What’s in a Name
Over at Matter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives us a new piece of short fiction: My father’s first child was a girl. He said she was a loud squalling baby who grasped…
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short fiction
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Calling Freddy
Michael Chabon has a short story over on Tablet; in it, he negotiates the acquaintance of a boy and his crippled neighbor: There was no menace or queerness in his…
The Lower Forty-Eight
Dave Eggers has a new story up at the New Yorker: There is proud happiness, happiness born of doing admirable things in the light of day, years of good work,…
Attention Spans Fall, Short Fiction Rises
That is not to say that normal books will decline. Of course they won’t. There will always be a place for big, satisfying stories to burrow through. But it seems…
The Very Short Story
In the Atlantic, Lydia Davis deconstructs two drafts of an early short story, showing how even something as minimal as a sentence or a paragraph can have a narrative arc.
Harvey’s Heartache
Stephen King doesn’t always write horror-less contemporary fiction, but when he does, there’s usually still a twist. Over at the New Yorker, “Harvey’s Dream” has been resurrected from the archives:…
Nothing New Under the Billboard
With its clean, careful shots and enigmatic plot resolutions, Mad Men tends to inhabit a liminal narrative space, as if the same rules of decorum that govern its romanticized 60s…
This Week in Short Fiction
May is Short Story Month! In honor of StoryADay’s second annual celebration, Flavorwire writers offered their recommendations of five stories worth a read, from Calvino to O’Connor. On Monday, Gawker…
Fatal Short Stories
Depictions of death in short stories can challenge even seasoned writers. John McDonough, writing in the Colorado Review, explains why: The immediacy of the death of a loved one offers…
The Rumpus Interview with Peter Orner
Writer and Rumpus columnist Peter Orner chats about compression in his work, the reappearance of characters, self-deception, and the stories we hold close.
Peter Orner’s Favorite Short Stories
I’ll say it: [“Idiots First”] is the most moving American story ever written. (Until I change my mind.) For online magazine Ozy, Rumpus columnist Peter Orner collects some of his very…