tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85574515482224561592024-03-14T00:32:02.880+00:00The Short ReviewTania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-64666056893714827212012-06-01T10:54:00.000+01:002012-06-01T10:56:06.892+01:00Letter from the Editor - Hiatus<b>Letter from The Editor</b><br />
<br />
The June 2012 issue will be the last Short Review issue for a little while, the journal will be on hiatus for at least a few months while we take stock and think, for the first time since its inception in 2007, about how to take it forward.<br />
<br />
This journal began with me and a few of my friends and has grown beyond my wildest dreams - with over 50 reviewers worldwide. However, success and growth bring their own challenges and what has been done by me and my fantastic deputy editor, Diane, as a labour of love is now becoming somewhat of a burden on us. This is in great part due to technology, and we are in urgent need of funding in order to allow us to upgrade the website to make everyone's lives easier.<br />
<br />
This is not the end of The Short Review, there is still nothing - as far as I know - out there fulfilling the same function, much as I wish there were ten such journals, and so we will find new ways to proceed, a new incarnation. We welcome your thoughts and ideas, please post in the comments. <br />
<br />
While we are contemplating, please do check out check out our <b><a href="http://theshortreview.com/backissues.htm" target="_blank">back issues </a></b>and archives of <b><a href="http://theshortreview.com/somethingtoread.htm" target="_blank">reviews</a></b> and <a href="http://theshortreview.com/somethingtoreadauthorinterviews.htm" target="_blank"><b>interviews</b></a>, you will find many many ideas of short story collections and anthologies to read! And enjoy our <b><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/" target="_blank">June issue</a></b>... <br />
<br />
See you back here soon.<br />
<br />
All the best,<br />
<a href="http://taniahershman.com/" target="_blank">Tania</a><br />
<br />
Editor, The Short ReviewTania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-64292166652940299572012-05-09T16:44:00.001+01:002012-05-09T16:46:01.832+01:00All-Female Shortlist for Edge Hill Short Story Prize!From a long <a href="http://theshortreview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/edge-hill-short-story-prize-2012.html" target="_blank">longlist</a>, the shortlist for the Edge Hill University Short Story Prize 2012 has been picked - and it's all female!<br />
<br />
Now
in its sixth year, it is the only UK only award that recognises
excellence in a published collection of short stories and has attracted
established names competing alongside relative newcomers. This
year's event attracted a record number of entries from a diverse range
of writers, with interest from a wide range of mainstream publishers and
independent presses.<br />
<br />
It's the first time that the shortlisting has resulted in an all-female finale. The authors nominated are:<br />
<ul>
<li>A.J Ashworth - <i>Somewhere Else, Or Even Here</i> (Salt Publishing). </li>
<li>Tessa Hadley - <i>Married Love</i> (Cape). </li>
<li>Sarah Hall - <i>The Beautiful Indifference</i> (Faber).</li>
<li>Zoe Lambert - <i>The War Tour</i> (Comma).</li>
<li>Rowena Macdonald - <i>Smoked Meat</i> (Flambard). </li>
</ul>
Dr Ailsa Cox, Reader in Creative Writing and English at Edge
Hill University and co-ordinator of the Prize, said: "It's quite unusual
to have women only on the shortlist but it reflects that the prize is
open to anyone, regardless of gender, whether new to the business or
well-established in the literary world.<br />
"We're delighted by the
sheer quality and diversity of the shortlist. A good short story is
intense and exciting, sometimes sad and often very comic. The five
collections all have these vital ingredients - so I predict that judging
will be difficult this year."<br />
<br />
The judging panel includes the 2011
winner Graham Mort, also known as one of contemporary poetry's finest
practitioners, alongside writer and critic Suzi Feay, and Professor
Rhiannon Evans, former Pro Vice-Chancellor at Edge Hill University.<br />
<br />
The prize has three categories:<br />
<ul>
<li>The
main literary award of £5,000. A panel of judges will choose the winner
from a shortlist of five collections to be announced in May.</li>
<li>The £1,000 Readers' Choice, chosen from the same shortlist. </li>
<li>A £500 student prize, which will reward one of the stars of Edge Hill University's MA Creative Writing course.</li>
</ul>
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 5th July at the Free Word Centre in London.<br />
Short biographies for the five writers are as follows.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>A.J Ashworth</b>.
This is the Lancashire-born and former journalist's debut collection of
short stories, which also won Salt Publishing's Scott Prize 2011. She
has previously had stories published in magazines such as <i>Tears in the Fence</i>, <i>The Warwick Review</i>, and <i>The View From Here</i>.
She has also been longlisted/shortlisted in competitions including the
Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition, the Short
Fiction Competition and Fish Short Story Prize. </li>
<li><b>Tessa Hadley</b>. Living in Cardiff, Tessa teaches
Literature and Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. She reviews
regularly for the London Review of Books and the Guardian and was
shortlisted for The Story Award in the US. She has also been a judge for
the IMPAC literary prize 2011 and for the BBC Short Story Award 2011.
The contemporary novelist has been called one of the most gifted British
writers</li>
<li><b>Sarah Hall.</b> The multi award-winning writer from Cumbria is the author of <i>Haweswater</i>,
which won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel, a
Society of Authors Betty Trask Award, and a Lakeland Book of the Year
prize. She has been featured in The Times 100 Best Books of the Decade
and this is her first collection of short stories.</li>
<li><b>Zoe Lambert</b>. The Manchester-based writer lectures
on the creative writing MA at Bolton and Edge Hill universities. She was
the founder of cult Manchester literature night, <i>Verberate</i>,
and is a member of the board of the North West Short Story Network. She
is also finishing her first novel and is an active campaigner for the
rights of asylum seekers.</li>
<li><b>Rowena Macdonald</b>. Growing up in the West Midlands,
after graduation, she lived in Montreal working as a waitress,
bartender, life-model and cleaner. She now lives in London and works at
the House of Commons. Her stories have appeared in anthologies published
by <i>Serpent's Tail, Roast Books</i> and <i>The Do-Not Press</i>.
She has won two Asham Awards, the 2010 Exeter Writers competition and
the 2008 Writers Inc competition. This shortlisted first short story
collection is based on her experiences waitressing while in Montreal.</li>
</ul>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-4721259134109951632012-05-01T12:13:00.000+01:002012-05-01T12:13:16.012+01:00Scott Prize winners 2012<strong>Carys Bray</strong> and <strong>Rob Roensch</strong> have won this year’s International Scott Prize for Short Stories. Both writers will be published in November 2012. The international short story prize, now in its third year,
recognises the best debut full-length collections in English and
receives entries from the UK and Ireland, the USA and Australasia. This
year’s winners are Carys Bray (UK) for her book, <em>Sweet Home</em>, and Rob Roensch’s (US) <em>The Wildflowers of Baltimore</em>.<br />
<br />
Carys Bray lives in the North West seaside town of Southport with her
husband and four children. She is a PhD student and associate tutor in
creative writing at Edge Hill University. Her work has been published in
a wide variety or magazines and anthologies, including <em>New Fairy Tales</em> where her story ‘The Ice Baby’ was published, and <em>Mslexia</em> which published her story ‘Just in Case,’ winner of the MA category of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.<br />
<br />
Rob Roensch has published short fiction in <em>Slice</em>, <em>HOBART</em> and <em>PANK</em> and elsewhere. He lives with his wife and daughters in Baltimore, Maryland and teaches at Towson University.<br />
<br />
Jen Hamilton-Emery [Director of Salt Publishing] said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
‘Since
developing the Scott Prize to promote and support debut short story
writers, I have read and selected winners from hundreds of manuscripts.
