Can the Short Story Survive?
Matt Lapata wrestles with declining readership of the short story, and what can be done to keep the genre vibrant, in the latest Glimmer Train Bulletin. Here’s a little bit…
Matt Lapata wrestles with declining readership of the short story, and what can be done to keep the genre vibrant, in the latest Glimmer Train Bulletin. Here's a little bit of what he had to say:
If the [short story] is to survive (and I don't have space to say why I think it'll survive—suffice it to say I'm writing them), then it has to throw itself into the ring with these [other competitors] and find out where it fits. We should address the more difficult and more useful question: What, after all this time, can short stories do or be that comics, TV, and video games can't? We writers need to answer this question. We need to redefine our narrative niche.
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
