A short story is a piece of prose

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales,

folk tales Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s, tall tales, fables and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century.

Definition

The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the

or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of

literary technique A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...

s. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story has been recurrently problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe's essay " The Philosophy of Composition" (1846). H.G. Wells described the purpose of the short story as "The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud." According to William Faulkner, a short story is character-driven and a writer's job is to "...trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.” Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham thought that the short story "must have a definite design, which includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other words, it must have a

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot ...

". Hugh Walpole had a similar view: "A story should be a story; a record of things happening full of incidents, swift movements, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement." This view of the short story as a finished product of art is however opposed by Anton Chekov, who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be a "slice of life", presented suggestively. In his stories, Chekov does not round off the end but leaves it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.Fatma, Gulnaz ''A Short History of the Short Story: Western and Asian Traditions'' Modern History Press 2012, p.2-3

Sukumar Azhikode Koloth Thattarath Sukumaran, popularly known as Sukumar Azhikode (26 May 1926 – 24 January 2012) was an Indian academic, orator, critic and writer of Malayalam literature, known for his contributions to Malayalam language and insights on Indian ...

defined a short story as "a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic or

anecdotal Anecdotal evidence is evidence based only on personal observation, collected in a casual or non-systematic manner. The term is sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony which are uncorroborated by objective, independ ...

effect". Flannery O'Connor emphasized the need to consider what is exactly meant by the descriptor short. Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed formation.

William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...

, British author and short story writer has said:

hort stories Hort may refer to: People * Erik Hort (born 1987), American soccer player * F. J. A. Hort (1828–1892), Irish theologian * Greta Hort (1903–1967), Danish-born literature professor * Josiah Hort (c. 1674–1751), English clergyman of the Chu ...
seem to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards the grave and oblivion.

In the 1880s, the term "short story" acquired its modern meaning – having initially referred to children's tales. During the early to mid-20th century, the short story underwent expansive experimentation which further hindered attempts to comprehensively provide a definition. Longer stories that cannot be called novels are sometimes considered " novellas" or novelettes and, like short stories, may be collected into the more marketable form of "collections", often containing previously unpublished stories. Sometimes, authors who do not have the time or money to write a novella or novel decide to write short stories instead, working out a deal with a popular website or

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

to publish them for profit. Around the world, the modern short story is comparable to lyrics, dramas, novels and essays – although examination of it as a major literary form remains diminished.

Length

In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 for short stories; however, some have 15,000 words and are still classed as short stories. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes referred to as "short short stories", or " flash fiction". Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count, there is no official demarcation between an anecdote, a short story, and a novel. Rather, the form's parameters are given by the rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and considered so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres, countries, eras, and commentators. Like the novel, the short story's predominant shape reflects the demands of the available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely tied to the evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines of its constituent houses. As a point of reference for the genre writer, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America define short story length in the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

s for science fiction submission guidelines as having a word count of fewer than 7,500 words.

History

Short stories date back to oral storytelling traditions which originally produced epics such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and Homer's '' Iliad'' and '' Odyssey''. Oral narratives were often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

, often including recurring sections or, in the case of Homer, '' Homeric epithets''. Such stylistic devices often acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition, and adaptation of the story. Short sections of verse might focus on individual narratives that could be told at one sitting. The overall arc of the

tale Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...

would emerge only through the telling of multiple such sections. According to Azhikode, the short story has existed "in the most ancient times as the parable, the adventure-story of men, gods and demons, the account of daily events, the joke". All languages have had variations of short tales and stories almost since their inceptions. Emerging in the 17th century from oral

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

traditions, the short story has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy characterization. "The short story as a carefully contrived literary form is of modern origin", wrote Azhikode. Another ancient form of a short story, the anecdote, was popular under the Roman Empire. Anecdotes functioned as a sort of

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

, a brief realistic narrative that embodies a point. Many surviving Roman anecdotes were collected in the 13th or 14th century as the '' Gesta Romanorum''. Anecdotes remained popular throughout Europe well into the 18th century with the publication of the fictional anecdotal letters of Sir Roger de Coverley. In Europe, the oral story-telling tradition began to develop into written stories in the early 14th century, most notably with

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's '' Canterbury Tales'' and

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...