This year my task was made particularly difficult by the astonishing
level of skill within our shortlist and I would recommend everyone to
spend time discovering those writers. Making selections from the
shortlist has been difficult but I have focused on the books which I
believe have a depth and maturity of talent that all readers will
immediately recognise. Carys Bray and Rob Roensch combine impeccable
craft with unforgettable imagery to create stories that are surprising,
psychologically resonant, emotionally complex and, above all else, a
sheer joy to read. Carys and Rob, on either side of the Atlantic, both
demonstrate that the short story is thriving and developing in the 21st
century and I look forward to working with the writers and publishing
their books later this year.’</blockquote>
The other shortlisted authors were:<br />
Alison Moore<br />
Otis Haschemeyer<br />
Julia Bohanna<br />
Chris Smith<br />
Sarah Faulkner<br />
Rusty Dolleman<br />
Julie Mayhew<br />
Maurice Gartshore<br />
Madeleine D’Arcy<br />
<br />
Further information on the two winning entries can be found here:<br />
<a href="http://blog.saltpublishing.com/2012/03/06/scottprize-shortlist-in-profile-carys-bray/">Cary Bray</a><br />
<a href="http://blog.saltpublishing.com/2012/02/29/scottprize-the-shortlist-in-profile-rob-roensch/">Rob Roensch</a><br />
<br />
Many congratulations to Carys and Rob, and to all who were shortlisted.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Scott Prize is an international annual prize for a first
collection of short fiction. Entrants must not have been published
before, and must permanently reside in the UK & Ireland, the USA, or
Australia & New Zealand. <br />
Previous Winners of the Scott Prize are:<br />
2011:<br />
A.J. Ashworth (UK) – <em>Somewhere Else of Even Here</em><br />
Cassandra Parkin (UK) – <em>New World Fairy Tales</em><br />
Jonathan Pinnock (UK) – <em>Dot Dash</em> (to be published 2012)<br />
2010:<br />
Patrick Holland (Australia) – <em>The Source of the Sound</em><br />
David Mullins (US) – <em>Greetings from Below</em> (to be published 2012)<br />
Susannah Rickards (UK) – <em>Hot Kitchen Snow</em><br />
Tom Vowler (UK) – <em>The Method</em>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-5750115306870602642012-04-23T10:54:00.001+01:002012-04-23T11:04:06.038+01:00World Book Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVn3z6zUfpcziLbXdA1rgjuQbzuQ5vlRQPk1JRolqFMcYm-A2ZAWRIJx0H7_86sZCLuqioL_V35DSnYB8s5no7p7lRAxye79A-FGJgAWUR0pq9jLLa5obDaZheNDg5dO3UqnF9ubd-5sS3/s1600/beatsuropeanfiction2012.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVn3z6zUfpcziLbXdA1rgjuQbzuQ5vlRQPk1JRolqFMcYm-A2ZAWRIJx0H7_86sZCLuqioL_V35DSnYB8s5no7p7lRAxye79A-FGJgAWUR0pq9jLLa5obDaZheNDg5dO3UqnF9ubd-5sS3/s1600/beatsuropeanfiction2012.gif" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In honour of World Book Day today, April 23rd, we thought we'd step out of our English-speaking world and do a round-up of all the short story collections in translation that we have reviewed over the past 4 and a half years... Pick something you might not otherwise read and take a look... Happy World Book Day!</span><br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AxelThormahlenAHappyMan.htm" style="color: black;">A
Happy
Man</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by Axel Thormählen<br />
<br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GeorgesOlivierChateaureynaudALifeInPictures.htm" style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">A Life on Paper: Stories</span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/BestEuropeanFiction2010.htm" style="color: black;">Best European Fiction 2010</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> edited by Aleksander Hemon</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></u></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><u><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></u></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/BestEuropeanFiction2012.htm" style="color: black;">Best European Fiction 2012</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> edited by Aleksander Hemon</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GuyDeMaupassantTheBestShortStories.htm" style="color: black;">Best Short Stories</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> by Guy de Maupassant</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: embed; width: 651px;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/BookofIstanbul.htm" style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Book of Istanbul</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
edited by Jim Hinks and Gul Turner</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: embed; width: 651px;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: embed; width: 651px;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AlexEpsteinBlueHasNoSouth.htm"><span style="color: black;">Blue Has No South</span></a><span style="color: black;"> by Alex Epstein</span></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/JuanRulfoTheBurningPlain.htm" style="color: black;">The Burning Plain</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> by Juan Rulfo</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<blockquote>
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/Crimini.htm"><span style="color: black;">Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian
Crime Fiction</span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">edited
by Giancarlo de Cataldo</span></u></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecFmbH1ASHRnCbXRc4xpfaSZcWRh0d4TIdzrX3bn0tJEuDnVbXJamq_GxqvrPvKHD9OKU6Yoyk4n_TIubyl-JxbBHAlHaPQ66_EeRPypnuTT8IqLT_SDksNBD75CXbn3FNE4cKkPMYYvv/s1600/edgarbayleydoctorpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecFmbH1ASHRnCbXRc4xpfaSZcWRh0d4TIdzrX3bn0tJEuDnVbXJamq_GxqvrPvKHD9OKU6Yoyk4n_TIubyl-JxbBHAlHaPQ66_EeRPypnuTT8IqLT_SDksNBD75CXbn3FNE4cKkPMYYvv/s1600/edgarbayleydoctorpi.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></span></u></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/FreedomAnthology.htm" style="color: black;">Freedom:
Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Various Authors</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-style: italic;"><span class="hl"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></u><span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-style: italic;"><span class="hl"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-style: italic;"><span class="hl"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><u><span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-style: italic;"><span class="hl"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/gazablues.htm"><span style="color: black;">Gaza Blues</span></a> by Etgar
Keret and Samir el-Youssef</span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/PanosIoannidesGregoryandOtherStories.htm" style="color: black;">Gregory and Other Stories</a> by Panos Ioannides</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u> </div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TheHouseofYourDream.htm" style="color: black;">The
House of Your Dream</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> edited by Robert
Alexander and Denis Maloney</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ItaloCalvinoInvisibleCities.htm"><span style="color: black;">Invisible Cities</span></a> <span style="color: black;">by
Italo Calvino</span></span></u></div>
<u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span></u><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<u><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">
</span></u><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdgarBayleyDrPi.htm"><span style="color: black;">The Life and Memoirs of Dr. Pi and Other Stories</span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by Edgar Bayley</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GyulaKrudyLifeisaDream.htm" style="color: black;">Life is a Dream</a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> by Gyula Krúdy</span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/LoudSparrows.htm"><span style="color: black;">Loud Sparrows: Chinese Contemporary
Short-shorts</span></a>
selected and </span></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">translated
by Aili Mu, Julie Chiu and Howard Goldblatt</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GMkqxVresuGkgfzkzjlHGg_EmJrDAdBi0bq-l6aZq8eBi9-RY0Vc_Lc4SUOHKz_egBycqB_SIwyJ4dfhzgiVnAhBmi6aPnSeSLSfIUvop3iTozIQp6JB5y8yinc3r9-1ta5Jux5DIpUF/s1600/tovejanssontravellinglight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GMkqxVresuGkgfzkzjlHGg_EmJrDAdBi0bq-l6aZq8eBi9-RY0Vc_Lc4SUOHKz_egBycqB_SIwyJ4dfhzgiVnAhBmi6aPnSeSLSfIUvop3iTozIQp6JB5y8yinc3r9-1ta5Jux5DIpUF/s1600/tovejanssontravellinglight.jpg" /></a></span></u></div>
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<u><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/HassanBlasimTheMadmanofFreedomSquare.htm" style="color: black;">The
Madman of Freedom Square</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by Hassan Blasim</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SYizharMidnightConvoy.htm"><span style="color: black;">Midnight
Convoy and Other Stories</span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: black;">by S. Yizhar</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></u></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ParisMetroTales.htm" rel="me" style="color: black;">Paris Metro Tales</a> translated by Helen Constantine</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> </span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><u><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/PassporttoCrime.htm" style="color: black;">Passport
to Crime</a> by Various edited by Janet Hutchings</span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-style: italic;"><span class="hl"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;">
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/Qissat.htm" style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women</span></a>
edited by Jo Glanville </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AndrzejStasiukTalesofGalicia.htm" style="color: black;">Tales
of Galicia</a> by Andzrej Stasiuk</span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/LudmillaPetrushevskayaThereOnceLivedaWomanWhoTriedtoKillHerNeighboursBaby.htm"><span style="color: black;">There Once Was A Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbour's Baby</span></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: black;">by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/thethirdshore.htm"><span style="color: black;">The Third Shore</span></a><span style="color: black;"> by
Various</span></span></u></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed; width: 541px;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ToveJanssonTravellingLight.htm" style="color: black;">Travelling Light</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> by Tove Jansson</span></u></div>
</blockquote>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-54137713837031060792012-03-31T19:01:00.002+01:002012-03-31T19:01:10.658+01:00The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award Longlist 2012Hot on the heels of the longlist for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize (for UK short story collections) comes the rather longer longlist for the €25,000 <a href="http://www.frankoconnor-shortstory-award.net/" target="_blank">Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award</a> - it is brilliant resource to find new collections to read, there are some we've already reviewed (see links below), some the reviews are forthcoming, and many are new names, which is great. Good luck to all! Shortlist announced in June.<br />
<br />
Steve Almond, <i>God Bless America</i>, Lookout Books, USA<br />
A. J. Ashworth, <i>Somewhere Else, or Even Here</i>, Salt Publishing, UK<br />
Diane Awerbuck, <i>Cabin Fever</i>, Umuzi, South Africa<br />
Lou Beach, <i>420 Characters</i>, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, USA<br />
Frank Bill, <i>Crimes in Southern Indiana</i>, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, USA<br />
