Short story
A reader holds a small printed French booklet titled Première cigarette in a public space. This object represents the modern short story, a piece of narrative fiction designed to be read in a single sitting. Edgar Allan Poe argued that such works must evoke a single effect or mood upon completion. He published his essay The Philosophy of Composition in 1846 to outline this theory. H. G. Wells later described the purpose as making something bright and moving within fifteen to fifty minutes of reading aloud. William Faulkner viewed the writer's job as trotting behind a character with paper and pencil to capture their actions. Somerset Maugham insisted on a definite design including a point of departure and climax. Anton Chekhov opposed this strict form by suggesting stories should be a slice of life without beginning or end. Sukumar Azhikode defined the genre as a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic effect. Flannery O'Connor emphasized the need to consider what exactly makes a work short. Some authors resist categorization entirely while others argue for strict structural rules.
Oral storytelling traditions produced epics like the Ramayana and Homer's Iliad over many performances. Short sections of verse focused on individual narratives lasting a single telling. These stylistic devices acted as mnemonics for easier recall and adaptation. A Roman anecdote embodied a point and remained popular throughout Europe into the 18th century. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote Decameron in the early 14th century using individual short stories set within a larger frame story. Geoffrey Chaucer followed suit with Canterbury Tales containing farce and humorous anecdotes. Matteo Bandello published darkly tragic novellas at the end of the 16th century that influenced French translations. Antoine Galland released his first modern translation of The Thousand and One Nights from 1704 onwards. This collection served as a storehouse of Middle Eastern folk tales influencing Voltaire and Diderot. Ancient Indian works like Panchatantra compiled legends, fables, and fairy tales concerning previous births of Lord Gautama Buddha. The frame narrative technique originated in these ancient Indian collections before spreading globally.
Richard Cumberland published The Poisoner of Montremos in 1791 as one of the first gothic tales in the United Kingdom. Heinrich von Kleist created the first German collection of short stories between 1810 and 1811. Washington Irving wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle to establish American origins for the genre. Edgar Allan Poe developed a concise technique called the single effect which influenced the formation of the modern short story. Prosper Mérimée contributed Mateo Falcone in 1829 while E. T. A. Hoffmann wrote The Nutcracker and the Mouse King in 1816. The Brothers Grimm published Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1812. Nathaniel Hawthorne released Twice-Told Tales in 1837. John Neal authored Otter-Bag, the Oneida Chief in 1829 and David Whicher in 1832. Brander Matthews became the first American professor of dramatic literature and named the emerging genre short story in 1884. Henry James produced influential short narratives during this same period. Guy de Maupassant composed Boule de Suif in 1880 and L'Inutile Beauté in 1890 to exemplify French realism.
Rabindranath Tagore published more than 150 short stories on the lives of peasants and women under colonial misrule in India. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay focused his Bengali stories on rural Bengal and oppressed classes. Munshi Premchand pioneered the Hindustani language with over 200 short stories characterized by realism. Machado de Assis wrote important short stories from Brazil influenced by Xavier de Maistre and Laurence Sterne. João do Rio became popular for bohemianism while Lima Barreto wrote about former slaves and nationalism. Horacio Quiroga used supernatural elements to show the struggle of man and animal to survive in Uruguay. Saadat Hasan Manto wrote some 250 short stories analyzing violence, bigotry, and prejudice in Urdu. Ismat Chughtai created Lihaaf in 1942 which caused great controversy regarding a lesbian relationship between an upper-class Muslim woman and her maidservant. Adolfo Bioy Casares and Julio Cortázar represented magical realism as Argentine writers. Gabriel García Márquez won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for his significant contributions to the form.
The New Yorker exercised substantial influence as a weekly publication after World War II due to frequent contributions from John O'Hara. Shirley Jackson's story The Lottery elicited the strongest response in the magazine's history up to that time in 1948. Ernest Hemingway marked a new phase in the history of the short story with concise writing styles influenced by Stephen Crane and Jack London. J. D. Salinger experimented with point of view and voice in Nine Stories published in 1953. Flannery O'Connor reinvigorated the Southern Gothic style with A Good Man Is Hard to Find in 1955. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices during the 1960s. Tillie Olsen adopted a consciously feminist perspective in I Stand Here Ironing in 1961. James Baldwin told stories of African-American life in Going to Meet the Man released in 1965. Ray Bradbury developed science fiction stories with a special poetic touch achieving great popular success. Donald Barthelme and John Barth produced works in the 1970s demonstrating the rise of the postmodern short story. Raymond Carver helped usher in an extreme minimalist aesthetic while Lydia Davis expanded the scope through idiosyncratic and laconic styles.
Sales of short-story fiction jumped 45% in the UK in 2017 driven by collections from international names like Alice Munro. More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK that year generating £5.88 million. This figure represented the genre's highest sales since 2010. Sam Baker called it a perfect literary form for the 21st century during frequent speculation about a potential renaissance. Canadian writer Alice Munro became the first author of nothing but short stories to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Her award-winning collections include Dance of the Happy Shades and Lives of Girls and Women. The Sunday Times Short Story Award attracts hundreds of entries each year alongside the BBC National Short Story Award. The Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize draws published and non-published writers from around the world. Digital tools have enabled famous names like actor Tom Hanks to publish their work using readily accessible platforms. Revival of short story salons such as those held by Pin Drop Studio has contributed to this growth.
Radio dramas appeared on NBC Presents: Short Story between 1951 and 1952 with Orson Welles reading The Hitch-Hiker. Short films often rewritten by other writers include Children of the Corn and The Shawshank Redemption. Feature film adaptations encompass The Birds, Brokeback Mountain, Total Recall, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Television specials included 12:01 P.M. released in 1993 and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet which aired on the 11th of October 1963. The Twilight Zone featured episodes like The Lottery and Button, Button during its run. Many detective stories were adapted into feature films including works by Arthur Conan Doyle. Science fiction stories with a special poetic touch developed great popular success through Ray Bradbury's contributions. The role of the bi-monthly magazine Desh first published in 1933 was key in development of the Bengali short story. Two of the most popular detective story writers of Bengali literature are Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay and Satyajit Ray. These creators produced Byomkesh Bakshi and Feluda respectively for television and radio audiences.
Common questions
What is the definition of a short story according to Sukumar Azhikode?
Sukumar Azhikode defined the genre as a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic effect.
When did Brander Matthews name the emerging genre short story?
Brander Matthews became the first American professor of dramatic literature and named the emerging genre short story in 1884.
Which author won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 for writing only short stories?
Canadian writer Alice Munro became the first author of nothing but short stories to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.
How many short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK during 2017?
More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK that year generating £5.88 million.
On what date did Nightmare at 20,000 Feet air on television?
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet aired on the 11th of October 1963.