's '' Decameron''. Both of these books are composed of individual short stories, which range from farce or humorous anecdotes to well-crafted literary fiction, set within a larger narrative story (a

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

), although the frame-tale device was not adopted by all writers. At the end of the 16th century, some of the most popular short stories in Europe were the darkly tragic "

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

" of Matteo Bandello, especially in their French translation. The mid 17th century in France saw the development of a refined short novel, the "nouvelle", by such authors as Madame de Lafayette. Traditional

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

began to be published in the late 17th century; one of the most famous collections was by

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

. The appearance of

Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of '' One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called ''Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the t ...

's first modern translation of the

1001 Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

, a storehouse of Middle Eastern folk and fairy tales, is the '' Thousand and One Nights'' (or ''Arabian Nights'') (from 1704; another translation appeared in 1710–12). His translation would have an enormous influence on the 18th-century European short stories of Voltaire,

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...

and others. In India, there is a rich heritage of ancient folktales as well as a compiled body of short fiction which shaped the sensibility of modern Indian short story. Some of the famous Sanskrit collections of legends, folktales, fairy tales, and fables are

Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' (IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, sa, पञ्चतन्त्र, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.

, Hitopadesha and Kathasaritsagara. Jataka tales, originally written in Pali, is a compilation of tales concerning the previous births of Lord Gautama Buddha. The

Frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

, also known as the frame narrative or

story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

, is a narrative technique that probably originated in ancient Indian works such as

. The evolution of printing technologies and periodical editions were among the factors contributing to the increasing importance of short story publications. Pioneering the rules of the genre in the Western canon were, among others, Rudyard Kipling (United Kingdom),

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

(Russia), Guy de Maupassant (France),

Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (; December 22, 1859 – February 3, 1895) was a Mexican writer and political figure. Biography Gutiérrez Nájera was born to catholic parents Manuel Gutiérrez Gómez (1818-1889) and Dolores Nájera y Huerta (1831-18 ...

(Mexico) and Rubén Darío (Nicaragua).

1790–1850

Early examples of short stories were published separately between 1790 and 1810, but the first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810 and 1830 in several countries. The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like

Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to: * Richard Cumberland (philosopher) (1631–1718), bishop, philosopher * Richard Cumberland (dramatist) (1732–1811), civil servant, dramatist * Richard Cumberland (priest) (1710–1737), Archdeacon of Northa ...

's "remarkable narrative", "The Poisoner of Montremos" (1791). Novelists such as Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens also wrote influential short stories during this time. Germany soon followed the United Kingdom's example by producing short stories; the first collection of short stories was by Heinrich von Kleist in 1810 and 1811. Edgar Allan Poe became one of the first American short story writers, taking a cosmopolitan approach to writing. His concise technique, deemed the "single effect", has had tremendous influence on the formation of the modern short story. Examples include: * France ** Prosper Mérimée ***

Mateo Falcone ''Mateo Falcone'' is an 1829 short story by Prosper Mérimée. It first appeared in the May issue of ''Revue de Paris''. Its tightly focused narrative was well received and it has been called the original French short story. Plot The narrator rec ...

(1829) * Germany **

E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in E ...

*** " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (1816), *** "

The Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

", ** Brothers Grimm *** first volume of collected fairy tales (1812) * United States ** Edgar Allan Poe *** " The Fall of the House of Usher", *** " The Tell-Tale Heart", *** " The Cask of Amontillado", *** " The Pit and the Pendulum", *** "

The Gold Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...

", *** " The Murders in the Rue Morgue"- one of the first detective stories *** "

The Purloined Letter "The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being " The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Mystery of Marie R ...

"- one of the first detective stories ** Nathaniel Hawthorne *** '' Twice-Told Tales'' (1837) ** John Neal ***"Otter-Bag, the Oneida Chief" (1829) ***"David Whicher" (1832)

1850–1900

In the latter half of the 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words. In 1890s Britain, literary periodicals such as ''

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by the ...

'', ''

Black & White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. H ...

,'' and '' The Strand Magazine'' popularized the short story. Britain was not alone in the endeavor to strengthen the short story movement. French author Guy de Maupassant composed the short stories "''

Boule de Suif Boule may refer to: ;Ball games * Boules, a collective term for games involving players throwing balls at a smaller target ball ** Pétanque, a common variety originating in France and sometimes loosely called "boules" in English ** Boule Lyonnais ...

''" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) and "''L'Inutile Beauté''" ("The Useless Beauty", 1890), which are important examples of French realism. Russian author

was also influential in the movement. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India, many writers created short stories centered on daily life and the social scene of the different socioeconomic groups. Rabindranath Tagore published more than 150 short stories on the lives of the poor and oppressed such as peasants, women, and villagers under colonial misrule and exploitation. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Tagore's contemporary, was another pioneer in Bengali short stories. Chattopadhyay's stories focused on the social scenario of rural Bengal and the lives of common people, especially the oppressed classes. The prolific Indian author of short stories Munshi Premchand, pioneered the genre in the Hindustani language, writing over 200 short stories and many novels in a style characterized by realism and an unsentimental and authentic introspection into the complexities of Indian society. In the United States, Washington Irving was responsible for creating some of the first short stories of American origin, " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and " Rip Van Winkle". Twenty years later, in 1884,

Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...

, the first American professor of dramatic literature, published ''The Philosophy of the Short-Story''. During that same year, Matthews was the first one to name the emerging genre "short story". Another theorist of narrative

was Henry James, who produced some of the most influential short narratives of the time. The spread of the short story movement continued into South America, specifically Brazil. The novelist Machado de Assis was an important short story writer from Brazil at the time, under the influences of Xavier de Maistre, Laurence Sterne, Guy de Maupassant, among others. At the end of the 19th century, the writer João do Rio became popular by short stories about the

bohemianism Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, a ...

. Lima Barreto wrote about the former slaves and nationalism in Brazil, with his most recognized work being ''

Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma ''Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma'' (published in English as ''The Patriot'' and ''The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma'') is a novel by Pre-Modernist Brazilian writer Lima Barreto. The work was published under ''feuilleton'' form in 1911, from Augu ...

''. Examples include: * India ** Rabindranath Tagore ***"The Kabuliwala" ***"The Hungry Stone" ***"The Wife's Letter" ***"The Parrot's Training" ***"Punishment" ** Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay ***"Bindu's Son" ***"Abhagi's Heaven" ***"Mahesh" ***"Ram's Good Lesson" ***"Lalu" (3 parts) ***"The Husband" **

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...

***"The Shroud" ***"The Cost of Milk" ***"Lottery" * Poland ** Bolesław Prus *** "

A Legend of Old Egypt "A Legend of Old Egypt" (Polish: ''"Z legend dawnego Egiptu"'') is a seven-page short story by Bolesław Prus, originally published January 1, 1888, in New Year's supplements to the Warsaw ''Kurier Codzienny'' (Daily Courier) and ''Tygodnik Ilust ...

" (1888) * Portugal ** Almeida Garrett ** Alexandre Herculano ** Eça de Queiroz * Russia ** Ivan Turgenev *** '' A Sportsman's Sketches'' ** Fyodor Dostoyevski *** "

The Meek One "A Gentle Creature" (russian: Кроткая, translit=Krotkaya), sometimes also translated as "The Meek One", is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in November 1876. The piece comes with the subtitle of "A Fantastic Story", and it chr ...

" (1876) *** " The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (1877) ** Leo Tolstoy *** " Ivan the Fool" (1885) *** "

How Much Land Does a Man Need? "How Much Land Does a Man Require?" (Russian: Много ли человеку земли нужно?, ''Mnogo li cheloveku zemli nuzhno?'') is an 1886 short story by Leo Tolstoy about a man who, in his lust for land, forfeits everything. Synopsi ...

" (1886) *** " Alyosha the Pot" (1905) **

*** "

The Bet The Bet may refer to: * ''The Bet'' (short story), an 1889 short story by Anton Chekhov * ''The Bet'' (1990 film), a Polish film * ''The Bet'' (1992 film), a short film directed by Ted Demme * ''The Bet'' (1997 film) (French: ''Le Pari''), a Fr ...

" (1889) *** "Ward No. 6" (1892) *** " The Lady with the Dog" (1899) ** Maxim Gorky *** " Twenty-six Men and a Girl" (1899) * United Kingdom **

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

*** " The Three Strangers" (1883), *** "

A Mere Interlude "A Mere Interlude" is a short story by Thomas Hardy. It was first published in ''The Bolton Weekly Journal'' in October 1885. The story was reprinted in the collection '' A Changed Man and Other Tales'' (1913). Plot summary Baptista Trewthen is ...

