1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? George Saunders is at the top of the pack, not far behind him are David Foster Wallace and Kelly Link. Karen Hitchcock would be my pick of Australian short story writers. 2. What is the most memorable short story you … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Favel Parrett
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Short fiction authors I admire (not in any order): Ernest Hemmingway, Robert Drewe, Michael Sala, Petina Gappah, Tim Winton, J.D. Salinger, Oscar Wilde, Junot Diaz, Kerstin Ekman… There are SO many! 2. What is the most memorable short story you … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Tiggy Johnson
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Assuming you don’t want a crazy-long list, I’ll list just three: Paddy O’Reilly, Zenda Vecchio, Ryan O’Neill. Make that four: David McLaren. 2. What is the most memorable short story you have read? And why does it stand out for … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Rjurik Davidson
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? There are many, so I’ll have to just name a few. My tastes are pretty varied, and I love Chekov as much as I love Kafka. A while ago I read a lot of New Yorker stories, and people like … Read More
Little Bleeders – talking short Crime Fiction
In preparation for this blogpost, I contacted a number of writers and publishers seeking their views on the past, present and future of short crime fiction in Australia. Professor Stephen Knight’s name invariably popped up in these responses, as did his very popular short story anthologies, Crimes for a Summer Christmas. So I contacted the … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Louise Swinn
1.Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Salinger is the biggest cliché but aside from authors I’ve published – too numerous to mention – he still stands out, as does Amy Witting, Dorothy Parker, Michael Chabon. Emmett Stinson’s Known Unknowns has been the most recent to make me … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks A.G.(Andy)McNeil
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Recently I’ve been on a bit of a William Maxwell trip and I seem to enjoy his short fiction more than the novels. ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ is the notable exception there, but it’s a novella. I always enjoy … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks Deborah Biancotti
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? ‘Admire’ is such an admirably bold word! I admire Terry Dowling and Kelly Link and Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages and Rob Shearman for their short fiction. I admire Paul Haines though I’m also rather *appalled* by his stories (is … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Jennifer Mills
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? There are too many. I’ll restrict myself to the living: Cate Kennedy, Paddy O’Reilly, Steven Amsterdam, Gillian Mears, Yiyun Li, Etgar Keret, Karen Russell, and I know he’s won too many awards to be fashionable now but I loved Peter … Read More
Guest blogger Ryan O’Neill
Marcus Clarke’s Offspring In his 1958 essay, “The Prodigal Son” Patrick White railed against Australian fiction as being “the dreary, dun-coloured offspring of journalistic realism.” While it is true that realism has long been dominant in Australian writing, and the Australian short story, there is a long tradition of experimental stories in Australia, as far … Read More