THRESHOLDS

International Short Story Day

photo by vollefolklore

This year,

National Short Story Day

has gone global…

*

To celebrate

International Short Story Day,

we invited our Twitter Followers and Facebook Friends
to send us synopses of their favourite stories
that have been published online.

 

Beginning, End, by Jessica Soffer: in a series of short paragraphs, the story captures the ebb and flow of a long-term relationship. It shows how to leap through time, how to make ‘telling’ vivid and immediate. Recommended by Vicky Grut

~

The Bridal Night, by Frank O’Connor: this is the story, very short, of a real love and a make-believe wedding night.  It is one of the saddest stories ever written (found on page 406). Recommended by Valerie Trueblood

~

Feather Girls, by Claire Massey: In a northern town, beside a lake, men catch wives and keep them human by hiding their feather coats. A magical story about transformation and the cost of love. Recommended by Carys Bray

~

Fjord of Killary, by Kevin Barry: drunken poet hotelier comes of age; dances. Recommended by Deirdre Gleeson

~

Infant Spring, by M.A. Crossan: a touching and poignant tale of youth and friendship. It stayed with me after reading, beautiful, perfect. Recommended by Laura Huntley

~

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury, by Neil Gaiman: a monologue on lost words and forgotten people. In tribute to Ray Bradbury. Recommended by Vic Heath

~

Meneseteung, by Alice Munro: a poet lives out a fierce solitude in a frontier Canadian town. Reading the end of this story is like standing on a cliff from which all of life is visible. Recommended by Valerie Trueblood

~

The Second Bakery Attack, by Haruki Murakami: theft, inexplicable ski masks & hunger, The Second Bakery Attack dives into the life of a couple learning to live together. Recommended by Angela Readman

~

Sister Imelda, by Edna O’Brien: young girl in love with a nun, who gives her small gifts and kisses her on the night of the school play. Years later, she misses her chance to speak to the nun again when she bumps into her on a bus. This really is a beautiful story of love found and lost and the inability to seize the moment. Recommended by Mary O’Donnell

~

The Turing Test, by Chris Beckett: a gallery owner wonders if she’s more human than her new virtual PA. Recommended by David Hebblethwaite

~

A big thank you to everyone who sent in their recommendations.

*

Find more short stories to read online, here:

Book Trust

Comma Press Story Bank

Fish Publishing

Granta

Liars’ League

Litro

Notes from the Underground

Out of Print

Pank Magazine

Riptide Journal

Six Words

THRESHOLDS

Untitled Books

The Willesden Herald

*

Thresholds is not responsible for any external content
shown on other websites.