Short Story Today: Recent Episodes
Jon DiSavino
Short Story Today is a podcast designed to celebrate the modern short story, and to introduce listeners to writers, old and new. It's all about spreading the love for this enduring and satisfying literary form. While it is intended as a source of useful information and a way to learn, it will steer clear of academic discussions and focus instead on the ways in which great literature can enhance our lives. Each episode is devoted to a single story and author, and features an audiobook-style reading of the story. Additional content includes background information about the author, and personal reactions and observations from the host and his occasional guests.
Our final episode of our fifth season is a special holiday episode. It's part of a continuing series we like to call "Found Fiction." We present a story first published in 1903: "The Fur Coat: The Story of a Matrimonial Difference" by Ludwig Fulda. It was discovered on Project Gutenberg in an anthology published in 1907 by P. F. Collier & Son - The third volume in a series titled Short Story Classics, which was devoted to international fiction, gathering together stories from one featured country in each book.
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Nebraska author Anna Monardo joins me to talk about her books After Italy: A Family Memoir of Arranged Marriage and The Courtyard of Dreams (both from Bordighera Press). She reveals the unique connection shared by these books - one CNF and the other fiction - and the writer's journey that made them both possible.
https://annamonardo.com/
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Author Vishwas R. Gaitonde started life in India, and then made his way to England and finally the US, having lived in many states before settling in North Carolina. His short story collection On Earth As It Is In Heaven won the 2023 Orison Prize for fiction, and was published by Orison Books in 2025. We read "The Wrath of Allah," a story from On Earth As It Is In Heaven that was first published in The MacGuffin.
https://www.vishwasgaitonde.com/
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Author Ian Forth divides his time between Bordeaux, France and Wales. His debut story collection Hazlitt and the Mobility Scooter (Hard Travelling Books) was released this year. He's also a memoirist, with two published titles: Water Under the Bridge: Recollections from an Only Life, and Canal Conversations: Cycling on the Canal des Deux Mers. We read "Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright," which was first published in Syncopation Literary Journal.
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Wisconsin author Michael Hopkins is an award-winning writer whose debut collection Never Stop Exiting (Cornerstone Press) was released this year. It has been called "stealthily complex and persistently compassionate" by Phong Nguyen, author of Bronze Drum. We read "Foreclosure," a story from the collection.
https://www.michaelhopkinswriter.com/
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Washington DC author Lauren D. Woods discusses her debut collection The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe, winner of the 2024 Autumn House Fiction Prize, with her husband and SST alum Andrew Bertaina (Ep. 10). We read her story "Clementine," which was first published in The Antioch Review.
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Missouri author David Haynes's long-awaited debut story collection Martha's Daughter has finally arrived after seven novels and five books for young readers. It is the sixth volume in McSweeney's OF THE DIASPORA series. SST alum Stanley Stocker (Ep. 42) interviews David about his life and work, and we read "That's Right, You're Not From Texas," which was first published in the anthology The Story Behind the Story: 26 Stories by Contemporary Writers and How They Work (W. W. Norton).
https://hayneswrites.com/
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In her debut collection Some Final Beauty and Other Stories (University of Nevada Press), California author Lisa Alvarez writes about her home town of Los Angeles with deep affection. These compelling stories chronicle lives that are indelibly affected by pivotal moments in the history of the city and of the world beyond, honoring the courageous people who chose to fight for peace, justice and civil rights.
https://www.lisaalvarez.com/
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Nigerian author Olajide Omojarabi discusses his story "Messenger Meg," which was published in the Ploughshares Summer 2025 issue. The interview is conducted by fellow writer Daniel Dykiel. Olajide reads "Messenger Meg" in the episode.
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Montreal author Veena Gokhale's new collection, Annapurna's Bounty: Indian Food Legends Retold (Dundurn Press), is a literary smorgasbord. It's a potent brew of folk tales, myths and legends taken from India's rich tapestry of oral and written history, re-imagined for modern readers. But the best surprise is the inclusion of recipes for the individual dishes at the heart of every story.
https://www.veenago.com/
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As a child, NY Times bestselling author J.D. Barker would never set foot in the basement. He'd read the stories about what happens to little boys who wander off into places like that. Now he's writing those stories - and they're doing the same thing to a whole new generation of readers. SOMETHING I KEEP UPSTAIRS is his latest. It's from Simon & Schuster. https://jdbarker.com/
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Toronto author Catherine Bush writes about intimacy and connection - but ventures far beyond the human-to-human. She explores the indefinable realm where it may be possible for the natural world to reveal to us the sublime nature of all things - if we have the courage to see. Her new collection is Skin (Goose Lane Editions). For this episode, the title story from Skin is read by the author. https://catherinebush.com/
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SoCal author William R. Hincy discusses his collection WITHOUT EXPIRATION, winner of the 2021 American Book Fest American Fiction Prize. He's the host of the long-running literary interview series on YouTube known as WRITERS DRINKING WHISKEY. We read "Flying," which was first published in Ancient Paths Literary Magazine.
https://williamrhincy.com/
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Award-winning NJ author Laury A. Egan's new collection is Contrary - an eclectic mix of twenty-one stories which also includes a two-act play. She's the author of seventeen books of fiction and four poetry volumes. We read her story "The Impaired Pair," which appears in Contrary. https://www.lauryaegan.com/
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The literary journal Saw Palm was created in 2006 by John Henry Fleming, Phd and the MFA students of the Creative Writing Program at the University of South Florida. Saw Palm's mission is to go beyond the tourist brochures and capture the unique experience of Florida lives, landscapes, and tropes. The episode features a discussion about the making of Issue 19 with Dr. Fleming and student editors Elizabeth Pottinger and Andrea Figueroa-Irizarry, moderated by fellow editor Daniel Dykiel. We read a story from the issue: "Alligator Soup" by Brittany Hague. https://www.sawpalm.org/
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Award-winning Toronto author Caitlin Galway speaks with us about her "mad scientist" approach to writing, which has produced some of the most startling and original fiction being written today. Her new collection is A Song for Wildcats, published by Dundurn Press.
https://caitlingalway.wixsite.com/caitlin-l-galway
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Canadian author Pratap Reddy was born in India, but has lived in Mississauga, Ontario since 2002. In his fiction, he pays homage to the courageous men and women who have braved hardships of every kind while seeking a new future in the West. His new collection is Remaindered People & Other Stories (Guernica Editions). From the collection, we read "Storm in a Teacup."
https://pratapreddy.com/index.html
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Award-winning NY author Sarah Freligh joins us to discuss her new collection OTHER EMERGENCIES (Univ of Arkansas Press), which is the 2025 Moon City Press Editors Choice Selection. Her oeuvre includes several poetry collections and a novella. We read "All That Water," which was first published in Stone Canoe. https://sarahfreligh.com/
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With her debut collection Frail Little Embers, UK author Fija Callaghan has created a literary offering that will enchant and delight readers. In this beguiling work, she's re-imagined myths and folk and fairy tales, offering inspiring examples of the resilience of the human spirit. We read, from the collection: "Life, Death, and Other Complications."