Will Boast, <i>Power Ballads</i>, University of Iowa Press, USA<br />
Greg Bottoms, <i>Swallowing the Past</i>, Texas Review Press, USA<br />
Laura Boudreau, <i>Suitable Precautions</i>, Biblioasis, Canada<br />
Shannon Cain, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ShannonCainTheNecessityofCertainBehaviours.htm" target="_blank"><i>The Necessity of Certain Behaviors</i></a>, University of Pittsburgh Press, USA<br />
Neil Campbell<i>, Pictures from Hopper</i>, Salt Publishing, UK<br />
Eileen Casey, <i>Snow Shoes</i>, Arlen House, Ireland<br />
O Thiam Chin, <i>The Rest of Your Life and Everything That Comes With It</i>, ZI Publications, Singapore<br />
Charles Christian, <i>This is the Quickest Way Down</i>, Proxima, UK<br />
Dave Chua, <i>The Beating</i>, Ethos Books, Singapore<br />
K. L. Cook, <i>Love Songs for the Quarantined</i>, Willow Springs Editions, USA<br />
Mary Costello, <i>The China Factory</i>, The Stinging Fly Press, Ireland<br />
Eugene Cross, <i>Fires of Our Choosing</i>, Dzanc Books, USA<br />
Don DeLillo, <i>The Angel</i> <i>Esmeralda</i>, Picador, USA<br />
Stanley Donwood, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/StanleyDonwoodHouseholdWorms.htm" target="_blank"><i>Household Worms</i></a>, Tangent Books, UK<br />
Catherine Eisner, <i>Listen Close to Me</i>, Salt Publishing, UK<br />
Nathan Englander, <i>What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank</i>, Alfred A. Knopf, USA<br />
Matthew Firth, <i>Shag Carpet Action</i>, Anvil Press, Canada<br />
Órfhlaith Foyle, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/OrfhlaithFoyleSomewhereinMinnesota.htm" target="_blank"><i>Somewhere in Minnesota</i>,</a> Arlen House, Ireland<br />
Matthew Francis, <i>Singing a Man to Death</i>, Cinnamon Press, UK<br />
David Galef, <i>My Date With Neanderthal Woman</i>, Dzanc Books, USA<br />
Dagoberto Gilb, <i>Before the End, After the Beginning</i>, Grove Press, USA<br />
Namita Gokhale, <i>The Habit of Love</i>, Penguin Group, India<br />
Lorna Goodison, <i>By Love Possessed</i>, HarperCollins Publishers, Jamaica<br />
Daniel Griffin, <i>Stopping for Strangers</i>, Véhicule Press, Canada<br />
Tessa Hadley, <i>Married Love</i>, Jonathan Cape, UK<br />
Sarah Hall, <i>The Beautiful Indifference</i>, Faber and Faber, UK<br />
Hanjum Hasan, <i>Difficult Pleasures</i>, Penguin Group, India<br />
Tania Hershman, <i>My Mother Was an Upright Piano</i>, Tangent Books, UK<br />
Keith Jardim, <i>Near Open Water</i>, Peepal Tree Press, USA<br />
James Martyn Joyce, <i>What’s not Said</i>, Arlen House, Ireland<br />
Suzanne Kamata, <i>The Beautiful One Has Come</i>, Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, USA<br />
Jackie Kay, <i>Reality, Reality</i>, Picador, UK<br />
Etgar Keret, <i>Suddenly, a Knock in the Door</i>, Chatto & Windus, Israel<br />
Fiona Kidman, <i>The Trouble With Fire</i>, Random House, New Zealand<br />
Zoe Lambert, <i>The War Tour</i>, Comma Press, UK<br />
Krys Lee, <i>Drifting House</i>, Faber and Faber, USA – South Korea<br />
Adam Levin, <i>Hot Pink</i>, McSweeney’s, USA<br />
Peter Markus, <i>We Make Mud</i>, Dzanc Books, USA<br />
Rowena Mcdonald, <i>Smoked Meat</i>, Flambard Press, UK<br />
Jon McGregor, <i>This Isn’t the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You</i>, Bloomsbury, UK<br />
K. R. Meera, <i>Yellow Is the Colour of Longing</i>, Penguin Group, India<br />
Ana Menendez, <i>Adios, Happy Homeland!</i>, Grove Press, USA<br />
Clemens Meyer, <i>All the Lights</i>, And Other Stories, Germany<br />
Kevin Moffett, <i>Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events</i>, HarperCollins Publishers, USA<br />
Jim Mullarkey, <i>And</i>, Doire Press, Ireland<br />
Sabina Murray, <i>Tales of the New World</i>, Grove Press, Australia<br />
Stuart Nadler, <i>The Book of Life</i>, Picador, USA<br />
Nuala Ní Chonchúir, <i>Mother America</i>, New Island, Ireland<br />
Éllis Ní Dhuibne, <i>Shelter of Neighbours</i>, Blackstaff Press, Ireland<br />
Joyce Carol Oates, <i>The Corn Maiden</i>, Grove Press, USA<br />
Rajesh Parameswaran, <i>I Am an Executioner</i>, Bloomsbury, USA<br />
Cassandra Parkin, <i>New World Fairy Tales</i>, Salt Publishing, UK<br />
Lucia Perillo, <i>Happiness Is a Chemical in the Brain</i>, W. W. Norton & Company, USA<br />
Dave Pescod, <i>All Embracing</i>, Route, UK<br />
Alice Petersen, <i>All the Voices Cry</i>, Biblioasis, Canada<br />
Stephanie Powell Watts, <i>We Are Taking Only What We Need</i>, BkMk Press, USA<br />
Wayne Price, <i>Furnace</i>, Freight Books, UK<br />
Stephanie Reents, <i>The Kissing List</i>, Hogarth, USA<br />
Rebecca Rosenblum, <i>The Big Dream</i>, Biblioasis, Canada<br />
Pamela Ryder, <i>A Tendency to Be Gone</i>, Dzanc Books, USA<br />
Nathalie Serber, <i>Shout Her Lovely Name</i>, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, USA<br />
Johanna Skibsrud, <i>This Will Be Difficult to Explain</i>, W. W. Norton & Company/ Hamish Hamilton, Canada<br />
Yasuko Thanh, <i>Floating Like the Dead</i>, McClelland & Stewart, Canada<br />
Lysley Tenorio, <i>Monstress</i>, HarperCollins Publisher, USA-Philippines<br />
Laura Maylene Walter, <i>Living Arrangements</i>, BkMk Press, USA<br />
Diane Williams, <i>Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty</i>, McSweeney’s, USA<br />
D. W. Wilson, <i>Once You Break a Knuckle</i>, Bloomsbury/ Hamish Hamilton, Canada<br />
Lucy Wood, <i>Diving Belles</i>, Bloomsbury, UK<br />
Barbara Unković, <i>Moon Walking</i>, Old Line Publishing, Croatia<br />
Dina Zaman, <i>King of the Sea</i>, Silverfish Books, Malaysia<br />
<br />
Breakdown by Nationality<br />
Australia 1<br />
Canada 8<br />
Croatia 1<br />
Germany 1<br />
India 3<br />
Ireland 8<br />
Israel 1<br />
Jamaica 1<br />
Malaysia 1<br />
New Zealand 1<br />
Singapore 2<br />
South Africa 1<br />
UK 17<br />
USA 28<br />
USA – Philippines 1<br />
USA – South Korea 1Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-34946863330423510202012-03-27T15:41:00.000+01:002012-03-27T15:41:59.159+01:00Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2012 LonglistThere are all too few prizes for published short story collections worldwide, so it's always exciting when one of them announces its longlist!<a href="http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2012/03/record-numbers-for-edge-hill-short-story-prize-2012" target="_blank"> The Edge Hill Short Story prize</a> for UK short story collections has 3 components: The main literary award of £5,000,
The £1,000 Readers' Choice, and a £500 student prize, which will reward one of the stars of Edge Hill University's MA Creative Writing course. The shortlist will be announced in May.<br />
<br />
Here are the 31 collections longlisted for this year's Edge Hill Short Story prize, apparently a record number this year (with links to our reviews if we have already reviewed them):<br />
<ul>
<li>Nina Allan - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/NinaAllanTheSilverWind.htm" target="_blank"><i>The Silver Wind</i></a> (Eibonvale). A
regular contributor to Interzone and Black Static, and was short-listed
for the 2010 British Fantasy Award in the Short Fiction category.</li>
<li>Hanan Al-Shaykh - <i>One Thousand and One Nights</i> (Bloomsbury).
The Lebanese novelist, short-story writer and playwright, is one of the
leading contemporary women writers in the Arab world. Some of her wok
has been banned in parts of the Middle East.</li>
<li>Gaynor Arnold - <i>Lying Together</i> (Tindal Street Press). The
former social worker was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2008 and
the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009. </li>
<li>A.J Ashworth - <i>Somewhere Else, Or Even Here</i> (Salt
Publishing). A prize-winning writer and this debut collection of short
stories also won Salt Publishing's Scott Prize 2011.</li>
<li>Neil Campbell - <i>Pictures from Hopper</i> (Salt Publishing). He has had numerous short stories and poems published in magazines.</li>
<li>Charles Christian - <i>This is the Quickest Way Down</i> (PROXIMA Publishing). He is the founding editor of Ink Sweat & Tears.</li>
<li>Stanley Donwood - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/StanleyDonwoodHouseholdWorms.htm" target="_blank"><i>Household Worms</i></a> (Tangent Books). He is
known for his close association with the British rock group Radiohead,
having created all their album and poster art. </li>
<li>Catherine Eisner - <i>Listen Close To Me</i> (Salt Publishing).
Her fictions have appeared regularly in a number of UK literary journals
and she is an Associate of the Royal College of Art.</li>
<li>Stuart Evers - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/StuartEversTenStoriesAboutSmoking.htm" target="_blank"><i>Ten Stories about Smoking</i></a> (Picador). A
former bookseller and editor, he now writes about books for the
Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Time Out and many other
publications.</li>
<li>Orfhlaith Foyle - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/OrfhlaithFoyleSomewhereinMinnesota.htm" target="_blank"><i>Somewhere in Minnesota</i></a> (Arlen House). The
writer and poet was born in Nigeria to Irish missionary parents. Living
there as well as Kenya and Malawi has had a profound effect upon her
writing. </li>
<li>Sue Gee - <i>Last Fling</i> (Salt Publishing). An acclaimed novelist and controversial winner of the 1997 Romantic Novel of the Year Award. </li>
<li>Tessa Hadley - <i>Married Love</i> (Cape). She reviews regularly
for the London Review of Books and the Guardian and was short-listed for
The Story Award in the US. She has also been a judge for the IMPAC
literary prize 2011 and for the BBC Short Story Award 2011.</li>
<li>Sarah Hall - <i>The Beautiful Indifference</i> (Faber). The multi award-winning writer has been featured in The Times 100 Best Books of the Decade.</li>
<li>Beda Higgins - <i>Chameleon</i> (Iron Press). The part-time nurse
won first prize in the Mslexia Short Story Competition in 2009 and her
work has been included in various anthologies and collections. </li>
<li>Nigel Jarret - <i>Funderland </i>(Parthian). The Welsh freelance writer and former newspaper reporter is a winner of the Rhys Davies Prize for short fiction.</li>
<li>Dave Jeffery - <i>Campfire Chillers</i> (Dark Continents
Publishing). He is best known for his zombie novel Necropolis Rising,
which has gone on to be a UK number one Bestseller.</li>
<li>Fred Johnston - <i>Dancing in the Asylum</i> (Parthian). The writer, journalist and musician from Galway is also the founder of the Western Writers Centre.</li>
<li>Zoe Lambert - <i>The War Tour</i> (Comma). The Creative Writing
lecturer at the University of Bolton is finishing her first novel and is
an active campaigner for the rights of asylum seekers.</li>
<li>Stuart MacBride - <i>Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at</i> <i>Christmas </i>(Harper Collins). The Scottish writer is most famous for his crime thrillers.</li>
<li>Rowena Macdonald - <i>Smoked Meat</i> (Flambard). This first collection is based on her experiences waitressing while travelling in Montreal.</li>
<li>Felicity McCall - <i>A Pitying of Doves</i> (Guidhall Press). This
is the first short-story collection from the Irish journalist and
award-winning playwright, screenplay writer and novelist.</li>
<li>Alan McCormick - <i>Dogsbodies and Scumsters</i> (Roast Books). A
Writer in Residence with InterAct, a charity providing fiction readings
for stroke patients, his stories have been widely published.</li>
<li>Erinna Mettler - <i><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ErinnaMettlerStarlings.htm" target="_blank">Starlings</a> </i>(Revenge Ink). After working at
the British Film Institute for 13 years she decided to start writing in
between raising a family and is now studying for her MA.</li>
<li>Robert Minhinnick - <i>The Keys of Babylon</i> (Seren). The Welsh
poet, essayist, novelist and translator has also been short-listed for
the Sunday Times Short Story Award 2012.</li>
<li>Jim Mullarkey - <i>And</i> (DoirePress). The runner-up in the 2003
Galway Cúirt Poetry Festival has recently facilitated creative writing
workshops for adults with learning difficulties. </li>
<li>Courttia Newland - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/CourttiaNewlandBookofBlues.htm" target="_blank"><i>A Book of Blues</i></a> (Flambard Publishing).