" (1885), *** " Barbara of the House of Grebe" (1890) ** Rudyard Kipling *** '' Plain Tales from the Hills'' (1888) *** '' The Jungle Book'' (1894) **

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

*** '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)-'' detective story ** H.G. Wells- Science fiction *** "

The Country of the Blind "The Country of the Blind" is a short story by English writer H. G. Wells. It was first published in the April 1904 issue of ''The Strand Magazine'' and included in a 1911 collection of Wells's short stories, ''The Country of the Blind and Ot ...

" (1904) * United States ** Herman Melville *** ''

The Piazza Tales ''The Piazza Tales'' is a collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published by Dix & Edwards in the United States in May 1856 and in Britain in June. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the s ...

'' (1856) **

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

*** " The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" ** Henry James *** " The Real Thing" (1892) *** "Maud-Evelyn" *** ''

The Beast in the Jungle ''The Beast in the Jungle'' is a 1903 novella by Henry James, first published as part of the collection, ''The Better Sort''. Almost universally considered one of James' finest short narratives, this story treats appropriately universal themes: l ...

'' (1903) ** Kate Chopin ** Stephen Crane

1900–1945

In the United Kingdom, periodicals like '' The Strand Magazine'' and ''

Story-Teller ''The Story-Teller'' was a monthly British pulp magazine, pulp Literary magazine, fiction magazine from 1907 to 1937. ''The Story-Teller'' is notable for having published some of the works of prominent authors, including G. K. Chesterton, Will ...

'' contributed to the popularity of the short story. Several authors during this time wrote short stories centered on the devices of satire and humor. One such author, Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also known by his pen name of Saki, wrote

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

short stories about Edwardian England. P.G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories about the valet, Jeeves, in 1917. Other common genres of short stories during the early to mid 1900s in England were detective stories and thrillers. Many of these detective stories were written by authors such as

G.K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

, and Dorothy L. Sayers. Graham Greene wrote his collection of short stories,

Twenty-One Stories ''Twenty-One Stories'' (1954) is a collection of short stories by Graham Greene. All but the last three stories appeared in his earlier 1947 collection ''Nineteen Stories'' (one story, "The Other Side Of The Border," was not included in the later ...

, between 1929 and 1954. Many of these short stories are classified in the genres of thriller, suspense, or even horror. The European short story movement during this time was not unique to England. In Ireland, James Joyce published his short story collection '' Dubliners'' in 1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth city. In the first half of the 20th century, a number of high-profile American magazines such as ''The

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'', '' The New Yorker'', '' Scribner's'', '' The Saturday Evening Post'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', and '' The Bookman'' published short stories in each issue. The demand for quality short stories was so great and the money paid so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first collection, ''

Flappers and Philosophers ''Flappers and Philosophers'' is the first collection of eight short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. All of the stories had been published earlier, independently, in either ''Saturday Evening Post'', or ''Scribner's Magazine''. ...

,'' appeared in book form in 1920. Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style was perfectly suited for shorter fiction. Influenced by the short stories of Stephen Crane and Jack London, Hemingway's work "marks a new phase in the history of the short story". The creation and study of the short story as a medium began to emerge as an academic discipline due to Blanche Colton Williams' “groundbreaking work on structure and analysis of the short story” and her publication of ''A Handbook on Short Story Writing'' (1917), described as “the first practical aid to growing young writers that was put on the market in this country.” In Uruguay, Horacio Quiroga became one of the most influential short story writers in the Spanish language. With a clear influence from Edgar Allan Poe, he had a great skill in using the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

and the bizarre to show the struggle of man and animal to survive. He also excelled in portraying

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

and hallucinatory states. In India, Saadat Hasan Manto, the master of the short story in the Urdu language, is revered for his exceptional depth, irony, and sardonic humor. The author of some 250 short stories, radio plays, essays, reminiscences, and a novel, Manto is widely admired for his analyses of violence, bigotry, prejudice, and the relationships between reason and unreason. Combining realism with surrealism and irony, Manto's works, such as the celebrated short story Toba Tek Singh, are aesthetic masterpieces that continue to give profound insight into the nature of human loss, violence, and devastation. Another famous Urdu writer is Ismat Chughtai, whose short story, "Lihaaf" (The Quilt), on a lesbian relationship between an upper-class Muslim woman and her maidservant created great controversy following its publication in 1942. Examples include: *