https://fijacallaghan.com/
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Indiana author T.D. Johnston is the founder and editor of Short Story America, a small press that publishes the Short Story America anthology series in addition to author story collections and novels. Friday Afternoon and Other Stories, his first collection, won the 2017 International Book Award Prize for Short Fiction. We read "The First Key" from that collection. https://tdjohnston.com/
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We've brought back a newly-packaged edition of our 2022 Holiday episode, featuring stories selected from our contest submissions that year, as well as a few by authors who were guests on the podcast. We've added a story from 1917 that was discovered in the archives of Project Gutenberg, and was featured in Episode 4 of the first edition of Short Story Today. Featuring the voices of Jon DiSavino, Alison Fraser, Peter Garruba, Barret Leddy, and Suzanne Savoy. https://shortstorytoday.com/
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This week we've created an audiobook anthology of short stories about thanksgiving - not the holiday, per se, but the things that Thanksgiving represents: family bonds, gratitude, and benevolence. There are nine stories by five authors: Mathieu Cailler, Melissa Ostrom, Andrea Rinard, John Sheirer, and Hart Vetter. Featuring the voices of Daniel Dykiel, Sierra Lidén, Meg Sewell, and Jon DiSavino.
https://shortstorytoday.com/
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Toronto author Danila Botha's third story collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness (Guernica Editions), moves uniquely through time. She combines multigenerational stories that eloquently reflect on history with contemporary stories of the lives and loves of urban youth. Sierra Lidén reads "Don't Look Back," which was first published in Jewishfiction.net.
https://www.danilabotha.com/
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Mississippi author Eliot Parker's second collection of stories is something of a love letter to the hard-working people of Appalachia that he's come to appreciate in the many years he's lived in the territory. Table For Two (Colorful Crow Publishing) is a multi-genre collection of tales that focus on one-on-one conversations with heart and humor. We read "Giving," the final story in the book.
https://www.eliotparker.com/
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Award-winning Massachusetts author Jeffrey Feingold will see his third short story collection published this fall. A FINE MADNESS - AND OTHER MAD STORIES (MFT Press) is a combination of literary realism and magical realism that crosses over, at times, into the surreal. What binds it all together, though, is the humor. We read "My Left Foot" from his first book, The Black Hole Pastrami.
https://jeffreymfeingold.com/
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New Orleans author Marguerite Sheffer is a Professor of Practice at Tulane University, where she teaches courses in design thinking and speculative fiction as tools for social change. Read her collection The Man in the Banana Trees (Univ of Iowa Press) to see how it's done. We read "The Observer's Cage," which was first published in The Offing.
https://www.margueritesheffer.com/
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Bay Area author Nina Schuler doesn't subscribe to the "write what you know" school of thought. For her, that would just be boring. In her fiction, she writes fearlessly about complex subjects like AI and the science of climate change, and makes us think about what roles we might take in an effort to make the world a better place. Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth, has called her collection IN THIS RAVISING WORLD "the book this moment needs." We read "Brethren and Sistren" from the collection.
https://ninaschuyler.com/
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New Jersey author Janis Hubschman was a marathon runner, so she understands the true meaning of endurance. The women in her debut story collection Take Me With You Next Time (Betty Books) are athletes and outdoorswomen who find themselves on terrain that challenges not only their bodies, but their hearts and minds, too. We read "Please See Me," which was first published in Chautauqua Journal.
https://www.janishubschman.com/about.html
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Author Tara Isabel Zambrano is an electrical engineer by day, where she relies on her left brain in designing semiconductors. She balances that by ensuring that her right brain gets time to do some playing - particularly in the form of writing fiction. Of her new collection Ruined a Little When We Are Born (Dzanc Books), Laura Picklesimer, author of Kill For Love writes:"Enchanting and heartbreaking, Zambrano’s prose pulses with intensity, magic, and insight."
https://taraisabelzambrano.wordpress.com/
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Georgia author Viggy Parr Hampton discovered that the best way to find the satisfyingly scary horror stories she craved was to write them herself. She's just published her second novel, Much Too Vulgar, which has been described by Ronald Malfi, bestselling author of Small Town Horror as “A brash, unapologetic, and often funny novel with a delightful nasty streak." We read the story "The Waiting Mortuary," which was published in The Cafe. https://viggyhampton.com/
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Don't be misled by the title of Amy Stuber's debut collection SAD GROWNUPS (Stillhouse Press). It's full of humor. "The stories in SAD GROWNUPS are masterful. At turns funny, insightful, and wise. I couldn't stop reading." - Cara Blue Adams, author of YOU NEVER GET IT BACK. We read a story that was first published in The Common: "Dick Cheney Was Not My Father."
https://www.amystuber.com/
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Canadian author Kirti Bhadresa was born in Red Deer, Alberta to Indian parents who had travelled far and wide before settling there. In her debut collection An Astonishment of Stars, she honors the lives of women - sisters, wives and mothers - who are caught between two worlds. ECW Press has graciously permitted us to share an excerpt from "In a Name" taken form the audiobook edition of An Astonishment of Stars, read by Roveena Gnanabakthan. https://beingkirti.com/an-astonishment-of-stars
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In the fourteen years author Meg Pokrass has been writing flash, she has established herself as a key figure in the world of flash fiction. First Law of Holes, her newly-released volume of new and collected stories, represents the astonishing wealth of creativity generated during those years. Meg reads six of the stories from her collection. https://megpokrass.com/
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The flash stories in Canadian author Hollay Ghadery's debut collection Widow Fantasies are like portrait miniatures, capturing essential moments in the lives of each character with laser-like focus and clarity. We read three stories from the book: "Tarot of St. Petersburg," Audience as Patio Furniture," and "Tennis Whites."
https://www.hollayghadery.ca/ https://hollay-ghadery.squarespace.com/
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There's a lot on Canadian author Kathryn Mockler's mind when it comes to what sorts of things the future might hold. In her hybrid collection Anecdotes (Bookhug Press), she channels her anxiety about the planet into bold, original, and surprisingly humorous works that take aim at the indifference surrounding us in these perilous times. We read four stories from the section of the book titled My Dream House*. https://www.kathrynmockler.com/
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UK author Claire Carroll is the daughter of a zoologist, which is no surprise given the ways in which her reverence for the natural world figures largely in her fiction. She brings a daring imagination and a dark humor to the stories in her debut collection The Unreliable Nature Writer (Scratch Books), which examine the fragile relationship between humankind and the natural world.
For this episode, the story "My Two Sons" is read by the author.
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In his linked story collection Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts, Washington DC author Nick Rees Gardner has created a fictional landscape inspired by his hometown of Mansfield, Ohio - which he has affectionately dubbed "Westinghouse." But it's not a rose-tinted homage. Nick's personal experience of the opioid crisis that grew out of the economic hard times which have effected places like Mansfield make this collection a unique and important work of literature. We read "Psychedelicious," which was first published in Cutleaf. https://nickreesgardner.com/
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In his collection Stumbling Through Adulthood, Massachusetts author John Sheirer pays homage to folks like the ones he got to know while growing up in rural Pennsylvania. He creates indelible portraits of the unsung heroes of small town America - simple folk who time and again prove that "simple" is simply a matter of opinion. We read "Security," which was first published in Wordpeace.
http://www.johnsheirer.com/
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Kolby Granville, Founder and Editor of After Dinner Conversation: Philosophy and Ethics Short Story Magazine shares his thoughts and ideas about publishing a periodical, using fiction to explore ethical principals and philosophical concepts, and elevating popular culture. We read a story from the magazine: "Father Dale's Drive-thru Exorcisms" by Viggy Parr Hampton. https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com/
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Author Timothy Laurence Marsh's coastal Southern California home town set the stage for his entering college on a tennis scholarship, where he began pursuing a career in law enforcement. But an elective course in creative writing put him on a very different path. We discuss his forthcoming story collection My Mother Fires Guns, and read "The Perfect Paris Day," which was published in The MacGuffin.
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Toronto author Eufemia Fantetti is the child of Italian immigrants who emigrated to Canada in the sixties. In her story collection A Recipe for Disaster & Other Unlikely Tales of Love (Mother Tongue), she responds to the ways in which cultural beliefs and traditions effect the lives of generations struggling to adapt in their new and strikingly different worlds. https://www.eufemiafantetti.com/home-eufemia-fantetti
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In Toronto author Aaron Kreuter's linked story collection Rubble Children, he's provided a stirring and provocative portrait of a Jewish community in Toronto struggling with the difficult choices they must face as their core beliefs are brought into question. Palestinian-Canadian author Saeed Teebi, author of Her First Palestinian, is the guest interviewer for this episode. We read "The Krasners" from Rubble Children. https://aaronkreuter.com/
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Award-winning Ontario children's book author Nicola Winstanley has recently published a collection of fiction - this time for grownups. Smoke (Buckrider Books) is a linked story collection which follows the life path of a resilient woman from her rocky New Zealand childhood to her stable existence as an adult living in Ontario, Canada. Nathan Whitlock, author of Lump, has called it "meticulously crafted and emotionally walloping." We read "Feeling in the Flesh," a psychological horror story from the collection. https://www.nicolawinstanley.com/
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While we prepare for Season 3, we thought it might be fun to bring you some first-rate stories that probably haven’t seen the light of day in ages. We’re going to refer to these episodes as our "Found Fiction" episodes. These gems have been unearthed from the electronic vaults of Project Gutenberg - one of our favorite literary resources. They're stories written by writers who were popular in their day but who sadly, over time, have fallen into obscurity.
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Nigerian author Wole Talabi excels at math (he's an engineer), so he creates what he calls a "fiction-equation" when beginning a story. But don't be misled by the technical sound of it. There's a deep reverence for humanity in his stories, which expertly capture the beauty and wonder of science and technology. His new collection is Convergence Problems (DAW Books) which a Booklist starred review calls “…a triumph of short fiction.” https://wtalabi.wordpress.com/
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New York author Nicole Haroutunian knows how to keep an audience engaged - whether, as a museum educator, it's the groups she helps find a deeper connection with art - or readers of her fiction. Her newly-released novel-in-stories Choose This Now has been hailed by Lydia Kiesling, author of Mobility and The Golden State as " a sparkling, intimate look at women’s lives." Sierre Lidén reads "Three Times I Breathed Other People's Breath and No One Worried About Death," which was published in Tupelo Quarterly. https://nicoleharoutunian.com/
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Chicago author Ananda Lima was born in Brasilia, Brazil, and made her way to Illinois via Australia and New York while working in the field of linguistics. She is a translator, a fiction writer, and an award-winning poet. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called her debut collection Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil "a terrific fiction debut." https://www.anandalima.com/about/
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Missouri author Jess Bowers began her lifelong love affair with horses while still a child in her hometown of York, Pennsylvania - but she wasn't born to ranchers or farmers. Her dad was a sports journalist and a poet who fostered the love of literature in their home, which became the foundation on which she would build her writing career. We read "Granddad Swam" from her debut collection Horse Show, which was first published in Oyez Review. https://jessbowers.org/
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This emerging Canadian author writes under the pseudonym of Trent Lewin. "It was specifically picked so that I could elude the reality in which I’d lived for so many years, the reality that always had boundaries on it, and limits as to what I could do. I didn’t want my writing in a box." He has a PhD. But it's not in Creative Writing. It's in Environmental Engineering. He does important work there. But in the field of writing, he's begun to make another kind of mark on the world. We read his story "The Longest Day." https://trentlewin.com/
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Vancouver, Canada author Andrea Bishop has been awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to complete her first collection of short stories. The work-in-progress features stories of fearless women - hikers, hockey-players, moms, and mom-athletes - all striving to create harmony in an often brutal world. We read her story "Ice Created Layer Upon Layer," which was published in Grain Magazine. https://andreabishop.ca/
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Canadian author Dave Gregory writes fiction on a wide variety of topics. But with his stories based on experiences shared in the oral tradition by his father, he creates a palpable connection to a world gone by. His Port Colborne stories depict his dad's rough-and-tumble post-war childhood, preserving a precious part of his family's past, and honoring his father's memory with a literary legacy. We read "Last Jump Off the Lift Bridge." https://courtlandavenue.wordpress.com/
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No stranger to hard work, Indiana author Tommy Dean toiled in the corn fields of his youth, dreaming of basketball or baseball stardom. He's drawn to the ways that writing fiction allows him to become a kind of shapeshifter, creating worlds in which he gets to live multiple lives. The characters who populate his stories may live hard lives, but their faith in humanity keeps them connected to the world in profound ways. We read "Naming the Darkness" from the collection Hollows. https://tommydeanwriter.com/
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Tennessee author Amy Cipolla Barnes grew up in Great Plains territory, where her grandparents owned and operated a farm. In her fiction and other writing, one feels a powerful and ever-present connection to the earth and the natural world. Sierra Lidén reads "Docked," "St. Lucy of El Paso," "Drowning on Main Street," and "The Art of Brutalism."
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Michigan author Keith Hood can remember with clarity the day the riots of 1967 came right up to the front door of his childhood Detroit home. In his fiction and essays, he writes with a reverent yet unalloyed veracity about his hometown, where he witnessed dramatic changes taking place. We read his story "Utility," which was first published in Blue Mesa Review. https://keithhoodwriter.com/
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Massachusetts author Chaya Bhuvaneswar is a practicing psychiatrist in the Boston area who joins a long tradition of doctors who have written poetry and fiction while pursuing a life in medicine. Her debut story collection White Dancing Elephants was the winner of the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize in 2017, and was selected for the list of "35 Over 35" Debut Books in 2018. In this episode, Chaya reads an excerpt from her story "Wormhole," which was published in the Southern Humanities Review. https://www.chayabhuvaneswar.com/
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Pennsylvania author Doug Brown's debut story collection My Bohemian Baptism and Then Some (Serif Press) is a testament to his determination to never give up on the dream of being a writer. Following a thirty-plus year hiatus where life had other plans for him, he's returned to the pursuit he's always loved. In this episode we read the title story from the collection.
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COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES is the brainchild of authors Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey, whose combined years working in the publishing industry has given them a unique advantage. Now in its third year, the award-winning annual anthology has quickly risen to a position to rival the old guard. In this episode, we learn about their entrepreneurial journey, and get a sneak peek at Mark's newly-released crime noir novel, Necessary Deeds (Regal House Publishing). https://www.coolestamericanstories.com/
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New Jersey author Alyson Mosquera Dutemple began her professional career working in film production. The pressures of working on-set soon had her turning her attention to writing screenplays - some of which she succeeded in having optioned. But it was her love of writing fiction - stories in particular - that eventually won out. We read four of her flash pieces: "Ploughman's Lunch," "Prix Fixe," "Pugilists," and "Checking on the Devil." https://www.alysondutemple.com/
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South Carolina author Dustin M. Hoffman spent ten years as a house painter - which might have something to do with his fondness for characters from the working class. We discuss stories from his forthcoming collection Such a Good Man (University of Wisconsin Press), in which the plight of day laborers during the Great Recession is given center stage. We read "Smoke at the End of the World," which was first published in DIAGRAM. https://dustinmhoffman.com/
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New Jersey author Bill Merklee was playing in rock bands when he began working for a newspaper that had a tuition-reimbursement program. It was his rediscovery of Kurt Vonnegut in his first years of college that motivated him to become a writer. His flash fiction explores the challenges posed by faith and the sometimes difficult legacies that are passed down through the generations. We read "Portugal," "Papi in the House," "Empty Nest," and "At the Movies."
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Philadelphia author Matthew Goldberg's fiction, as described on his website, "reimagines the mundane through the lens of the absurd." His speculative works ask deep questions about the ills of society and the ways in which we choose to confront or ignore them. We read his Uncharted's SciFi/Fantasy Award winner "Bees Wings." https://www.mmgoldberg.com/
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Award-winning UK author Alice Jolly had 5 novels to her credit prior to publishing her first story collection - but she'd been writing stories the whole time. From Far Around They Saw Us Burn brings together an astonishing array of characters: eccentrics and outcasts, young mothers and orphans - the vulnerable and the misunderstood struggling to be heard. Clara Francesca reads "All the Places That I Have Not Seen."
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Nishanth Injam was raised in Telangana, India, and now makes his home in the US, in the Chicago area. His debut story collection, The Best Possible Experience, is a NY Times Editor's Choice pick. Nishanth is interviewed by his friend and colleague Stanley Stocker (Ep. 42), who met Nishanth when they both received the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize in 2021. https://www.nishanthinjam.com/about
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As an adolescent, Los Angeles author Mathieu Cailler accompanied his grandfather to LA comedy clubs - an experience that gave him the idea that writing jokes might be a worthy pursuit. Over time, those early efforts at comedy would lead him to write fiction and poetry. He now has seven books to his credit. We read his story "A Little off the Top," which first appeared in the 2017 Short Story America anthology. https://mathieucailler.com/
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UK author Emma Brankin's debut story collection Attention Seekers features stories inspired by her former career as an entertainment columnist, where she got to rub elbows with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande. That's not to say, however, that her fiction is superficial. She writes stories of a depth and complexity that belies her age. The author reads "I Am a Trainwreck Actress's Vagina" and "Eulogy for a Bastard," and Jon DiSavino reads "The Second Miss Thompson" - all of which are in Attention Seekers.
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California authors and fellow Stanford grads Leslie Kirk Campbell and Daniel A. Olivas reverse roles in this episode as interviewer and interviewee. They each get a chance to discuss their latest story collection: The Man With Eight Pairs of Legs (Sarabande Books) by Leslie Kirk Campbell and How to Date a Flying Mexican (University of Nevada Press) by Daniel A. Olivas. Sierra Lidén reads the selected stories. https://danielolivas.com/ https://lesliekirkcampbell.com/
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Massachusetts author John Fulton's fiction has the power to cast an unusual kind of spell upon the reader. You may find him deftly weaving elements of magical realism into the narrative - but there's always a deeply realized truth to be discovered each time. We read "Stitches," a story from his most recent collection The Flounder, which first appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review. https://johnfulton.net/
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Hawai'i author Jessie Ren Marshall's confidence as a writer was evident even as a child, as an early self-published book entitled How to Write a Book made clear. Her debut story collection Women! In! Peril! (Bloomsbury) is proof that she knew exactly what she was talking about. Her story "After I Become a Ghost" is read by Sarah High, and Jessie reads "Find Water Near Me." https://www.jessierenmarshall.com/
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Before Western New York author Melissa Ostrom fell in love with reading and long before she began writing stories, all she wanted to do was play. And she's never let go of that joyful impulse to explore, which is the secret behind her highly original fiction. We read her stories "Super-Absorbent Stella" (read by Clara Francesca), "The Postscript" (read by Jon DiSavino), and "Measurements" (read by Sierra Lidén). https://www.melissaostrom.com/
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Virginia author Julee Newberger's life was upended when she learned, at the age of forty, that she'd been adopted - information she received only after both her parents had died. She's currently working on a unique memoir which will blend non-fiction with imagined events. Her story "Along the Sound" is read by Sierra Lidén. https://juleenewberger.com/
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New Jersey author Stephen Cicirelli has a penchant for philosophy - and it shows up in his stories in surprising ways. But there's nothing academic about them. They vibrate with energy, often weaving sorrow with humor. We read his story "Quitting," about an experiment in free will that goes awry.
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California author Grant Faulkner was born and raised in Oskaloosa, Iowa - an experience that helped shape his sensibilities as a writer of stories of heartland America. But it's the 100 word story that has, of late, become his obsession. And there is no limit to what he's been able to achieve in that arena. In this episode we read two flash stories: "The Passenger" and "Cold Hard Cash." https://grantfaulkner.com/
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New Hampshire author Erica Plouffe Lazure was born and raised in Massachusetts, but she has a particular fondness for the South - and for story-telling in the Southern tradition. In her award-winning collection Proof of Me - & Other Stories, she's created a fictitious town in North Carolina called Mewborn in order to tell the the stories of its inhabitants. In this episode, we read one of those stories: "The Shit Branch." https://ericaplouffelazure.com/
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Italian author Eleonora Balsano (who now resides in Brussels) can speak and write in multiple languages - but she feels most at home writing in English. While it's not her mother tongue, it's a language she's come to believe affords her more freedom as a writer. Her interest in the experiences of writers who share this belief has compelled her create a podcast called "Chosen Tongue." We read two of her flash stories: "The Movie Star's Daughter Has an Itchy Back" and "The Best Vintages Have a Distinctive Character." https://www.eleonorabalsano.net/
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Australian author Catherine McNamara has made the Veneto region in Italy her chosen home. But to get there, she first had to explore Paris, West Africa and Mogadishu, where she was an embassy secretary prior to the war in Somalia. The colorful backdrops for her stories reflect her love of the far-flung lands she has made her home. We read her story "The Bamboo Furnace," from her prize-winning collection The Cartography of Others. https://www.catherinemcnamarawriter.com
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Connecticut author J. Kevin Shushtari is a practicing physician, but when it comes to his fiction, it's not the world of medicine that interests him. His stories are inspired by the unique worlds and colorful characters known to him from his Iranian father's and Irish Catholic mother's families. We read his award-winning story "The Vast Garden of Strangers," which was published in Glimmer Train.
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NYC author Francine Witte has had a major impact on the world of flash fiction. As a writer, editor and prompt session leader, she has become an influential figure, admired by her peers and looked up to by young poets and writers. We read four flash stories from her most recent collection Just Outside the Tunnel of Love: "Potato Saga," "All the Electric Things," "Mom's Pumpkin Boyfriend" and "My Father Takes Me to the Rodeo."
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We open Season 2 with Canadian author Jon Delacourt. John has a fondness for the arts - especially the creatives who make everything happen. The lives of painters, actors, musicians and dancers occupy a special place in his work, and he brings the worlds they inhabit to life in unique and compelling ways. We read his story "Duende," which was published in Syncopation Literary Review.
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Author Allison Field Bell is a native of California, and has been a desert-dweller for much of her life. She now resides in the desert state of Utah, where she is pursuing her PhD in Prose at the University of Utah. In both her fiction and nonfiction, she explores how being neuroatypical effects the daily routines of individuals in ways that confine and sometimes enlarge their lives. We read her story "River Mountain Summer," which was published in Quarterly West.
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Wisconsin author Scot Mitchel May boasts an unusual job resume. He's been a short order cook in a fast food joint as well as a staff writer for Wisconsin senators. And now he's a novelist, with a newly-published work, Breakneck, and two other books due to be released later this year. We read his story "Naked Cake," which was published in The Metaworker. https://www.scottmitchelmay.com/home
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A child of the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, author Kimberly Elkins landed in New York City early in her writing career. She started by writing plays, and had some produced in NYC by professional theater companies, but eventually found that she felt more at home writing fiction. Her first novel, What Is Visible was widely praised, and received a David J. Langum, Sr. Prize for American Historical Fiction in 2014.
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As the daughter of a mixed-race mother whose own mother had come to the U.S. from Japan, Emily Doyle saw how religion, culture and society held them down, and was moved to choose a different path for herself. It was as a writer that she would find the agency she longed for. We read her story "Thursdays For Haru," which was first published in The Sun Magazine. https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/565/thursdays-for-haru
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We our continue our series CULTURE IN FICTION with a conversation with Italian-Canadian writers. Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews, Eufemia Fantetti, Lori Sebastianutti and Natalie Welsh join Jon in a conversation about growing up as the children of Italian immigrants in the Toronto area, and the ways in which their cultural heritage has influenced their work.
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The stories of New York author Carrie Esposito can be searing in their attention to the frailties found in family relationships - whether they're families of origin or families of choice. She understands the ways in which the roles we're given in life - wife, mother, son, father - can push us to our limits as we strive to learn who we really are. We read the story "Man of the House," which was published in Ruminate. https://www.carrieesposito.com/
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In her story collection Sidle Creek, Pennsylvania native Jolene McIlwain writes about the rural America she grew up in with compassion and tenderness. That's not to say that every character is a charmer. She understands how hardship can harden folks, and writes with blinding clarity about the brutality that resides there as well. We read a story from the collection entitled "The Steep Side." https://www.jolenemcilwain.com/
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To commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the podcast, we're honoring our very first guest author, John Henry Fleming, with a reading of his short story "Song for the Deaf," from his collection "Songs for the Deaf." (Burrow Press)
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Indian author Mandira Pattnaik's writing career began with a surprising discovery: under the mantle of science fiction, she could express her outrage at the harm done to society by the introduction of the cellphone. She has gone on from there to address, in her stories, societal and environmental concerns such as global warming and the overdevelopment of her beloved country. We read her story "Whether an Apocryphal Story?" https://mandirapattnaik.com/
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Missouri author L Mari Harris's flash fiction is not for the faint of heart. It is her aim to push readers into uncomfortable places. Nothing is off limits: taboos, family secrets - in her stories, they're all fair game. We read two of her flash stories: "They're So Beautiful When They're Sleeping" and "The Exterminator."
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When a briefcase containing his laptop and years of work was stolen, Texas author Andrew Porter nearly lost all hope. Luckily for us, a visiting writer gig at U of Maryland, Baltimore turned his life around. And the rest is history. We read his story "Two Men," which was published in The Missouri Review. https://www.andrewporterwriter.com/
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Canadian author Kirsti MacKenzie is blazing a trail as a writer of fiction with her unmistakable, inimitable voice. Like a modern-day Dorothy Parker, she is creating her own personal brand of razor-sharp and quick-witted fiction. We read two of her flash stories: "The Incumbent" and "You Crown Paul Shaffer's Head With Mustard."
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Growing up in rural midwest America gave author Madeline Anthes a way of seeing the world that would reverberate throughout her writing. As a mother of two young sons, she reveals how motherhood has "pushed [her] boundaries of emotional capacity," and brought a new level of depth and complexity to her work. We read four of her flash fiction pieces: "Staying Afloat," "Love Scream," "The Way Our Voices Carry" and "The Last One." https://madelineanthes.com/
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We begin our new Culture In Fiction series with an episode featuring five accomplished Jewish writers who discuss how their faith and cultural heritage inform their work. Mara Beneway, Temim Fruchter, Mordecai Martin, Kate Schmier and Bonnie Weinstein Crowe engage in a lively conversation covering topics like Jewish humor, the Yiddishe Mama in popular culture, and the great tradition of storytelling handed down through the generations.
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Author Danny DeRock was born and raised in the U.S. Midwest, and now lives in the Netherlands. He has a PhD in political science from the University of Amsterdam, and does research on the global political economy of climate change. At the age of 34, through his own research, he determined he was autistic, a diagnosis that was medically confirmed. He speaks candidly about how his ADHD and autism have affected his life and his creativity. We read "Artifacts," a speculative fiction story that first appeared in Reservoir Road Literary Review.
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California author Marianne Villanueva has no fear when it comes to writing fiction. She writes in an astonishing variety of genres, styles, tones and voices. And, on occasion, she'll even invent a new language. But they all vibrate with a verve and spirit that are unmistakably hers. We read her story "Residents of the Deep," about an explorer who believes he has discovered the lost city of Atlantis.
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California author Kyle Seibel joined the Navy and got to see the world. The impression it made would inform his writing with wisdom and wonder. In the stories that make up his new and soon-to-be-released collection Hey You Assholes, he celebrates the boy in the man, and the man in the boy. We read "Master Guns," in which a young enlisted sailor finds himself partnered with a troubled officer whose idea of a good time while on shore leave takes them on a wild ride through Bahrain.
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California author Tanya Žilinskas has made her home of Marin County the backdrop for many of her stories. She is acutely aware that the perception of safety and security in a suburban haven is just an illusion. And for her characters, the dangers may be hiding in plain sight. We read her story "Sillage," about a woman whose personal and professional lives have prompted her to discover a different kind of desire.
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In his stories, North Carolina author Justin Bryant is compelled to write about the things that fill him with fear. From forces of nature that wrest control away from sailors and pilots, to giant spiders, he takes back the power with his pen. We read his story "On These Seas, Colors Wash to Gray."
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Minneapolis author Maureen Aitken has written a love letter to her home town of Detroit with the evocative and heart-warming stories in her collection
The Patron Saint of Lost Girls. Known alternately as Motor City and Motown, the urban Michigan metropolis serves as the backdrop for the lives of a white family living in a majority-minority community during the turbulent sixties and seventies. Meg Sewell reads three stories from the collection.
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Washington, DC area author Stanley Stocker knew he wanted to be a lawyer from the age of ten. What he discovered as an adult was a love for writing fiction. He's now an award winning author, with a historical fiction novel in the works, which is set in Mississippi in the early 20th century. We read his Pen America Dau prize-winning story "The List."
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Washington, DC area author Emily Mirengoff loves the unreliable narrator. Her stories with first person narratives feature the kinds of interior monologues that can take readers on a spellbinding journey into a child's - or a senior citizen's mind. Meg Sewell reads a first-person narrative, "It Could Be Worse Than California."
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We're celebrating Valentine's Day with a micro fiction sampler of love stories. They're not your grandma's love stories, however. These are of the literary variety. There's sweetness and humor inside, of course - but you'll find some edgy and weird stuff in their, too. Featuring stories by Steve Almond and Pamela Painter, and the 11 contest-winning entries. Read by Alison Fraser, Barrett Leddy, Suzanne Savoy, Meg Sewell and Jon DiSavino.
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Author Pamela Painter is one of the most respected writers and educators in the world of short fiction. Her workbook "What If? Writing Exercises For Fiction Writers" which she co-wrote with Anne Bernays has become a staple of university writing programs. In recent years, Pamela has been teaching flash fiction workshops from coast to coast. We read her story "Deck," taken from the collection "Ways To Spend The Night."
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Portland, Oregon author Evan Morgan Williams gives a mini-master class on writing noir literary fiction. It's the genre he's chosen for his new novel. He finds satisfaction in creating the kinds of characters who turn out to be their own worst enemy. We read his story "A House Call," originally published in Ars Medica.
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In his highly original flash fiction, Iowa author Will Musgrove applies his own unique brand of twisted logic to scenes from daily life. Zoo cages become displays of human domestic bliss and exotic animals lurk in the wallpaper of suburban homes. We read his stories "Open Tryout," "Small Town Stuffing" and "A Bout of Insomnia."
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Hawaiian author Melissa Llanes Brownlee explains life on the islands as only an indigenous person who was born and raised there can. In her fiction, Hawaiian history, culture and lore are often woven together with the pop culture emblems of her youth. We read four of Melissa's flash fiction stories: 35mm, The Reused Cool Whip Container, Relax Said the Nightman, and A Primo Place to Stay.
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Author K.B. Carle lives and writes just on the edge of Philadelphia. She has built a remarkable body of work, creating some of the most memorable characters you're likely to meet. And you can be sure that none of them will go quietly into that good night. We talk about her knack for recreating speech in dialects that were part of her family's legacy, and how having fun in the writing process can lead to producing exceptional stories. We read "The Feeling of Life," which chronicles a portentous moment in the lives of three young boys.
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Baltimore, MD author Stephanie Parent reveals some of the mysteries of her lived experience as a submissive in a commercial BDSM dungeon while living and studying in Los Angeles. She has drawn on this for inspiration in the writing of her soon-to-be- released gothic horror novel "The Briars." We read her folk-tale inspired story "Deer, Girl," in which a young woman encounters a bizarre world hidden within the forest she's entered while taking her evening run.
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OUT NOW! Pakistani author Farah Ali lives with her family in Dubai, but her ties to her childhood home of Karachi run deep. It's often the background against which her stories unfold. She creates vivid and moving portraits of its inhabitants as they struggle to survive. We read "Bulletproof Bus," about a husband and father who is desperately working to improve his family's quality of life.
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We celebrate the holidays with a cavalcade of holiday-themed short stories, written by some of the best contemporary writers in the field. Six professional voice artists read 12 stories - featuring Alison Fraser, Suzanne Savoy and Barrett Leddy. Plus, Jon interviews the duo behind the new anthology COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES: Elizabeth Coffey and Mark Wish.
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In writing speculative fiction, Massachusetts author Cheryl Pappas sees a responsibility "to acknowledge the strange in everything." The confining nature of American realism compelled her to seek inspiration from the works of writers like Italo Calvino while living for a time in Florence. We read "This Violent and Cherished Earth," which emerged from Cheryl's experience of a New England upbringing.
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Wisconsin-born author Elizabeth Trueblood writes stories that sometimes dance around the speculative, and at other times dive headlong into it. She populates them with survivors, many of whom possess unique "powers." There's even a "magic little girl" western - which puts a highly imaginative spin on the kind of stories of the old west that we're used to.
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Connecticut author Steven Ostrowski started life as a scrappy city kid from a large family on Staten Island. He developed a love of ice hockey back then, and has continued to play the sport to this day. He describes how he would rush straight from hockey practice to his City College English class, with his giant bag of equipment slung over his shoulder, and make the switch from brawn to brain. He would go on to become a college professor, poet, author, songwriter and painter. We read two of Steven's flash stories in this episode.
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Utah-based author Meagan Arthur uses her stories to explore consciousness, and examine the boundaries between sanity and insanity. In her story "The Telling is Clean," she presents a character who occupies the space in between those worlds.
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It took Kentucky author Whitney Collins 20 years of writing non-fiction for pay before she decided it was time to try her hand at writing fiction. And with guidance from her mentor, she realized what she wanted to do more than anything with her stories was "to go really weird." We read her story "Bjorn," where a young woman finds a unique method of coming to grips with the loss of her "brother."
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As the child of a father in the armed services, Pittsburgh PA author Molly Andrea-Ryan found herself moving frequently to a new town, and had to find ways to cope with the challenges of these transitions. So she immersed herself in books, and then discovered that writing was a way to process the things she was feeling. We read her story "Idle Hands," in which a young couple finds that the hobbies they have begun to think of as pointless pursuits have the potential to change the world.
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Globe-trotting author Claire Polders writes the kind of novels and stories that are only possible from one who possesses a deep understanding of the wider world. Her complex characters reflect this worldly wisdom in unique and surprising ways. We read her story "The Men on the Fence," which examines the fear and confusion experienced by a young boy when observing the poverty and desperation that sits in plain view of the guests at a posh resort in North Africa, where he is on holiday with his parents.
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Upstate NY author Jared Povanda allows us a glimpse into his amazing mind, which provides the imagination that makes his stories come to writhing life on the page. He shares his love of the fantasy and romance genres of fiction, and explains how his exposure to fantasy writing has allowed him to blend fantasy with his own unique literary style. We read his fanciful and visionary story "Missing Pieces," which features fairy tale characters attempting to live everyday lives among the so-called "normal" population.
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OUT NOW! Nigerian-American author Olufunke Grace Bankole shares stories about her life, from serving as an intern with the Supreme Court, to the many impressions she took away from her years living as a child in Nigeria - which she is now compelled write about. We read her story "Niyi and the Tan Stucco House," about a young family waking up to the aftermath of an ice storm.
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Oakland, CA author Minyoung Lee shares her thoughts about the ways in which the immigrant time capsule effect contributed to her way of seeing the world, which was a constantly shifting landscape for her as her family moved from place to place across the globe. That wandering way of life was carried over into patterns that would continue for her as an adult. We read her story "Sing a Song of Sixpence," which explores the challenges of assimilation.
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OUT NOW! We learn from Connecticut author Julia Strayer how the misfits, eccentrics and outsiders she often writes about are, in a way, a reaction to the person she must be in her day job in high finance, which is weighted with great responsibility. We read her story "Empty House," which features some of these confused but colorful characters.
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Pennsylvania author Josh Dale explains how creating a small press publishing house became a way to combine his love of books with his pursuit of a career as a writer. He provides a preview of his just-released novella, "The Light to Never Be Snuffed." We read "A Losing Bet," a story published in Maudlin House in 2022.
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Michener Fellow Reena Shah talks about living as a young woman in Mumbai while learning the classical dance form known as khatak. She took inspiration from that experience when writing a series of linked short stories that became a novel. We read her story "Gloria," which examines some of the challenges of assimilation for a family living in Connecticut in the eighties.
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New Hampshire author Sarah Schweitzer explains how writing fiction was for her a natural extension of the work she had done as a Pulitzer-nominated journalist. Her story "Love, Loss, Live" was inspired by a celebrity news item Sarah happened to read one day.
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Toronto-born author Ahsan Butt talks about growing up in a Punjabi community in Canada before venturing south to the U.S. He writes movingly about what it's like to live as a Muslim in America. We read his thought-provoking story 'Window," which explores this theme. It first appeared in Split Lip Magazine in 2022.
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Danish-born, London-based author Erik Pardos Olsen writes short stories about life in East London. His on-line collection "Queer as in Weird" recounts the stories of the life and loves of Malthe, a gay stand-up comic who is trying to make a go of it on the London comedy club scene. On the episode we read "Straight People," which was published in Parhelion Literary Magazine.
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Texas author Marcela Fuentes won a 2022 Pushcart Prize for her short story "The Observable World," published in Ploughshares in their Summer 2021 issue. It examines a romantic relationship in which neurodiversity presents challenges for the couple that are managed in surprising and creative ways.
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Minnesota author A. Rafael Johnson tells us how this week's story began life as a birthday gift to a friend in his college creative writing program - a tradition created by his classmates as a way around having to purchase a present on a student's budget. His friend is the actual Morrison of "Morrison's Note" - but similarities to actual people are, of course, not intentional.
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New Jersey author Jules Chung shares a glimpse into her experience of visiting relatives as a teenager in Seoul, South Korea in her reading of her poem Cut Fruit and Castella. In our interview with Jules, she offers insights concerning ideas of faith, motherhood and her desire to make meaningful art. We read her story "Posting From a Secret Post-Op Bedside" about a mother who is navigating the new world of being a parent to a trans son. A link to her book recommendation, "Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/605371/minor-feelings-by-cathy-park-hong/
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Maryland author Claire Taylor tells us about her personal journey, where she first earned a psychology degree and then became a licensed massage therapist on her path to becoming a working writer. We read her astonishing speculative fiction story, "Leap Year Mother."
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Virginia author Francesca Leader reveals some of the methodology behind her award-winning translation of the Japanese Iroha poem. She tells us how, when writing stories, she works from a snippet of dialogue, an image or a remembered moment, and then slowly builds the story around it. We read two of her shorter works, The Flaw and Waves.
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Connecticut author Amie Souza Reilly shares how her childhood experiences while spending summers at her grandparents' home on Lake Champlain inspired a series of short stories set in Essex, NY. We read her story "But when we reach the season's end, sunflowers become a food source for all the wild birds," which is taken from that collection.
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Washington, DC author Andrew Bertaina offers a probing and insightful look into his creative process as he describes how he begins working on stories from an emotion or an idea, and then builds the story out from a place inside. He shares his love of landscapes, which he learned to appreciate as a boy growing up in Santa Barbara, California. We read a story from his award-winning collection, "One Person Away From You." In "Dream Mother," a son has an ethereal experience of walking at night with his dead mother, as they reminisce about disappointments from their lives.
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South Carolina author Kasie Whitener talks with us about her experiences teaching entrepreneurship, hosting a SC radio show about writing and writers, and writing novels, all while being a mom to a teenage daughter. We read her provocative short story "Two Trunks," in which a teacher in charge of a kindergarten zoo trip experiences an existential crisis when confronted with the pent-up energy displayed by a caged lioness.
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With her quick wit and vaudeville timing, Arlaina Tibensky brings a breezy humor to the episode this week. She tells us about the joys of being a mother to two adolescent sons, navigating a home (and a world) full of Legos, and gives us a preview of her novel work-in-progress about a mother-daughter safari adventure. We read her whimsical and poignant mother-son story, "Masks."
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Author James R. West has deep roots in the great state of Utah. He gives us a candid account of his early years of life in a Mormon family, and his transition into the adult who would decide to leave that part of his life behind. We read "Cadillac," a coming-of-age story into which some of those early boyhood experiences have found their way.
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Ohio author Kerry Langan tells Short Story Today about growing up in Buffalo, writing stories from a child's point of view, venturing outside her comfort zone to write a speculative fiction piece, and the pleasure she gets from creating male protagonists for her stories. https://www.shortstorytoday.com
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Scott Laudati talks about growing up in an unusual neighborhood in Staten Island, his harrowing experiences working as a dock builder for the City of NY, and being related to the outlaw Jesse James. We read his coming-of-age story, The First Execution, about a friendship fraught with the urge for ritual violence.
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South Florida born, New York based author Elana Marcus is our guest on this episode. She tells us about the personal history she drew from in order to write her award-winning short story "Next of Kin." Using a second-person narrative, it addresses a recently-deceased man who was fiancé, stepfather, father, brother, son and ex-husband to the members of his family who have assembled in his house. Some are there to mourn him, while others appear to be more interested in what will become of his assets.
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Lis Anna-Langston tells Short Story Today about some of the colorful characters that populate her stories and novels - and about how the Buddhist teachings she follows have given her a way to cope with the rejection that is inevitable when submitting works for publication. We read her humorous and provocative story about marital infidelity, "The Descent."
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Corley Longmire speaks about growing up in the Southeast, and how her childhood experiences of extreme weather have found their way into her stories. She writes about gender and societal expectations, bodily autonomy, familial bonds, isolation, and the relation between identity and place. We read her story "Because They Can Get Lost," which examines the unusual ways in which grief can sometimes manifest in our lives.
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In this inaugural episode of the all-new Short Story Today podcast, we celebrate John Henry Fleming, author of the novel "The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman" and the short story collection "Songs for the Deaf." The story featured in this episode is from that collection. In "Wind and Rain," a young man speaks to his younger brother, who lies in a coma following an incident where he was shot by a police officer while reaching into his glove compartment for his license. In that moment, both of their lives are changed forever.
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We bring the "Classic" version of Short Story Today to a close with an episode devoted to the American author, Kate Chopin. Her stories of life in New Orleans and its environs at the turn-of-the-century, which frequently examine the plight of women in marriages of her day, have provided her with a place of respect in early feminist literature. In this episode, we read two stories: "The Story of an Hour" and "A Respectable Woman."
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In "A Mother of Five," Bret Harte, one of the true masters of the short story form, composes a heartwarming tale of the wanderings of a little girl and her family of home-made dolls - a portrait of life during the California Gold Rush.
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In his short story "The Magic Shop," the British titan of science fiction, H. G. Wells conjures up a shape-shifting world inside a mysterious London storefront where a little boy and his father have an experience together that will bond them for life.
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"Death in the Woods" In this masterpiece by American author Sherwood Anderson, the meaning of life (and death) are brought home to a man as he pieces together the fragments of a childhood memory that have haunted him ever since that long-ago day.
We bring Virginia back again because we can't ever get enough of her. The story this time is "Solid Objects," a whimsical yet surprisingly poignant tale about a chap who's headed for a seat in Parliament, only to be derailed by his obsession with finding lost objet d'art.
We honor the innovative British author of the Bloomsbury Set this week with a reading of her weird and wonderful short story, "Kew Gardens," which takes place one hot summer day in the eponymous park. Curious things are happening close to the ground, in the sky and all around... Also in this episode: Part 2 of the interview with the creators and hosts of the Get Lit podcast, Stephanie Svarz and Jon Stricker.
SHORT STORY TODAY and GET LIT, the literary history podcast join forces this week for Reading Ireland Month with crossover episodes devoted to the mighty James Joyce! The short story for this episode is "A Painful Case" from Joyce's anthology, "The Dubliners." It's about the fate of two lonely people who meet at an inopportune time in each other's lives. Plus an exclusive interview with the creators and hosts of the Get Lit podcast: Stephanie Svarz and Jon Stricker.
In this episode, the revered American author Willa Cather transports us to the farmlands of Nebraska in the evocative short story, "The Enchanted Bluff." A man recounts the events from a day in his youth when he met up with his buddies for a final camping outing before leaving to start his new life as a teacher in a distant town. It is night they will all remember.
The divisive and prolific D. H. Lawrence graces SHORT STORY TODAY this week with the humorous “Rawdon’s Roof,” about a man who, for mysterious reasons, would let no woman sleep beneath his roof.
E. M. Forster's short story, "The Road From Colonus," examines the life of an old man during his final holiday in Greece - a trip he has looked forward to for most of his life. While taking off on his own one afternoon, he experiences an epiphany that convinces him to fight against the docility of old age in his waning years - but the events that unfold that day have a profound effect on what is to be.
In this episode we have some fun with a ghost story by the redoubtable Edith Wharton. In "Miss Mary Pask," an American painter who is trying his hand at marine art on the coast of France, pays a promised visit to the spinster sister of a good friend who happens to be living there. What he finds when he arrives proves to be more than his nerves can handle.
F. Scott Fitzgerald takes the spotlight this time with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - Part 2. It's a fantastic tale of an unusual life, lived by an unusual man - a man whose mind and body have put him in a life-long predicament in his relationship with time.
F. Scott Fitzgerald takes the spotlight this time with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." It's a fantastic tale of an unusual life, lived by an unusual man - a man whose mind and body have put him in a life-long predicament in his relationship with time.
The inimitable Dorothy Parker demonstrates, in her short story "Such a Pretty Little Picture," her keen eye for revealing the ennui that can begin to permeate the American Dream, in the heart of suburban America.
In this episode, the first in a series entitled THE PRESERVATION EPISODES, a "lost" short story is resurrected, and listeners will discover an author who has languished in obscurity for a century. This gifted Iowan weaves a poignant story full of heart. It's a Christmas story, set in an unnamed city, which explores a woman's struggles with the shame of poverty, and how she finds a way to transcend her circumstances one Christmas - if only for a day.
This week's short story is a classic: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It will be presented in two parts. The conclusion of the story will be on Episode #3. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is often referred to as an example of the Gothic Horror genre. The story takes place one summer on an estate in New England at the turn of the 20th Century, which a doctor has rented for three weeks so that his young wife might have a rest cure following the birth of their child, which has left her in a weakened condition.
This week's short story is a classic: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It will be presented in two parts. The conclusion of the story will be on Episode #3. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is often referred to as an example of the Gothic Horror genre. The story takes place one summer on an estate in New England at the turn of the 20th Century, which a doctor has rented for three weeks so that his young wife might have a rest cure following the birth of their child, which has left her in a weakened condition.
The first episode of "Short Story Today" features a story by the New Zealand author, Katherine Mansfield, entitled "The Young Girl". While travelling in Europe with her teenage daughter and young son, an Englishwoman tries unsuccessfully to pass her teenage daughter off for 21 so that she may experience what a casino is like. Unable to simply leave her outside, the mother asks a young man who has been accompanying them on their trip to take her daughter to tea with him and her brother while she spends an hour gambling with a new-found friend.