‘The Art of Short Fiction’ introduces you to short fiction by a range of writers – some very well-known and others less so. Each week we will combine close readings of one or two stories with consideration of theoretical and critical perspectives on the genre. We will also allow time for in-seminar writing exercises and a chance to critically assess (and improve) this work.
Seminars are, of course, compulsory but it especially important that seminar attendance is consistent as the writing exercises require a strong group ethic and a supportive ethos.
Writing exercises each week need to be kept together in a portfolio that will be the focus of discussions in the last week of term and provide inspiration as well as material for your assessed piece of work.
Assessment: 2,000 words of fiction; 1,500 critical essay.
The short stories for discussion will be drawn form a variety of sources with online versions wherever possible. In preparation for the course, the best thing to do is to read widely in the short story form. There are numerous good anthologies that you could begin with. For example, you may wish to use the following (this isn’t a text we will use during seminars, but it is highly recommended for further reading):
The Art of the Short Story: 52 Great Authors, Their Best Short Fiction, and Their Insights Into Writing, eds, Dana Gioia & R.S.Gwynn.
Critical Essays will be drawn from a range of sources, including the following collection:
The New Short Story Theories, ed., Charles E. May.
In some weeks, I will also recommend chapters from Amanda Boulter, Writing Fiction: Creative and Critical Approaches. We will also draw on chapters from Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction.
Writing on writing – There are many excellent books on creative writing. For example:
The Creative Writing Coursebook, eds., Julia bell & Paul Magrs.
Writing Fiction, Linda Anderson & Derek Neale.
Vacation reading: Please read the Introduction to The New Short Story Theories, edited by Charles E. May and Mary Louise Pratt’s essay, ‘The short story: the long and the short of it’, also in that collection.
Dip into as many anthologies of short stories as you can and select a story that you particularly like or dislike and come to the first seminar with a short extract from the story (no more than two or three sentences) and 500 words of notes in which you reflect on the ways that the story you have chosen works (or not) as a short story. This will provide the basis of the introductory seminar. Finally: keep a note of any ideas that your vacation reading sparks in relation to stories that you might like to write.
A full course outline and reading list will be provided at the start of term and will be put on SyD.