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

** Franz Kafka *** " A Hunger Artist" (1922) * Brazil ** Mário de Andrade ** António de Alcantâra Machado ***''Brás, Bexiga e Barra Funda'' (1928) ** Graciliano Ramos ** Carlos Drummond de Andrade * England ** Virginia Woolf ***" Kew Gardens" (1919) ***"Solid Objects" ** W. Somerset Maugham **

V.S. Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett (also known as VSP; 16 December 1900 – 20 March 1997) was a British writer and literary critic. Pritchett was known particularly for his short stories, collated in a number of volumes. His non-fiction works incl ...

** Evelyn Waugh ** Muriel Spark **

L.P. Hartley Leslie Poles Hartley (30 December 1895 – 13 December 1972) was a British novelist and short story writer. Although his first fiction was published in 1924, his career was slow to take off. His best-known novels are the '' Eustace and Hilda'' ...

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

***"

Travel by Wire! "Travel by Wire!" is a science fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke. His first published story, it was first published in December 1937 in the magazine ''Amateur Science Stories''. It was subsequently published as part of the ...

" (1937) * Germany ** Thomas Mann * Hindi ** Jaishankar Prasad *

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

** Ryūnosuke Akutagawa * New Zealand ** Katherine Mansfield ***" The Doll's House" (1922) * Portugal ** Mário de Sá-Carneiro ** Florbela Espanca ** Fernando Pessoa * United States **

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...

*** " The Ransom of Red Chief", *** " The Cop and the Anthem", *** " The Skylight Room", *** "

After Twenty Years "After Twenty Years" is a short story written by O. Henry, first published in his anthology, ''The Four Million'' in 1906. Plot Jimmy Wells and Bob were raised in New York City and grew up as very close friends. Their paths diverged when Bob ...

", *** " The Last Leaf", *** " A Retrieved Reformation" ** Ernest Hemingway *** "

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, first published in ''Scribner's Magazine'' in 1933; it was also included in his collection '' Winner Take Nothing'' (1933). Plot synopsis Late at night, a deaf o ...

" (1926) *** " Hills Like White Elephants" (1927) *** " The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1936) ** William Faulkner ***''

Go Down, Moses "Go Down Moses" is a spiritual phrase that describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 5:1: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may se ...

'' ** Dorothy Parker ***"Big Blonde" (1929) **

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

***" Nightfall"

Since 1945

Following World War II, the artistic range and amount of writers of short stories grew significantly. Due in part to frequent contributions from

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

, '' The New Yorker'' would demonstrate substantial influence as a weekly short story publication for more than half a century. Shirley Jackson's story, " The Lottery" (1948), elicited the strongest response in the magazine's history to that time. Other frequent contributors during the 1940s included

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

, Jean Stafford, Eudora Welty, and

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...

, who is best known for "The Swimmer" (1964), beautifully blending realism and surrealism. Many other American short story writers greatly influenced the evolving form of the short story. For example, J.D. Salinger's ''Nine Stories'' (1953) experimented with point of view and voice, while Flannery O'Connor's well-known story, " A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1955), reinvigorated the Southern Gothic style. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen's "

I Stand Here Ironing "I Stand Here Ironing" is a short story by Tillie Olsen. It was published in her short story collection '' Tell Me a Riddle'' in 1956. Plot introduction The story is told from a mother's first person point of view. The narrator, a remarried mother ...

" (1961) adopted a consciously feminist perspective.

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

's collection, '' Going to Meet the Man'' (1965), told stories of African-American life. Science fiction stories with a special poetic touch was a genre developed with great popular success by Ray Bradbury.

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

published many science fiction short stories in men's magazines in the 1960s and after. King's interest is in the supernatural and macabre. Donald Barthelme and John Barth produced works in the 1970s that demonstrate the rise of the postmodern short story. While traditionalism maintained a significant influence on the form of the short story,

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

gained widespread influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie. Carver helped usher in an "extreme minimalist aesthetic" and expand the scope of the short story, as did Lydia Davis, through her idiosyncratic and laconic style. The

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

writer Jorge Luis Borges is one of the most famous writers of short stories in the Spanish language. " The Library of Babel" (1941) and " The Aleph" (1945) handle difficult subjects like

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

. Borges won American fame with " The Garden of Forking Paths", published in the August 1948 issue of '' Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. Two of the most representative writers of the Magical realism genre are also widely known Argentinian short story writers Adolfo Bioy Casares and

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...

. The Nobel prize laureate author Gabriel García Márquez and the Uruguay writer Juan Carlos Onetti are other significant magical realist short story writers from the Hispanic world. In Brazil, writing about poverty and the favelas,

João Antonio João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * Jo ...

became a well-known writer. Detective literature was led by

Rubem Fonseca Rubem Fonseca (May 11, 1925 – April 15, 2020) was a Brazilian writer. Life and career He was born in Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais, but he lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro. In 1952, he started his career as a low-level cop ...

. João Guimarães Rosa wrote short stories in the book ''Sagarana'' using a complex, experimental language based on tales of oral tradition. The role of the bi-monthly magazine Desh (first published in 1933) is imperative in the development of the Bengali short story. Two of the most popular detective story writers of Bengali literature are Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (the creator of Byomkesh Bakshi) and

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

(the creator of Feluda). Examples include: * Angola **

José Luandino Vieira José Luandino Vieira (born José Vieira Mateus da Graça on 4 May 1935) is an Angolan writer of short fiction and novels. Biography Vieira was born in Lagoa de Furadouro, Ourém, Portugal to impoverished parents—his father was a cobbler, his m ...

** José Eduardo Agualusa * Bengali ** Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, **

Manik Bandyopadhyay Manik Bandyopadhyay lias Banerjee(; 19 May 1908 – 3 December 1956) is an Indian Litterateur regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years and 28 years of literary career, battling with ...

** Mahasweta Devi, ** Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, ** Suchitra Bhattacharya, ** Ramapada Chowdhury ** Humayun Ahmed * Brazil ** Clarice Lispector, **

Lygia Fagundes Telles Lygia Fagundes da Silva Telles ( de Azevedo Fagundes; ; 19 April 1918 – 3 April 2022) was a Brazilian novelist and writer. Educated as a lawyer, she began publishing soon after she completed high school and simultaneously worked as a solicitor ...

Adélia Prado Adélia Luzia Prado Freitas (born 13 December 1935) is a Brazilian writer and poet. Life She was born in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais (one of the landlocked states of Brazil), where she still lives. Her family were railroad laborers, and both h ...

** Dalton Trevisan, **

Autran Dourado Waldomiro Freitas Autran Dourado (1926 – September 30, 2012) was a Brazilian novelist. Dourado was born in Patos de Minas, state of Minas Gerais. Going against current trends in Brazilian literature, Dourado's works display much concern with ...

Moacyr Scliar **

Carlos Heitor Cony Carlos Heitor Cony (March 14, 1926 – January 5, 2018) was a Brazilian journalist and writer. He was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Portuguese: Academia Brasileira de Letras). Cony viewed himself as center-leftist and faced perse ...

, ** Hilda Hilst **

Caio Fernando Abreu Caio Fernando Loureiro de Abreu (September 12, 1948 – February 25, 1996), best known as Caio Fernando Abreu, was one of the most influential and original Brazilian writers of the 1970s and 1980s. Caio F., as he habitually signed his letters, was b ...

* Egypt ** Naguib Mahfouz- Nobel Prize Winner * Hindi ** Amrita Pritam ** Dharamvir Bharati ** Bhisham Sahni ** Krishna Sobti ** Nirmal Verma ** Kamleshwar (writer) ** Mannu Bhandari ** Harishankar Parsai * Italy ** Italo Calvino ***''

Marcovaldo ''Marcovaldo'' is a collection of 20 short stories written by Italo Calvino. It was initially published, in 1963, as ''Marcovaldo ovvero Le stagioni in città'' (''Marcovaldo, or The Seasons in the City''). The first stories were written in the ...

(1963)'' *

** Kenzaburō Ōe ( Nobel prize winner of 1994), ** Yukio Mishima ** Haruki Murakami. * Mozambique **

Suleiman Cassamo Suleiman Cassamo (born 2 November 1962 in Marracuene) is a Mozambican writer. He is a member of Associação dos Escritores Moçambicanos. He studied Mechanical engineering and has published in ''Charrua'', ''Gazeta de Artes e Letras'', ''Eco'', ...

