Short Stories

Yiyun Li doesn’t miss a beat when writing anything – whether it is a novel, a memoir, a piece on friendship and books, or short stories. Wednesday’s Child, her third collection of stories, is perfect, precise, and depicts contemporary lives like no one else can. Wednesday’s Child; the sort of book that draws in the reader. (Picture for representational purposes only.) (M Zhazo/Hindustan Times) 241pp, ₹599; HarperCollins These stories are about angst, alienation, what it means to identify with a place…

How did this collection of interlinked short stories come into being? Author Saras Manickam (Courtesy the publisher) I’ve always thought of myself as a writer but despite some stories being published in Malaysian anthologies, and one, Charan, winning the top prize in a contest, I remained at heart, a tinkerer of stories. This changed somewhat when My Mother Pattu won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia in 2019. I realised I had to honour my craft seriously, treat it with respect, do justice to the…

The 17 stories in Stories Usual, Yet Unusual present the mundanity of the everyday lives of a range of spirited women. They are overworked, exhausted, and surrounded by people with an overpowering sense of entitlement, yet they are not drowning in their anxieties. It is easy to relate to these familiar themes as the protagonists negotiate issues that plague every woman. The conversational writing style also compels readers to reflect on their own lives. Originally written in Hindi and worked on by different translators,…

Out of Print carries “short fiction with a connection to the Indian subcontinent”. A number of writers who appeared in the magazine have gone on to publish well received books. What do you look for in stories sent to you? PREMIUM Indira Chandrasekhar, founding editor, Out of Print (Courtesy the subject) We have seen some remarkable successes – Tanuj Solanki, Tashan Mehta, Nisha Susan, for example. I like to think we have played a part in their development – both by providing a platform and by investing in their…

Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, in the introduction to Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman once wrote, “If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.” Of real women and their complicated relationships with the world and themselves. At a step well in Rajasthan. (Shutterstock) And why just Murakami? Neil Gaiman and Ali Smith, among others, have all spoken about how underrated the short story is. The abruptness of the text, the brevity in its creation, and the…

One of the most loved Indian authors across generations, Ruskin Bond turns 88 today! And the round shapes in the number 88 quite appeal to the Landour-based littérateur. “Two eights look like jalebis, don’t they? Jalebis are my favourite Indian sweet, so I shall have them on my birthday! My family makes sure there’s lots of cake each time,” says the author, who usually likes to start a new book or story around his birthday. And so he has, this time too! “I have started one already, about my walking days,” he…