The rapper and music producer is a British writer of Jamaican and Bajan
heritage who was short-listed for the 2010 Alfred Fagon Award and
long-listed for the 2011 Frank O' Connor Award.</li>
<li>Edna O'Brien - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdnaOBrienSaintsAndSinners.htm" target="_blank"><i>Saints and Sinners</i></a> (Faber). Once banned in
Ireland, the Irish author now has a string of awards under her belt and
won the country's 2011 Frank O'Connor prize for this short story
collection.</li>
<li>Cassandra Parkin - <i>New World Fairy Tales</i> (Salt Publishing). An up-and-coming writer and winner of Salt Publishing's 2011 Scott Prize.</li>
<li>David Rix - <i>Feather</i> (Eibonvale). A British writer in the areas of 'Horror' and modern Magic Realism/Speculative Fiction.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/RobertShearman.htm" target="_blank">Robert Shearman</a> - <i>Everyone's Just So, So Special</i> (Big
Finish). He is best known as a writer for Doctor Who and has been
previously short-listed for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.</li>
<li>Simon Kurt Unsworth - <i>Quiet Houses</i> (Dark Continents
Publishing). The British writer of supernatural fiction was nominated
for a 2008 World Fantasy Award and his work has been published in a
number of anthologies.</li>
</ul>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-73805796401404086682012-03-04T11:57:00.002+00:002012-03-04T11:57:58.334+00:00Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award Shortlist 2012Huge congratulations to Short Review authors <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/KevinBarry.htm" target="_blank">Kevin Barry</a> and <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/TomLee.htm" target="_blank">Tom Lee</a>, whose stories have both been shortlisted for the £30,000 <a href="http://www.booktrust.org.uk/prizes-and-awards/5" target="_blank">Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award</a> - the full shortlist is:<br />
<br />
Kevin Barry - 'Beer Trip to Llandudno'<br />
Emma Donoghue - 'The Hunt'<br />
Jean Kwok - 'Where the Gods Fly'<br />
Tom Lee - 'The Current'<br />
Robert Minhinnick - 'El Aziz: Some Pages From His Notebooks'<br />
Linda Oatman High - 'Nickel Mines Hardware'<br />
<br />
Winner will be announced on March 30th - good luck to all! An anthology of the six top stories will be published by Waterstones, and there will be several related events in London. <br />
<br />Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-73585416272193469712012-02-20T15:14:00.001+00:002012-02-20T15:14:44.236+00:00The 2012 Scott Prize ShortlistThe shortlist for Salt Publishing's Scott Prize is announced! The winners will have their debut short story collections published. Winners announced in April; congratulations all! (Especially to our own Short Reviewer Julia Bohanna...!)<br />
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Julia Bohanna (England) – Ink Eyes<br />
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Carys Bray (England) – Sweet Home<br />
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Madeleine D’Arcy (Ireland) – Waiting for the Bullet and Other Stories<br />
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Rusty Dolleman (US) – Other People’s Kids<br />
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Sarah Faulkner (US) – American Heartbreaker<br />
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Maurice Gartshore (Scotland) – Mother Icarus<br />
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Otis Heschemeyer (US) – The Fantome of Fatma<br />
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Julie Mayhew (England) – End Of<br />
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Alison Moore (England) – A Small Window<br />
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Rob Roensch (US) – The Wild Flowers of Baltimore<br />
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Chris Smith (England) – Between the Toes of the Cloven Hoof</blockquote>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-68169483150313060482012-02-14T13:55:00.000+00:002012-02-15T16:58:06.957+00:00Starting Small: A Guest Blog Post By Tara Fox HallThis week we welcome Tara Fox Hall, whose first story collection, <i>Just Shadows,</i> was published in January. She tells The Short Review how she got interested in short stories:<br />
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"Writing careers begin in various ways. For me, it was a short article in a small print magazine that a friend, Harald Moore, put out to promote his catnip farm in Johnsonville, New York. The name of the magazine was <i>Catnip Blossoms</i>! My first article —detailing my curiosity and concern for a turkey I would always see by itself, sans flockmates— was called Lonely. Another article entitled "Good Work"—a rundown about how working on a dairy farm was hard yet meaningful work compared to cubicle existence—quickly followed. Both I submitted it on a lark, and to my surprise, Harald asked to publish them.<br />
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In the next year, I published more non-fiction articles, detailing my adventures saving wildlife, my experiences living on an acreage, and humorous recountings of the antics of my wacky pets. I kept publishing stories for the next five years, even as the name of the magazine changed to Meanwhile, and then to <i>On The River,</i> when the catnip farm went out of business, and Harald moved with his family to Troy, NY. Yet even happy with my success as a writer, I longed for an outlet for my fiction ideas, primarily my scary stories. I had longer works of paranormal suspense, and vampire romance, but no publisher or agent I submitted to was interested. The only successes I had to my credit were my short nature articles. I had to build up my publishing credits, but how?<br />
<br />
In spring of 2011, it suddenly dawned on me that I had the tools; I just needed a new platform. Resolute, I went looking online to see what horror markets were there looking for shorter stories. It was then I first heard the term “flash fiction.”<br />
When faced with the sheer number of online horror magazines, I was excited, but hesitant, too. Here were calls for stories on multiple sites, in just the genres I wanted to write. But could I write scary fiction the way I had my nature non-fiction? More important, would readers be moved without real life experience to color the stories with emotion? There was only one way to find out.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>My small stories of nature paved the way </b></span></blockquote>
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Using material from nightmares and my imagination, I began churning out stories. To my delight, flash fiction was about 500 words, which was almost exactly the length my nature articles had been. I already knew how to begin and end a story within a page, and draw the reader in. I could do this. My only worry was could I do this well enough to get published?<br />
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I submitted a few stories, then scored when <i>Deadman’s Tome</i> published <i>The Hunt</i> in May 2011. Encouraged, I devoted all my spare time to writing short horror stories, submitting them as fast as I could write them, seeking out new markets for each.
At first, I had limited success. Rejections clogged my inbox, editors telling me my stories just weren’t what they were looking for. Irritated but determined, I kept as it, reworking each rejected story, and doggedly sending it back out within a few days. A few months passed this way. Desperate, I searched out more markets and wrote more new stories, making them harder hitting, more twisting, and darker than pitch.<br />
<br />
In the fall of 2011, I began to hit it big, with story after story being accepted. I had found my horror “voice,” and had both readers and editors wanting more. That cumulated with my publication of <i>Just Shadows</i> in January 2012, an anthology of both previously published horror stories and new work.<br />
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I have my first novels coming out this year, with likely more to follow. My small stories of nature paved the way, leading me in a roundabout way to my dream of being a published author, and a novelist. But the short story, particularly flash fiction, will always remain a close friend, one I’ll keep returning to for years to come.<br />
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And I haven’t forgotten my affinity for saving wildlife, either. On the River is still being published. I’m still contributing to issues. For the latest one, go to <a href="http://www.ontherivermagazine.com/">On The River magazine</a>."<br />
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Thank you so much, Tara, we hope you'll keep returning to short stories too! Find out more about Just Shadows on Tara's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog" target="_blank">Goodreads blog</a>.<br />
<br />Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-76331774379069625552012-01-18T16:19:00.001+00:002012-01-19T13:21:45.592+00:002012 - Year of the... Short Story?So, there's been a lot of public cries here in the UK of 2012 as "the Year of the Short Story". We here at Short Review towers sigh a little when we hear this kind of thing. With our binoculars, and our microscope, we have not seen any waning of the short story over the past 5 years of our existence, no slowing down of the numbers of short story collections we get offered for review - so we would like to suggest an alternative title for 2012, "The Year Mainstream Publishers Re-Discovered What We All Knew About The Short Story Already"! Catchy?<br />
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Anyway, we certainly celebrate any upsurge in short-story-related activity and there does seem to be quite a bit here - from The Telegraph newspaper's <a href="http://my.telegraph.co.uk/groups/the-short-story-club" target="_blank">Short Story Writing Club</a> to a "short story newspaper" as reported in <a href="http://www.thebookseller.com/news/short-story-newspaper-hits-bookshops.html" target="_blank">The Bookseller</a>, Random House's<a href="http://www.thebookseller.com/news/random-launches-digital-short-story-brand.html" target="_blank"> Random Shorts</a> (more coming soon on that) and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/12/penguin-short-ebooks" target="_blank">Penguin Shorts</a>.<br />
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One of the most exciting developments is that Bloomsbury is publishing 5 short story collections in the first five months of 2012! We thought we'd better find out a bit more, so we put some questions to Bloomsbury fiction editorial director Helen Garnon-Williams:<br />
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<b>The Short Review: We were very excited to hear that Bloomsbury is publishing 5 short story collections during the first 5 months of 2012, surely a record for any UK publisher! Can you tell us a little about each collection? Are they debut collections? UK-based authors? </b><br />
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<b>Helen Garnon-Williams: </b>We are thrilled to be launching five completely wonderful and very different short story collections out into the world this Spring. One collection comes from America, one from a Canadian author living in England, and three others from British writers. There are four debuts and one long-awaited collection from a Booker-nominated novelist.<br />
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The first collection, <i>Diving Belles and Other Stories</i>, is by Lucy Wood. Set in Cornwall, where Lucy grew up, her stories combine the magical elements of folklore with everyday, domestic environments. Dazzling, mischievous and beautiful, her collection has already drawn praise from the likes of Michel Faber, Phillip Hensher and Jon McGregor. And Lucy is still only 26, which is, frankly, a little terrifying.<br />
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In February, we are publishing Jon McGregor’s breathtaking first story collection<i> This isn’t the sort of thing that happens to someone like you</i>. Two of the stories in this collection have been shortlisted for the BBC National Short story Award, and in both cases they were named as runner-up. Set in the flat and threatened fenland landscape these delicate, dangerous and sometimes deeply funny stories tell of things buried and unearthed, of familiar places made strange and of lives where much is hidden and tender moments are hard-won. They are absolutely astonishing.<br />
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In March we are delighted to be publishing <i>Homesick</i>, by Roshi Fernando. Roshi has won the Impress Prize and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Prize, and in this stunning collection of linked stories about Sri-Lankan families in South London, she traces the fine lines of politics, tradition and community, exploring questions of belonging and home in finely-honed and powerful prose.<br />
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In April, we are publishing DW Wilson’s debut collection <i>Once You Break A Knuckle</i>, from which his BBC National-Short-Story-Award-winning <i>The Dead Roads</i> comes. Dave Wilson is a remarkable young writer and we are incredibly excited to have him on our list. His stories, set in the remote Kootenay Valley in western Canada, crackle with tension and are propelled by jagged, cutting dialogue, as they describe good people doing bad things.<br />
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And finally, we have<i> I Am An Executioner </i>by Rajesh Parameswaran, an incredibly exciting young American writer whose work has already appeared in McSweeney's, Granta and Zoetrope, and whose darkly funny, wildly original stories about the power of love, and the love of power form a glittering, savage and elegant first collection.
