34: The Art of the Short Story

There are the celebrated authors: Checkov, Joyce, Mansfield, Munro. There are the big questions: “What makes a truly great short story?” “Where does the form originate?” “What can short stories do that other forms of literature can’t?” But before any of this, there’s a question that’s not that easy to answer at all: What is a short story? This week I’m joined by Dr Paul March-Russell, Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent, and author of The Short Story: An Introduction and Colin Walsh, an award-winning short story writer from Galway, Ireland.  We discuss whether you can really define what a short story is, some great examples of the form, and what short stories can do that other forms of literature simply can’t. For more details, links, and transcripts head to wttepodcast.com Join the WTTE community and support the show on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices