Tag Archives: short stories
Books
The Long and the Short of It: Affirm Press and short fiction
Last year my company, Affirm Press, an emerging publishing company with more ideals than commercial sense, embarked on an initiative called Long Story Shorts. It was a commitment to publish six individual collections of stories by new and emerging writers, the last of which – Two Steps … Read more
Comment
The Importance of Being Egan: experimentation and Australian literature
Each year the Guardian presents its summer short fiction special. It’s an interesting read, if only to chart the trajectory of fiction in the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, assess larger trends in global literature. Included in the 2011 edition were stories from four established … Read more
Interviews
Excerpt: Kill Your Darlings in conversation with Ron Rash
For Issue Six, Kill Your Darlings was delighted to speak with North American writer Ron Rash. A poet, novelist and short story writer, Ron Rash has won many awards for his work, including the 2010 Frank O’Connor prize for his short story collection, Burning Bright. We spoke with Ron … Read more
On Writing
On Writing: Leah Swann
Leah Swann’s short story collection, Bearings, tells of the tumult of life, featuring characters who are yet anchored by hope. Her tales have been called ‘perfect little parcels of humanity’. But how did she begin her writing journey? Leah told Killings about her writing craft. Before I … Read more
Recommended Reading
Recommended Reading: Louise Swinn
For this Recommended Reading column, we asked Louise Swinn, editorial director at Sleepers Publishing and member of the Stella Prize steering committee, for some of her favourite books penned by women. Among her selections are an Age Book of the Year winner, a literary superstar, an American … Read more
Reviews
Peering into the Lives of Others: The Life You Chose and That Chose You: The 25th UTS Writers’ Anthology
The talent pool at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is clearly impressive – a student editorial committee has chosen from more than 300 submissions to deliver a tight and scorchingly successful collection of just 35 short stories, poems, and script-writing and non-fiction pieces. No doubt the … Read more
Recommended Reading
‘We read to know we are not alone’: Annie Condon
Annie Condon’s ‘Nothing Broken’ was published in Issue Three. A fiction writer and reviewer, Annie lives in Melbourne, and her stories have been published in Kill Your Darlings (Issue 3), Meanjin, Going Down Swinging and various anthologies. Killings asked her to share her recommended reading. Many years … Read more
Reviews
Murderous monologue: Barrie Kosky’s The Tell-Tale Heart
Image: Jeff Busby There is silence as the house lights dim, and the blood red drapes become illuminated before opening in darkness. There is silence as the nameless man’s face appears, a spectre – floating almost. And with a strain of the eyes his body becomes just … Read more
Podcast
Stories with hooks: Gretchen Shirm’s Having Cried Wolf
Gretchen Shirm is the author of Having Cried Wolf, a collection of interwoven short stories published by Affirm Press through their ‘Long Story Shorts’ venture. I spoke with Gretchen about her debut collection, writing and her other life as a lawyer. Podcast roadmap: novels that don’t work … Read more
Books
Wagers and half-lives: Charles D’Ambrosio’s Dead Fish Museum
In ‘Up North’, the fourth story in The Dead Fish Museum, a man whose wife is having a string of affairs says, ‘Our marriage was like a constant halving of the distance, without ever arriving at the moment in time where, utterly familiar, I’d vanish’. In the … Read more