·<br />
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<b>TSR: What those of us who write short stories hear very often from literary agents is that publishers feel they can't sell collections of stories. Bloomsbury clearly feels differently - do you have any plans for special marketing campaigns for these collections that are focused on the fact of them being short stories?
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<b>HGW:</b> I’m afraid that there does, unfortunately seem to be more than a grain of truth in this maxim. Whereas in the States, short story collections can easily reach the Number One spot on the New York Times bestseller list (Jhumpa Lahiri’s <i>Unaccustomed Earth</i> being a case in point), in the UK we very rarely see short story collections selling in large numbers - unless they are linked collections, published as novels, like <i>A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing</i> and Jennifer Egan’s fantastic<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/JenniferEganAVisitFromtheGoonSquad.htm" target="_blank"> <i>A Visit from the Goon Squad</i>. </a><br />
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But, ironically, or so it seems from my perspective as an editor anyway, more and more writers are turning to the short story form – indeed, most of the authors I work with seem to spend a sometimes alarming amount of their day on twitter! – and I think it is where some of the most original and exciting fiction is to be found today. And, in a world where opinion and debate are distilled into 140 characters, where life seems to be moving at an ever faster pace and our appreciation of the ‘short’ is growing every day, it seems a fair assumption that more readers are being drawn to short stories, to perfectly-crafted little worlds into which they can escape, where they can be surprised, and moved and transported in the course of a tube journey or a lunch break.<br />
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And then of course there are the electronic-opportunities that arise with short stories – where single stories can be separated out and read on smartphones and e-books and in electronic magazines.
At Bloomsbury we have always been committed to publishing literary fiction of the highest quality, and we have a great tradition of short-story publishing. We have published collections by Mavis Gallant,<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/TobiasWolff.htm" target="_blank"> Tobias Wolff</a>, TC Boyle, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/MargaretAtwood.htm" target="_blank">Margaret Atwood</a>, Richard Ford, Jay McInerney, William Boyd and Nadine Gordimer – all of whom are wonderful writers in whatever form they choose to write in.<br />
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So, another reason for us to take on these short story collections, in particular those by debut writers, is because we believe that they are at the start of incredibly promising literary careers, and whether they go on to write novels, or more story collections, we wanted to commit to them as authors at this stage.
In publishing these collections closely together we wanted to announce the arrival of a collection of hugely talented writers. And by launching them in the same period it has allowed us to draw strength in numbers, as it were: we have produced <a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/whatsnew/details/316" target="_blank">a beautiful sampler (</a>both electronically and in print form), containing a story from each of the collections that we have sent out to the media, booksellers and festival organizers.<br />
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We have been able to blow our trumpet about our Year of the Short Story, which has, in turn led to coverage and previews for each of the authors and their books. Various publications are interested in running the stories over the coming months, and festivals and libraries are excited by the idea of a kind of short-story roadshow, where people can listen to groups of short-story writers talking together. By publishing them together and confidently, as opposed to the perhaps rather apologetic way that short story collections can sometimes be published, our hope – and our intention – is that the collections will be noticed in a way they might otherwise not have been.<br />
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<b>TSR: What is it that you love in a short story? What does a great short story do for you?</b><br />
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<b>
HGW: </b>In stories, as in novels, the first thing that I am drawn to is always voice – I am struck by voices that feel original, and confident and that instantly draw you in. Story collections can be a treat because they often contain so many different voices and they really showcase the craft that goes into creating convincing characters and narrators. I also love the elegance of the short story: the precision and skill needed to hold it together successfully. But most of all, I love the story in a story: whether this is narrative that lasts for half a page or for 30, for me, the best short stories are those that make you feel like you have read an entire novel, with all the emotional investment, and intellectual and emotional pay-off that that involves.
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Thank you so much, Helen - we at Short Review Towers are feeling the love! We look forward to reading - and reviewing -these collections (read a sample <a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/whatsnew/details/316" target="_blank">here</a>) and certainly hope that 2012, 2013, 2014 and on and on continue to be years of the short story!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-48941205830110422442012-01-13T10:26:00.003+00:002012-01-13T10:27:45.564+00:00The Story Prize announces its finalistsThe prestigious $20,000 <a href="http://www.thestoryprize.org/" target="_blank">Story Prize</a>, awarded annually to a short story collection published in the US has announced the finalists for 2011:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>The Angel Esmeralda</i> by Don DeLillo (Scribner) </li>
<li><i>We Others</i> by Steven Millhauser (Alfred A. Knopf) </li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdithPearlmanBinocularVision.htm" target="_blank">Binocular Vision</a></i> by Edith Pearlman (Lookout Books) </li>
</ul>
We have reviewed Edith Pearlman's<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdithPearlmanBinocularVision.htm" target="_blank"> stunning collection</a> already (and Steven Millhauser's previous collection, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/StevenMillhauserDangerousLaughter.htm" target="_blank"><i>Dangerous Laughter</i></a>) - and the other two are on our pile - and frankly I don't envy the judges, having to decide between these three. I'd rather not have to! The winner will be announced in March. Good luck to all! Keep an eye on the <a href="http://thestoryprize.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Story prize blog</a> for more about the prize and the finalists.Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-49011795690824644152011-11-07T17:40:00.001+00:002011-11-07T20:01:23.210+00:00Happy Fourth Birthday to The Short Review!<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown" style="font-weight: bold;">Happy birthday! This month <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/" target="_blank">The Short Review</a> turns four years old. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">439 story collections and anthologies <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/somethingtoread.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">reviewed</a>, by our forty or so reviewers worldwide, and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;">over 250 authors <a href="http://theshortreview.com/somethingtoreadauthorinterviews.htm" style="font-weight: bold;">interviewed</a>...</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"> We all do what we do for love of the short story and to spread the word about as many short story collections as possible so readers can get hold of them, demand them from their local bookshops or libraries, buy them as presents. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><br />Four years on, we are so overwhelmed with offers of collections to review that we have had to declare a hiatus in accepting new review copies so that we can catch our breath! A good sign, we think. A very good sign! How could you help us celebrate our birthday? Tell someone about a short story collection you love. Tell ten people. Spread it around!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: left;"><br />This month's issue includes an unprecedented <span style="font-weight: bold;">seven</span> reviews of multi-author anthologies, which means that we are bringing you short stories by more authors than ever before! From women aloud to the bride stripped bare, the gold boy and the emerald girl, the best british and european fiction, what doesn't kill you if you're with the bears or on the Paris metro in nineteen seventysomething... and...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 13px;">Visit the </span><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/competitions.htm" style="background-color: white; color: #ff6600; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">Competitions</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> page to find out how to win.</span><br />
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<big style="background-color: white; font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial; text-align: left;"></big>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-43764307063074413512011-09-09T19:56:00.001+01:002011-09-09T19:56:03.989+01:00Shortlistees for the BBC National Short Story Award 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Huge congratulations to Short Review author <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AlisonMacLeod.htm">Alison MacLeod</a>, one of the five shortlistees for this year's BBC National Short Story Award, announced tonight! Her fellow honorees are: Jon McGregor, MJ Hyland, KJ Orr and DW Wilson. More information <a href="http://www.booktrust.org.uk/show/feature/Home/BBC-National-Short-Story-Award-2011">here</a> - and you can listen to all the shortlisted stories on BBC Radio 4 next week!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-39474342548670237342011-09-06T14:40:00.000+01:002011-09-06T14:40:50.548+01:00A quick word about speedOne of the most interesting things for me, as editor of The Short Review, is seeing how different authors answer our standard author interview questions. The first question "How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collection" often brings forth comments along the lines of <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/BretAnthonyJohnston.htm">Bret Anthony Johnston</a>'s in this month's issue: "I’ve always known that I’m a slow writer, but man oh man; looking at it this way really highlights it to an embarrassing degree." How long did it take Johnson to write Corpus Christi? Five years. Is this extraordinarily slow? Is there reason for his embarassment. Well, according to our survey, absolutely not.<br />
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So, to make Bret - and frankly all of us writing short stories - feel better, let's take a quick look:<br />
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<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/MaryAkers.htm">Mary Akers: </a>Let’s see, I wrote the first story back in 1997, and the last story in 2007, so the math is easy. Ten years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AllisonAmend.htm">Allison Amend: </a>The earliest story was written in 1997; the last was written expressly for the collection in 2008.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/PaoloBacigalupi.htm">Paolo Bacigalupi:</a> The first, <i>Pocketful of Dharma</i> was written in 1998, the last was written in 2007, so... 9 years?<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/RustyBarnes.htm">Rusty Barnes:</a> These stories were written between 1999 and 2006.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/KevinBarry.htm">Kevin Barry:</a> They’d been slowly oozing from my fetid little brain onto the computer screen for the best part of seven years. <br />
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AlanBeard.htm"></a></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AlanBeard.htm">Alan Beard:</a> Thirteen years since my first collection (<i>Taking Doreen out of the Sky</i>), and that took twelve years to complete.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AimeeBender.htm">Aimee Bender:</a> About six years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/RegiClaire.htm">Regi Claire:</a> To be honest, quite a few years (my guess is six)!<br />
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/RamolaD.htm">Ramola D:</a> I think the stories that ended up in this collection were written across about twelve years.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2107839712"><br /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/LiseErdrich.htm">Lise Erdrich:</a> I could say twenty years, since that is when they first started to get published here and there. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/DeborahKayDavies.htm">Deborah Kay Davies:</a> It took about 10 years altogether. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/CharlesLambert.htm">Charles Lambert: </a>I wrote the oldest story here (<i>Beacons</i>) over fifteen years ago and the most recent (<i>Something Rich and Strange</i>) last year. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/KellyLink.htm">Kelly Link:</a> Altogether, I wrote these stories over the course of fifteen years. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/AlisonMacLeod.htm">Alison MacLeod</a>: Eek. Should I admit this? A ‘debut’ collection makes the author sound so new, almost virginal, but the truth is the stories in the collection were written over a period of twenty years. </blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/ClareWigfall.htm">Clare Wigfall:</a> Almost a decade. </blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/TamarYellin.htm">Tamar Yellin:</a> About twelve years.