, **

Paulina Chiziane Paulina "Poulli" Chiziane (born 4 June 1955, Manjacaze, southern province of Gaza, Mozambique) is an author of novels and short stories in the Portuguese language. She was awarded the 2021 Camões Prize for literature, awarded to writers from Por ...

, **

Eduardo White Eduardo Costley White (Quelimane, 21 November 1963 - 24 August 2014) was a Mozambican writer. His mother came from Lisbon and his father's father was English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also ...

** Mia Couto * Peru ** Mario Vargas Llosa- Nobel Prize Laureate * Philippines **

Peter Solis Nery Peter Solis Nery is a Filipino poet, fictionist, author, and filmmaker. Writing in Hiligaynon, he is a Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Fame Awardee, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Literary Grant, and the All-We ...

***"Lirio" (1998) ***"Candido" (2007) ***"Donato Bugtot" (2011) ***"Si Padre Olan kag ang Dios" (2013) * Portugal **

Vergílio Ferreira Vergílio António Ferreira, JOSE (Melo, Gouveia, 28 January 1916 – Lisbon, 1 March 1996) was a Portuguese writer, essayist, professor and a key figure in Portuguese-language literature Portuguese-language literature can be: * Angolan l ...

, **

Fernando Goncalves Namora Fernando Namora (15 April 1919 – 31 January 1989), with the full name Fernando Gonçalves Namora was a Portuguese writer and medical doctor. Namora was born in Condeixa-a-Nova, Coimbra District and died in Lisbon, Portugal. He received his med ...

** Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen ** José Saramago ** Manuel da Silva Ramos * United Kingdom ** Daphne du Maurier ***" The Birds" (1952) ***" Don't Look Now" (1971) * United States **

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on a ...

***''

The Lonely Voice ''The Lonely Voice'' (1962) is a study of the short story form, written by Frank O'Connor. Description Within the study, O'Connor expounds on some of his own major theories of the short story as well as discusses the work of many influential shor ...

'' ** Wallace Stegner **

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

Sales and profits

21st-century short story writers The 1st century was the century spanning AD 1 ( I) through AD 100 ( C) according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the or to distinguish it from the 1st century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The 1st century is considered part o ...

run into the thousands. Female short story writers have seen increased critical attention, with British authors, in particular, exploring modern feminist politics in their writings. Sales of short-story fiction are strong. In the UK, sales jumped 45% in 2017, driven by collections from international names such as Alice Munro, new writers to the genre such as Tom Hanks, and the revival of short story salons such as those held by the short fiction company Pin Drop Studio. More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK in 2017, generating £5.88 million, the genre's highest sales since 2010. Throughout the 2010s, a hypothetical "renaissance" was frequently speculated; Sam Baker deemed it the "perfect literary form for the 21st century". In 2012,

Pin Drop Studio Pin Drop Studio is an arts and entertainment studio founded in 2012 by Simon Oldfield and Elizabeth Day, with a particular focus on short fiction. Pin Drop Studio publishes short fiction, stages an annual short story award for new writing in as ...

launched a short story salon held regularly in London and other major cities. Short story writers who have appeared at the salon to read their short stories to a live audience include Ben Okri, Lionel Shriver,

Elizabeth Day Elizabeth Day (born 10 November 1978) is an English novelist, journalist and broadcaster. She was a feature writer for ''The Observer'' from 2007 to 2016, and wrote for '' You'' magazine. Day has written six books, and is also the host of the po ...

A.L. Kennedy Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scottish writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of realism and fantasy. She contributes columns ...

Graham Swift Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born 4 May 1949) is an English writer. Born in London, England, he was educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York. Career Some of Swift's books have been filmed, ...

, David Nicholls, Will Self, Sebastian Faulks, Julian Barnes, Evie Wylde and

Claire Fuller Claire Fuller (born 9 February 1967 in Oxfordshire) is an English author. She won the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize for her first novel, '' Our Endless Numbered Days'', the BBC Opening Lines Short Story Competition in 2014, and the Royal Academy & ...

. Canadian short story writers include Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, and Lynn Coady. In 2013, Alice Munro became the first writer of only short stories to win the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. Her award-winning short story collections include ''

Dance of the Happy Shades ''Dance of the Happy Shades'' is a book of short stories by Alice Munro, published by Ryerson Press in 1968.Preface. Dance of the Happy Shades. Alice Munro. First Vintage contemporaries Edition, August 1998. Vintage Books, A Division of Random H ...

Lives of Girls and Women ''Lives of Girls and Women'' is a short story cycle by Nobel Prize–winning author Alice Munro, published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1971. All of the stories chronicle the life of a single character, Del Jordan, and the book has been characterized ...

, Who Do You Think You Are?,

The Progress of Love ''The Progress of Love'' is a book of short stories by Alice Munro, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1986. It won the 1986 Governor General's Award for English Fiction, her third win of that award.Lisa Rochon, "Yvon Rivard honored for Frenc ...

, The Love of a Good Woman'' and ''

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

''.

Awards

Prominent short story awards such as The

Sunday Times Short Story Award The Sunday Times Short Story Award is a British literary award for a single short story open to any novelist or short story writer from around the world who is published in the UK or Ireland. The winner receives £30,000, and the five shortliste ...

, the BBC National Short Story Award, the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, The London Magazine Short Story Priz

the Pin Drop Studio Short Story Award and many others, attract hundreds of entries each year. Published and non-published writers take part, sending their stories from around the world. In 2013, Alice Munro was awarded the

—her citation read "master of the contemporary short story." She said she hopes the award would bring readership for the short story, as well as recognize the short story on its own merit, rather than "something that people do before they write their first novel." Short stories have been cited with regard to other laureates as well, Paul Heyse in 1910 and Gabriel García Márquez in 1982.

Adaptations

Short stories are sometimes adapted for radio, TV and film: * Radio dramas, as on '' NBC Presents: Short Story'' (1951–52). A popular example of this is "

The Hitch-Hiker ''The Hitch-Hiker'' is a 1953 American film noir thriller co-written and directed by Ida Lupino, starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman and Frank Lovejoy, about two friends taken hostage by a hitchhiker during an automobile trip to Mexico. ...

", read by Orson Welles. * Short films, often rewritten by other people, and even as feature-length films; such is the case of "

Children of the Corn "Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of ''Penthouse'', and later collected in King's 1978 collection '' Night Shift''. The story is about a couple who end up in an abandoned Nebraska t ...

", " The Shawshank Redemption", " The Birds", " Brokeback Mountain", " Who Goes There?", "

Duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

", " A Sound of Thunder", "

The Body The Body may refer to: Literature * ''The Body'' (short story), a short story by Camillo Boito * ''The Body'' (novella), a novel written by Stephen King * ''The Body'' (Sapir novel), a novel by Richard Sapir * ''The Body'' (Kureishi novel), ...

", " Total Recall", " The Lawnmower Man", " Hearts in Atlantis", and " The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". * Television specials, such as " 12:01 PM" (1993 television movie), " Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (October 11, 1963, on ''The Twilight Zone''), " The Lottery", and " Button, Button" (on ''The Twilight Zone'').

Characteristics

As a concentrated, concise form of narrative and descriptive prose fiction, the short story has been theorized through the traditional elements of dramatic structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation, and main characters), complication (the event that introduces the conflict), rising action, crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and his commitment to a course of action), climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point with the most action) and resolution (the point when the conflict is resolved). Because of their length, short stories may or may not follow this pattern. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition, more typically beginning in the middle of the action ('' in medias res''). As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis, or turning point. In general, short stories feature endings which are either conclusive or open-ended. Ambiguity is a recurrent trope in short stories; by means of ending, characterisation or length. As with any art form, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary by the creator. Characteristic of short story authors, according to professor of English, Clare Hanson, was for them to be "losers and loners, exiles, women, blacks – writers who for one reason or another have not been part of the ruling “narrative” or epistemological/experiential framework of their society".

References

Bibliography

* *Dillard, Annie. (1990). ''The Writing Life.'' Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-016156-6 * * * * * * * * * * * *Storr, Will (2020). ''The Science of Storytelling'' William Collins Publications ISBN 978-0-00-827697-3 *''The Persephone Book of Short Stories'' (2012) Persephone Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1903-155-905 * * *

Still often cited

* * * * * * * * *

External links

''The Short History of the Short Story'' by William Boyd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short Story Fiction forms Literary terminology

Definition

Length

History

1790–1850

1850–1900

1900–1945

Since 1945

Sales and profits

Awards

Adaptations

Characteristics

See also

References

Bibliography

Still often cited

External links