come along on Monday 12th January to this online event to honour the enduring legacy of Charles E. May’s Short Story Theories (1976)! It’s a true honour to be part of this event together with @ailsacox.bsky.social, Michael Basseler and Michael Collins! ensfr.univ-angers.fr/event/charle...

Out today! Looking for a festive treat? Listen to this very special episode with twelve authors reading their own stories! www.spreaker.com/episode/smal...

Small, good things are coming! Can’t wait to share this very special episode with everyone! It features short stories written and read by twelve amazing writers! Out on 24th December. Stay tuned!

Out today! @shelleyr-j.bsky.social is a poet, flash fiction writer and Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. How can writers create three-dimensional worlds when all they have at their disposal is a few hundred words? Listen to find out! www.spreaker.com/episode/flas...

Out tomorrow! @shelleyr-j.bsky.social is a poet, flash fiction writer and Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. In this episode, Shelley will be our guide into the world of flash fiction! Stay tuned!

"Racconti Romani" collects the short stories that Jhumpa Lahiri wrote in Italian when living in Rome. Reading it has been an experience that is difficult to articulate. I'll try...

New Episode! Listen to @nicholasroyle.bsky.social talk about his latest short story collection “Paris Fantastique” (@confingopublishing.bsky.social), his passion for second-hand books and much more! Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/like...

New episode tomorrow! @nicholasroyle.bsky.social is a writer of short stories and novels, the editor of the Best British Short Stories and founder of @nightjarpress.bsky.social! I had the pleasure of meeting him and talk about his beautiful short story collection “Paris Fantastique”. Stay tuned!

I’m speechless. This was so good! Thank you @carolynstock.bsky.social and thank you @nightjarpress.bsky.social!

Popped into the Small Publishers Fair @smallpublishers.bsky.social today, and this is what I got! What an incredible event! The fair is at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square. Entrance is free! If you’re in London, there’s still tomorrow: please go in and support the amazing work of small publishers!

New Episode! William Saroyan was an Armenian-American writer and a true short story genius. In this episode, I get to chat about his life and works with Scott Setrakian, President of the William Saroyan Foundation. Listen here: www.spreaker.com/episode/will...

“A transient moistening of the soul”… got to love Roland Barthes. From Mythologies (1957).