</blockquote>
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Okay, I could go on and on...but I think you get the point. There are a number of authors who wrote all their stories in a year or two (or even six months, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/WarrenAdler.htm">Warren Adler</a>, and four months for <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/RobertShearman.htm">Rob Shearman</a>) but the majority, who didn't have a collection in mind as they wrote, took years and years. Are you a hare or a tortoise? What does this mean? What pithy conclusion can be drawn?<br />
<br />
Perhaps just this: it takes as long as it takes. Yup.Let's leave it there.<br />
<br />Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-12075630662921292852011-07-18T13:00:00.001+01:002011-07-18T16:59:40.467+01:00Help Save Short Stories on BBC Radio!Following swiftly in the footsteps of the first short story festival in Bristol, UK, <a href="http://www.bristolprize.co.uk/news/83-shortstoryville-lineup-announced.html">ShortStoryVille</a>, which was hugely successful - comes the distressing news that BBC Radio 4, which until recently broadcast a short story in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007vzr2">Afternoon Reading</a> programme 5 days a week, which was then reduced to 3 days a week - and now will be only once a week. This is the BBC - who only a few years ago was proud to announce the BBC National Short Story Award, and on their website say:<br />
<blockquote>The BBC National Short Story Award, managed in partnership with <b><a href="http://www.booktrust.org.uk/">Booktrust</a></b>, continues to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story and to celebrate a literary form that is proving ever more versatile in the twenty first century, enjoyed not just on the page, on air and increasingly on every sort of screen, but also in flash fiction events, short story festivals and slams. The short story has moved beyond the revival of recent years and is now experiencing a golden age. </blockquote><blockquote><b>BBC Radio 4 is the world's leading broadcaster of short stories and a staunch and long-time supporter of the form. Short stories are broadcast every week, attracting over a million listeners.</b> </blockquote><br />
BBC- you are a "staunch and long-time supporter", don't let us down now!<br />
<br />
The Afternoon Reading has for many many years been a showcase not just for well-known writers but for new voices - on a personal note, it was my first "big break", the first time I felt I was taken seriously as a writer, coupled with the joy of hearing my story brought so wonderfully to life. Not only that, the payment the writer receives is no paltry sum and has formed a significant part of my writerly earnings in the years since. <br />
<br />
There are many, many writers, listeners and readers who are very concerned about this development. Writer Susie McGuire and Ian, organiser of the UK's <a href="http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk/">National Short Story Week</a>, have formulated the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>The new Controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, will be a guest on FEEDBACK on BBC Radio 4 next week. How very timely.<br />
Would you add your name to a letter/question to ask her?<br />
Would you pass on this email to other writers who care about the health of the short story…? </blockquote><blockquote>The more of us, & the better known the writers who sign it, the more likely it is to have some effect. </blockquote><blockquote>If so, please find below a short, polite question, proposed by Ian of <a href="http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk%20/">http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk </a></blockquote><blockquote>Reminder: info on her decision to cut the short story’s presence on Radio 4 outlined here <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/10/radio4.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/10/radio4.shtml</a> </blockquote><blockquote>If you’d like to add your signature, please email YES to<br />
ian AT shortstoryweek DOT org DOT uk </blockquote><blockquote>& cc to me: info AT susiemaguire DOT co DOT uk </blockquote><blockquote>NB – It would be really helpful if you could reply within 24 hours so that the question can be lodged as soon as possible. This is by no means the *only* action interested parties can take, but it’s a start, and I hope you might add your weight to it with this (and further suggestions are welcomed)<br />
thanks<br />
Susie </blockquote><blockquote>*******************<br />
Proposed question:<br />
We were surprised and disappointed to learn of the decision to reduce the short story output on Radio 4 to once a week from next spring. Radio 4 has been a great champion of the short story for many years. It is one of very few places in the UK where both new and established writers can have their short stories broadcast to a large audience, and where radio listeners can enjoy readings of the short story form. This move comes at a time when interest in the short story is growing, but paid opportunities for short story writers are still scarce. Could Gwyneth Williams please explain:<br />
1) what has led her to make this decision?<br />
2) whether the short stories on Radio 4 extra will be new commissions or repeats of existing recordings?<br />
3) how this decision fits with the BBC’s sponsorship of the National Short Story Award (and indeed if this will continue?)</blockquote>If you are moved to do so, please take action, following the instructions outlined above. Signatories so far include:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div><div>Clare Wigfall</div><div>Sara Maitland</div><div>Philip Pullman</div><div>Nicholas Royle</div><div>Vivian French</div></div><div>James Robertson</div><div>Michael Holroyd</div><div><div>Jane Rusbridge</div><div>Dr Charles Smith</div><div>Sarah Hall</div><div>Sarah Hilary</div><div>Vanessa Gebbie</div><div>Jill Dawson</div></div><div><div>Lucinda Byatt</div><div>Maggie Gee</div><div>Sarah Sheridan (Soc of A, Scotland)</div><div>Tania Hershman (Ed, The Short Review)</div><div>Helena Nelson (publisher, Happenstance)</div><div>Morag Joss</div></div><div>Lola Perrin</div><div>Jules Horne</div><div>Suzanne Bellenger</div><div>Richard Beard (Nat Academy of Writing)</div><div>Ali Bacon</div><div>Nicky Parker, (Publisher, Amnesty)</div><div><div>Dan Powell </div><div>Ian Cundell</div><div>Kathleen Langley</div></div><div>John Courtney-Grimwood</div><div>Wendy Ann Greenhalgh</div><div>Alison Wells</div><div>James Wall</div><div>K E Bergdoll</div><div>Linda Cracknell</div><div>Jonathan Pinnock (also see his FB links)</div><div>Sarah Salway</div><div>Alison MacLeod</div><div>Louis Winters</div><div>Emily Dubberly</div><div>Karen Whiteson</div><div>Griff Griffiths</div><div>Sara Schofield</div><div>Ian Macpherson</div><div>Stella Burchill</div><div>(and counting...)</div><div></div><div>Please join us!<br />
<br />
ADDENDUM: There is now an online petition <a href="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/noshortstorycuts/">here</a> - please sign! </div>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-84856666561563499742011-07-11T12:34:00.001+01:002011-07-11T12:44:02.322+01:002011 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize ShortlistMore congratulations are in order - to the six short story collection shortlisted for the seventh <a href="http://www.frankoconnor-shortstory-award.net/">Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize</a>, three of whom are Short Review authors, I'm delighted to say. The €35,000 will be awarded at the Frank O'Connor Short Story Festival in Cork, Ireland, in September.<br />
<br />
Here is the shortlist -with links to the three we've already reviewed. Good luck to all!<br />
<br />
<ol class="style13"><li><i>Gold Boy, Emerald Girl</i> by Yiyun Li </li>
<li><i>Light Lifting</i> by Alexander MacLeod </li>
<li><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdnaOBrienSaintsAndSinners.htm"><i>Saints and Sinners</i></a> by Edna O’Brin </li>
<li><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SuzanneRiveccaDeathIsNotAnOption.htm"><i>Death is Not an Option</i></a> by Suzanne Rivecca </li>
<li><i>The Empty Family</i> by Colm Tóibin </li>
<li><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ValerieTruebloodMarryOrBurn.htm"><i>Marry or Burn</i></a> by Valerie Trueblood </li>
</ol>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-45491404167878264242011-07-08T10:00:00.000+01:002011-07-08T10:00:45.512+01:00Congrats - Edge Hill Short Story Prize<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88upu-zQUsNQ3sWJ0qtg5PPIgHJYueaK0EDh7TQKgBbPI6SoVyoz6m2NmNDm6ggNQUeZOhPyft8pS3HMjwGdtnxxV9iq11bDKtzwgHp6dwetTHHDTnl8V-yddipWy9MXp3rwXTcrPPDGI/s1600/tomvowlerthemethod.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88upu-zQUsNQ3sWJ0qtg5PPIgHJYueaK0EDh7TQKgBbPI6SoVyoz6m2NmNDm6ggNQUeZOhPyft8pS3HMjwGdtnxxV9iq11bDKtzwgHp6dwetTHHDTnl8V-yddipWy9MXp3rwXTcrPPDGI/s200/tomvowlerthemethod.jpeg" width="129" /></a></div>Congratulations to Short Review author Tom Vowler whose short story collection, <i><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TomVowlerTheMethod.htm">The Method</a></i>, won the Readers' Prize at the <a href="http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2011/05/diverse-names-revealed-in-edge-hill-short-story-prize">Edge Hill Short Story Prize</a> awards last night! You can read our review of the book <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TomVowlerTheMethod.htm">here</a>. Congratulations also to Graham Mort, whose collection, <i>Touch</i>, won the overall Edge Hill Prize. A great night for short stories!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-87925365299489435642011-06-28T14:05:00.000+01:002011-06-28T14:05:12.177+01:002011 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize LonglistThe Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize has just announced its longlisted short story collections. As ever, it is a great list to start with if you're looking for some great reading material! As they say on their <a href="http://www.munsterlit.ie/FOC%20Award%20page.html">website</a>, the award "is living up to its international credentials with a long list containing twelve UK writers, twenty-six Americans, four Irish, eight from Canada, two from India, two from Bulgaria and one each from Japan, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, China, Nepal and Spain, spanning four continents."<br />
<br />
