Lately there’s been a resurence of all things literary and short. We’ve seen the arts pages of national newspapers and magazines claim that the short story is making a come back, and we’ve seen new presses, both online and print, emerge in recent times against all odds. Flash fiction, as the short short story is now called, has never been so popular and there is no shortage of outlets where you can submit work of this nature, the latest and best being the Irish Times regular slot which has featured great work recently by David Mohan, Valerie Sirr, Doreen Duffy and Eimear Ryan to name but a few.
I’ve noticed also that even shorter forms are becoming more popular. The main reason put forward for this is the advent of social networking and in particular the limitations imposed by Twitter. I don’t Tweet myself, and perhaps I’ll start soon, who knows, particularly if I can rationalise it as a form of literary discipline. In recent times Valeries Sirr has blogged about the Haiku, that most popular of the short forms. The Haiku form offers a great way of approaching writing poetry for people new to it and particularly for teaching kids about poetry and what it can do. Over the years many poets have used haiku or variations on it – the Beats particularly, although they didn’t get hung up on the strict 5 7 5 syllable rule always. And why would they – they were beats for God’s sake!
Meanwhile the poet George Szirtes has also been discussing the idea of the 140 character constraint as a legimate form for poetry on his blog. As is usually the case Szirtes approaches the idea with an open mind and brings positivity and a keen intelligence to bear on the subject. Well worth a look.
With all that in mind, it seems serendipitious that Ropes Journal in Galway are seeking submissions for 140 character stories for their annual anthology. You have until 5pm on Monday 12th March to submit your entry. So get cracking, and remember – keep it short!
140 characters? Now, that’s a challenge.
It must be an attention span thing. I read those shorts in the Irish Times, they were great.
Yea Brigid, there’s short and there’s short. I tried the 140 character thing for Ropes, but it’s nigh on impossible I reckon.
Thanks for the links Brian. Twitter will have to wait for a while at least – not sure what I think of it! Flash fiction is definitely on the up in the last few years and is a great form to read and write.
Do you think it’s down to shorter attention spans or a reflection on the information society? Probably both. Thanks for stopping by David.
Thanks for links, Brian and for mention. Szirtes post looks interesting. Must check it out. Maybe see you on Twitter soon 🙂
Twitter seems inevitable Valerie! Sounds like a possible theme for a post on free will or the lack of it…