WRITING SHORT STORIES: THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT
The short story may be the most misunderstood of all the forms of fiction writing. Is it a piece of prose poetry? Or a novel that's run out of steam and ran out of words? Or, instead, is the short story something truly remarkable, a means of telling a tale with precision and economy, the effects of which are unlike any other, producing something moving and urgent and bizarre. Robert Shearman has written four collections of short stories, and won for them the World Fantasy Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and two British Fantasy Awards. In this interactive discussion he will show you how wild the short story can be, how to form new ideas and which way to develop them, and how much fun it is, creating a whole new world in the space of a few thousand words.
ROBERT SHEARMAN has worked as writer for television, radio and the stage. He was appointed resident dramatist at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter and has received several international awards for his theatrical work, including the Sunday Times Playwriting Award, the World Drama Trust Award and the Guinness Award for Ingenuity in Association with the Royal National Theatre. He is probably best known as a writer for DOCTOR WHO, reintroducing the Daleks for its BAFTA-winning first series in an episode nominated for a Hugo Award. His first collection of short stories, TINY DEATHS, was published by Comma Press in 2007. It won the World Fantasy Award for best collection, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and nominated for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize. NO LOOKING BACK was selected by the National Library Board of Singapore as part of the annual Read! Singapore campaign. The two series of THE CHAIN GANG, his short story and drama project or BBC7, both won the Sony Award. His second collection, LOVE SONGS FOR THE SHY AND CYNICAL, won the British Fantasy Award for best collection, the Edge Hill Short Story Readers Prize and the Shirley Jackson Award. “History Becomes You,” from this third collection, EVERYONE'S JUST SO SO SPECIAL, was nominated for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award. He is currently writer in residence at Edinburgh Napier University.
Workshop cost includes drinks & snacks, a discount coupon from Bakka Phoenix Books and a copy of Shearman's newest story collection, REMEMBER WHY YOU FEAR ME.