The non-voting chairman of the 2011 jury is Patrick Cotter, curator of the Award. The voting members of the jury are poet and novelist Thomas McCarthy who served also on the 2006 jury, Kinsale-based novelist and short story writer Alannah Hopkin and Guardian short story blogger Chris Power. This jury will announce a short list in July prior to the award ceremony in September during the Cork International Short Story Festival.<br />
<br />
The longlist is as follows (with links to those collections The Short Review has already reviewed):<br />
<br />
<br />
Clark Blaise <i>The Meagre Tarmac </i>Biblioasis<i> USA</i><br />
<br />
Summer Brenner <i>My Life in Clothes</i> Red Hen Press USA<br />
<br />
Jo Cannon <i><a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/JoCannonInsignificantGestures.htm">Insignificant Gestures</a></i> Pewter Rose Press UK<br />
<br />
Uttara Chauhan <i>Blue Blood</i> Penguin India Canada<br />
<br />
Michael Christie <i>The Beggar's Garden</i> HarperCollins Canada Canada<br />
<br />
Richard Cumyn <i>The Young in Their Country</i> Enfield and Wizenty Canada<br />
<br />
Anthony Doerr <i>Memory Wall</i> Fourth Estate USA <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Doug Dorst <i>The Surf Guru</i> Riverhead Books USA<br />
<br />
Deyan Enev <i>Circus Bulgaria</i> Portobello Bulgaria<br />
<br />
Danielle Evans <i>Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool</i> Self Riverhead Books USA<br />
<br />
Stuart Evers <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/StuartEversTenStoriesAboutSmoking.htm"><i>Ten Stories about Smoking</i></a> Picador UK<br />
<br />
Edward Falco <i>Burning Man</i> Southern Methodist University Press USA<br />
<br />
Siobhan Fallon <i>You Know When the Men Are Gone</i> Amy Einhorn Books USA<br />
<br />
Roshi Fernando <i>Homesick</i> Impress UK<br />
<br />
Karen Joy Fowler <i>What I Didn't See</i> Small Beer USA <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Vanessa Gebbie <i>Storm Warning</i> Salt UK <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Sue Gee <i>Last Fling</i> Salt UK<br />
<br />
Ben Greenman <i>Celebrity Chekhov</i> Harper Perennial USA<br />
<br />
Linda LeGarde Grover <i>The Dance Boots</i> University of Georgia Press USA<br />
<br />
Tina May Hall <i>The Physics of Imaginary Objects</i> University of Pittsburgh Press USA <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Alan Heathcock <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AlanHeathcockVolt.htm"><i>Volt</i></a> Graywolf USA<br />
<br />
Ava Homa <i>Echoes from the Other Land</i> Tsar Canada<br />
<br />
Valerie Laken <i>Separate Kingdoms</i> Harper Perennial USA<br />
<br />
Yiyun Li <i>Gold Boy, Emerald Girl</i> Random House/ Fourth Estate China<br />
<br />
Michael Kardos <i>One Last Good Time</i> Press 53 USA<br />
<br />
Gitanjali Kolanad <i>Sleeping with Movie Stars</i> Penguin India India<br />
<br />
Sean Mackel <i>The River</i> Guildhall Ireland<br />
<br />
Alexander MacLeod <i>Light Lifting</i> Biblioasis Canada<br />
<br />
Andre Mangeot <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/AndreMangeotTrueNorth.htm"><i>True North</i></a> Salt UK<br />
<br />
Javier Marías <i>While the Women are Sleeping</i> Chatto and Windus Spain<br />
<br />
Rob Mimpriss <i>For His Warriors</i> Gwasg y Bwthyn UK <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Mariko Nagai <i>Georgic</i> BkMk Japan<br />
<br />
Prem Nath <i>Crowded Rooms</i> Penguin India India<br />
<br />
Courttia Newland <i>A Book of Blues</i> Flambard UK <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Edna O'Brien <i> <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EdnaOBrienSaintsAndSinners.htm">Saints and Sinners</a></i> Faber Ireland <br />
<br />
Daniel Orozco <i>Orientation</i> Faber USA<br />
<br />
Sue Orr <i> </i>Random House New Zealand New Zealand<br />
<br />
E.C.Osondu <i>Voice of America</i> Granta Books Nigeria<br />
<br />
Kelcey Parker <i>For Sale By Owner</i> Kore USA<br />
<br />
Miroslav Penkov <i>East of the West </i> Farrar, Straus & Giroux Bulgaria<br />
<br />
Anne Perdue <i>I'm a Registered Nurse Not a Whore</i> Insomniac Canada<br />
<br />
Andrew Plattner <i>A Marriage of Convenience</i> BkMk USA<br />
<br />
Dawn Promislow <i>Jewels Tsar</i> Canada<br />
<br />
Shann Ray <i>American Masculine</i> Graywolf USA<br />
<br />
Mary Rechner <i>Nine Simple Patterns for Complicated Women</i> Propeller USA<br />
<br />
Susannah Rickards <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SusannahRickardsHotKitchenSnow.htm"><i>Hot Kitchen Snow</i></a> Salt UK<br />
<br />
Suzanne Rivecca <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SuzanneRiveccaDeathIsNotAnOption.htm"><i>Death is Not an Option</i></a> Norton USA<br />
<br />
Moya Roddy <i>Other People</i> Wordsonthestreet Ireland<br />
<br />
Ethel Rohan <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/EthelRohanCutThroughTheBone.htm"><i>Cut Through the Bone</i></a> Dark Sky Books Ireland<br />
<br />
Gretchen Shirm <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GretchenShirmHavingCriedWolf.htm"><i>Having Cried Wolf</i></a> Affirm Australian<br />
<br />
L.E. Smith <i>Views Cost Extra</i> Fomite USA<br />
<br />
Christine Sneed <i>Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry</i> University of Massachusetts Press USA<br />
<br />
Fiona Thackeray <i>The Secret's in the Folding</i> Pewter Rose Press UK<br />
<br />
Rabi Thapa <i>Nothing to Declare</i> Penguin India Nepal<br />
<br />
Colm Tóibín <i>The Empty Family</i> Viking Penguin Ireland<br />
<br />
Matthew J. Trafford <i>The Divinity Gene</i> Douglas & McIntyre Canada<br />
<br />
Jessica Treadway <i>Please Come Back to Me</i> University of Georgia Press USA<br />
<br />
Paul Tremblay <i>In the Mean Time</i> ChiZine Publications USA<br />
<br />
Valerie Trueblood <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/ValerieTruebloodMarryOrBurn.htm"><i>Marry or Burn</i></a> Counterpoint USA<br />
<br />
Salley Vickers <i>Aphrodite's Hat</i> Fourth Estate UK <i style="color: red;">review coming soon</i><br />
<br />
Ferdinand Von Schirach <i>Crime</i> Chatto and Windus Germany<br />
<br />
Tom Vowler <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TomVowlerTheMethod.htm"><i>The Method</i></a> Salt UK<br />
<br />
Susi Wyss <i>The Civilized World</i> Holt USATania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-68372580005125037832011-05-11T09:25:00.000+01:002011-05-11T09:25:00.846+01:00Scott Prize winners and Edge Hill Short Story Prize shortlistMay is clearly a bumper month for short story collection news! First, congratulations to A J Ashworth, Jon Pinnock and Cassandra Parkin, the three winners of this year's Salt Publishing <a href="http://blog.saltpublishing.com/2011/05/09/the-2011-scott-prize-winners-are-announced/">Scott Prize</a> for debut short story collections. Their collections will be published in November, the UK's National Short Story Week. We look forward to our review copies!<br />
<br />
And congratulations too to Short Review author Tom Vowler, whose collection, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TomVowlerTheMethod.htm"><i>The Method</i></a>, has been shortlisted for the <a href="http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2011/05/diverse-names-revealed-in-edge-hill-short-story-prize">Edge Hill Short Story Prize</a>, alongside collections from Helen Simpson, Polly Samson,Graham Mort and Michele Roberts.Winners announced in July, good luck to all!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-9194683395349692202011-04-20T11:33:00.001+01:002011-04-20T11:34:54.080+01:00Short Story Month 2011: The Collection Giveaway Project<div class="entry">I was thrilled to receive an email from Erika Dreifus of the Fiction Writers' Review, about this <a href="http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/2011-collection-giveaway-project">new intiative</a> for Short Story Month 2011, in May. Here's what it's all about: <br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>Inspired last year by the Emerging Writers Network—<a href="http://emergingwriters.typepad.com/emerging_writers_network/2010/05/short-story-month-2010.html">who inaugurated May as Short Story Month</a> three years ago—and the <a href="http://ofkells.blogspot.com/2011/03/big-poetry-giveaway-2011.html">Big Poetry Giveaway</a> for National Poetry Month, Fiction Writers Review is excited to launch our second year of <b>The Collection Giveaway Project</b>: a community effort by lit bloggers to raise attention for short story collections. Warm thanks to FWR Contributing Editor <b>Erika Dreifus</b>, who suggested FWR as a home for this project last year and will not only be participating on <a href="http://www.erikadreifus.com/blogs/practicing-writing/">her own blog</a>, but will also be helping FWR run the project right here.</blockquote></div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fictionwritersreview.com/wp-content/uploads/FWR-SSM-Wide.jpg"><img alt="FWR - SSM - Wide" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-20004" height="140" src="http://fictionwritersreview.com/wp-content/uploads/FWR-SSM-Wide.jpg" title="FWR - SSM - Wide" width="320" /></a></div></blockquote><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b class="subhead">To participate in Short Story Month 2011: The Collection Giveaway Project , here’s what to do:</b> </div></blockquote><blockquote><b>(1) Post an entry on your blog recommending a recently published short story collection (or two, or three). </b><br />
The post can be long or short, a review or merely a rave. The one requirement is that you, the blogger, have read and loved the book(s) in question.<br />
<b>(2) Offer a copy of the book (or each book) as a giveaway to one lucky person who comments on your blog. </b><br />
You can choose the winner through a drawing, or by the wittiness of his/her remarks, or by whatever criteria you choose.<br />
<blockquote>NOTE for blogger-authors: You can absolutely give away a copy of your own collection—but in an effort to keep this as much about community as publicity, please also offer to give away a second book that isn’t one of yours.</blockquote><b>(3) Announce the winner(s) on May 31, 2011, and arrange to send out copies of any books you are giving away.</b><br />
If you’re participating, drop Erika an email at erika [at] fictionwritersreview.com to let us know. We’ll add you to the list of participating blogs/sites and link to you from this frequently updated page on our site.<br />
