Suppose I asked you for the name, editor, and publication date of the book whose introduction contains this question: “How short can a short story be and still be a short story?” Many people who are familiar with flash fiction would point to Flash Fiction, a book edited by James Thomas, Denise Thomas, and Tom […]
This column is about a fixed form first introduced in Short-short Sighted #4 in September 2008. You can also read Bruce’s column from last month here, or visit his author page to see them all. One of the best-known poems in the English language is “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan […]
“Heavens!” exclaimed the aunt of Clovis, “here’s some one I know bearing down on us. I can’t remember his name, but he lunched with us once in Town. Tarrington — yes, that’s it. He’s heard of the picnic I’m giving for the Princess, and he’ll cling to me like a lifebelt till I give him […]
This story collection is an exemplar for Short-short Sighted #23, “Let Me Repeat That: A Prose Villanelle”. Lately I don’t recognize this country, the land of my birth. The contours of the land are the same. I can buy what I always bought in the stores. The weather has changed, though. Last winter, we had […]
“One of the most beautiful things that ever was done, perhaps,” said Inspector Wield, emphasising the adjective, as preparing us to expect dexterity or ingenuity rather than strong interest, “was a move of Sergeant Witchem’s. It was a lovely idea! “Witchem and me were down at Epsom one Derby Day, waiting at the station for […]
It was very early in the morning, the streets clean and deserted, I was walking to the station. As I compared the tower clock with my watch I realized that it was already much later than I had thought, I had to hurry, the shock of this discovery made me unsure of the way, I […]
(A Story of the 6th of April, 1891.) A. Briefless, Junior. As I have but a limited holding in the Temple, and, moreover, slept on the evening of the 5th of April at Burmah Gardens, I considered it right and proper to fill in the paper left me by the “Appointed Enumerator” at the latter […]
This story took the laurel in Life Magazine’s Shortest Story Contest, and was published along with 80 other stories in 1916. Doctor Burroughs, summoned from the operating room, greeted his friend from the doorway: “Sorry, Harry, but you’ll have to go on without me. I’ve got a case on the table that I can’t leave. […]
It’s amazing how much you can learn about absolute strangers if you just stop to think about the kind of an animal they’ll put in a test rocket… Captain Baird stood at the window of the laboratory where the thousand parts of the strange rocket lay strewn in careful order. Small groups worked slowly over […]