The Short Story Form Recognised Again
How wonderful it was to learn that Alice Munro has been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Not only is it a just reward for a writer of huge skill, it is also recognition for the short story form. As a writer who sweats to get texture and subtlety into a short story, I have often turned to Munro to see how it should be done. It’s always a pleasure to read her work. But studying it to understand exactly how she achieves the pace, the sense of place and the depth in her characters, is something different: perhaps more of a maddening joy than an outright pleasure.
Alice’s retirement announcement will leave a Himalayan size gap in the short story author range. Fear not, I shall be placing my boulder firmly in the void.