<i>Check back May 1 for the official launch, but we’ll update the list throughout May!</i></blockquote></div>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-56705382561539527622011-03-30T11:32:00.002+01:002011-04-25T14:51:00.357+01:00Edge Hill Prize 2011 Longlist AnnouncedThe longlist has just been announced for <a href="http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2011/03/big-names-revealed-in-edge-hill-short-story-prize">Edge Hill University's Short Story Prize 2011</a>. This is the fifth year of the prize, the UK's only literary award for a published collection of stories - won last year by Jeremy Dyson, who is one of this year's judges, together with Stuart Maconie and Marcus Gipps. You can read our interview with prize organiser Ailsa Cox <a href="http://theshortreview.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-welcome-ailsa-cox-fiction-writer.html">here</a>. The shortlist will be unveiled in May.<br />
<br />
Here is this year's longlist, with links to those we've reviewed, so you can check out some of what the fuss is all about!:<br />
<ul><li>Martin Bax - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/MartinBaxMemoirsofaGoneWorld.htm"><i>Memoirs of a Gone World</i> </a>(Salt Publishing). </li>
<li>Alan Beard - <i>You Don't Have to Say</i> (Tindal Street Press). <i>review coming soon</i></li>
<li>Peter Bromley - <i>Sky Light and Other Stories</i> (Biscuit). </li>
<li>Jo Cannon - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/JoCannonInsignificantGestures.htm"><i>Insignificant Gestures</i></a> (Pewter Rose Press).</li>
<li>Roshi Fernando - <i>Homesick </i>(Impress Books). </li>
<li>David Gaffney - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/DavidGaffneyHalfLifeofSongs.htm"><i>The Half-life of Songs</i></a> (Salt Publishing).</li>
<li>Vanessa Gebbie - <i>Storm Warning, Echoes of Conflict</i> (Salt Publishing). <i>review coming soon</i></li>
<li>James Kelman - <i>If it is Your Life</i> (Penguin). </li>
<li>Andre Mangeot - <i>True North</i> (Salt Publishing). <i>review coming soon</i> </li>
<li>Jay Merill - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/JayMerillGodofthePigeons.htm"><i>God of the Pigeons</i></a> (Salt Publishing). </li>
<li>Magnus Mills - <i>Screwtop Thompson</i> (Bloomsbury). </li>
<li>Graham Mort - <i>Touch </i>(Seren). </li>
<li>Nik Perring - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/NikPerringNotSoPerfect.htm"><i>Not So Perfect</i></a> (Roast Books).</li>
<li>Susannah Rickards - <i>Hot Kitchen Snow</i> (Salt Publishing). <i>review coming soon</i></li>
<li>Michele Roberts - <i>Mud, Stories and Sex and Love</i> (Virago). </li>
<li>Polly Samson - <i>Perfect Lives (</i>Virago). <i>review coming soon</i></li>
<li>Helen Simpson - <i>Inflight Entertainment</i> (Random House). </li>
<li>Fiona Thackeray - <i>The Secret's in the Folding</i> (Pewter Rose Press). </li>
<li>Tom Vowler - <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/TomVowlerTheMethod.htm"><i>The Method and Other Stories</i></a> (Salt Publishing). </li>
<li>Susie Wild - <i>The Art of Contraception</i> (Parthian).</li>
</ul>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-88056531642043203092011-03-01T14:56:00.000+00:002011-03-01T14:56:02.143+00:00Scott Prize shortlist announced<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP82-9nfhCYWwAZwQv4X3JIWg4DLMsOGUaFW9tcEqWgnm_dq1gKlRzD4Jm2-0xpFLPfVdF1h_rqsMBrHvKzzvk2lMdYwpTK3rl_LqtSg8WzzdwUzZ64Ja1lsUYYNWfy4gfR2gepe_Z-xP/s1600/scott-prize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP82-9nfhCYWwAZwQv4X3JIWg4DLMsOGUaFW9tcEqWgnm_dq1gKlRzD4Jm2-0xpFLPfVdF1h_rqsMBrHvKzzvk2lMdYwpTK3rl_LqtSg8WzzdwUzZ64Ja1lsUYYNWfy4gfR2gepe_Z-xP/s320/scott-prize.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The shortlist for <a href="http://blog.saltpublishing.com/2011/03/01/the-scott-prize-shortlist-is-announced-2/">Salt Publishing</a>'s 2011 Scott Prize for unpublished debut short story collections has been announced. Says Salt: "This prize forms part of Salt’s commitment to the short story and to our mission to discover and nurture new talent from around the English-speaking world." The shortlist is:<br />
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Adam Prince (Knoxville, US): The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men<br />
Andrea Ashworth (Lancashire, UK): Somewhere Else, or Even Here<br />
Cassandra Parkin (E. Yorks, UK): New World Fairy Tales<br />
Guy Ware (London, UK): Witness Protection<br />
John Haggerty (CA, US): The Other Half of Graceland<br />
Jonathan Pinnock (St Albans, UK): Dot (.), Dash (-)<br />
Julie Mayhew (Herts, UK): A Little Death<br />
Michael Downs (Baltimore, US): The Greatest Show<br />
Nicole Reid (IN, US): If You Must Know<br />
Virginia Gilbert (Dublin, Ireland): Abroad<br />
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Many congratulations to all the shortlisted authors! Winners will be announced in April and The Short Review looks forward to reviewing the winning collections when they are published.Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-29709617916057140112011-02-10T12:54:00.000+00:002011-02-10T12:54:33.281+00:00Best British Short Stories 2012 Wants to Hear From You(cross-posted with <a href="http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com/">TaniaWrites</a>)<br />
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I mentioned a while ago on my personal blog that <a href="http://bestshortstories.wordpress.com/">Best British Short Stories</a> is back, resurrected by my publisher, <a href="http://www.saltpublishing.com/">Salt Publishing,</a> and edited by Nicholas Royle. He has just finalised the list of stories for the first edition, the 2011 edition, which will be published in April 2011 (see the list <a href="http://bestshortstories.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/contents-finalised/">here</a> - I'm delighted that it includes <i>No Angel</i> by Bernie McGill, which I chose as 2nd prize winner in the <a href="http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com/search/label/sean%20o%27faolain">Sean O'Faolain competition</a>), quite a mammoth task, he is to be applauded! And now he wants to know what British short story writers are up to this year.<br />
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He told me he wants short stories published "anywhere, could be in American publications or wherever. And not just literary mags – anthologies, newspapers, online etc." But before you get excited and start firing off your beautiful publications to him, he cautions: "People need to be selective, ie not like I was when sending to Giles Gordon & David Hughes for Best Short Stories, way back." If all of us bombard him with everything we have published this year, he will be swamped. So wait, think about it, be choosy. And check out the anthologies Nicholas has already edited (to start with, read The Short Review's review of <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/68NewStoriesfromtheChildrenoftheRevolution.htm"><i>'68: New Stories from Children of the Revolution</i></a>).<br />
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And then, when you're ready, send them to:<br />
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<blockquote><a href="mailto:n.royle@mmu.ac.uk" target="_blank">n.royle@mmu.ac.uk</a> or hard copies to Nicholas Royle at Manchester Writing School, Geoffrey Manton Building, MMU, Rosamond St West, Manchester M15 6LL</blockquote>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-71784793230629161282011-01-21T16:11:00.001+00:002011-01-21T16:13:07.123+00:00Short Review Author Among Story Prize finalists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG2y4Vg6nv96uUxwmvhW3qbTXFDSZCaqQSy0fjSlP4FPl_Z8o5Rx2Y9vGN-98xci7VftrVu_DXVK7TM8rObV-PsswgbGAufRH3dAFl2axbSCkDpdT4C1Wzl69OKBLL_NyBTg_sncuVATg/s1600/suzanneriveccadeathisnotanoption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG2y4Vg6nv96uUxwmvhW3qbTXFDSZCaqQSy0fjSlP4FPl_Z8o5Rx2Y9vGN-98xci7VftrVu_DXVK7TM8rObV-PsswgbGAufRH3dAFl2axbSCkDpdT4C1Wzl69OKBLL_NyBTg_sncuVATg/s200/suzanneriveccadeathisnotanoption.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRIXpHQkQ6fgJr4mlAf5XSE-up_fjXQJdBoX3CumuET3kfu_wrZWz7sLtAr-mYgpI8ZXlh4WZ7Qr5fVz_Cd4PiZswCDYDh5wCYgkmhQCAC0NdjZHqgYJ-y8H0BToRuj5Pzd0d3HDP-JcU/s1600/wellstowereverythingravagedeverythingburned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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The $20,000 <a href="http://www.thestoryprize.org/">Story Prize</a>, run by Larry Dark (who Sarah Salway interviewed for us <a href="http://theshortreview.blogspot.com/2009/03/larry-dark-director-of-story-prize.html">here</a>), is an very prestigious annual book award for short story collections written in English and published in the U.S. during a calendar year. It was won last year by Wells Tower for his collection, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/WellsTowerEverythingRavagedEverythingBurned.htm"><i>Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned</i>.</a><br />
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The Prize has just announced its three finalists for 2010: Short Review author Suzanne Rivecca for her collection, <a href="http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/SuzanneRiveccaDeathIsNotAnOption.htm"><i>Death is Not An Option</i></a>, Yiyun Li for <i>Gold Boy, Emerald Girl</i>, and Anthony Doerr for <i>Memory Wall</i>. Congratulations to all! Winner announced March 3rd.<br />
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But that's not all - following the announcement of the finalists, Larry today posted the <a href="http://thestoryprize.blogspot.com/2011/01/long-list-other-notable-2010-short.html">longlist</a>, and this is an excellent place if you're looking for new short story collections to check out! It's a great resource for us, too - we have reviews in the works of half the collections on the list, will be checking out the other half. Congratulations to all!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557451548222456159.post-88066331244584697382010-12-21T12:38:00.000+00:002010-12-21T12:38:19.904+00:00National Short Story Day in the UKYou don't need to be in the UK to celebrate the first National Short Story Day, today, December 21st, the shortest day of the year! Instead of going on again and <i>again</i> about how wonderful short stories are (which we tend to do anyway, monthly...), here is a Twitter widget thingy which tells you who is recommending what for NSSD - you don't need to be registered on Twitter to click the links. Happy reading!<br />
<br />
<script src="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/2/widget.js">
</script><br />
<script>
new TWTR.Widget({
version: 2,
type: 'search',
search: 'shortstoryday',
interval: 6000,
title: 'Celebrate the short story!',
subject: 'National Short Story Day Tweets',
width: 400,
height: 400,
theme: {
shell: {
background: '#e81515',
color: '#ffffff'
},
tweets: {
background: '#ffffff',
color: '#444444',
links: '#1985b5'
}
},
features: {
scrollbar: false,
loop: true,
live: true,
hashtags: true,
timestamp: true,
avatars: true,
toptweets: true,
behavior: 'default'
}
}).render().start();
</script>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0