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A short story is a piece of
prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the fo ...
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...
that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
s, mythic tales, folk tales,
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
s, tall tales,
fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular m ...
s and
anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
s in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century.


Definition

The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of
literary technique A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a str ...
s. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story has been recurrently problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
's
essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
"
The Philosophy of Composition "The Philosophy of Composition" is an 1846 essay written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, "unity of effect" and a logical method are importa ...
" (1846). H.G. Wells described the purpose of the short story as "The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud." According to William Faulkner, a short story is character-driven and a writer's job is to "...trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.” Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham thought that the short story "must have a definite design, which includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other words, it must have a plot". Hugh Walpole had a similar view: "A story should be a story; a record of things happening full of incidents, swift movements, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement." This view of the short story as a finished product of art is however opposed by
Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
, who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be a "slice of life", presented suggestively. In his stories, Chekov does not round off the end but leaves it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.Fatma, Gulnaz ''A Short History of the Short Story: Western and Asian Traditions'' Modern History Press 2012, p.2-3
Sukumar Azhikode Koloth Thattarath Sukumaran, popularly known as Sukumar Azhikode (26 May 1926 – 24 January 2012) was an Indian academic, orator, critic and writer of Malayalam literature, known for his contributions to Malayalam language and insights on Indian ...
defined a short story as "a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic or
anecdotal Anecdotal evidence is evidence based only on personal observation, collected in a casual or non-systematic manner. The term is sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony which are uncorroborated by objective, indepen ...
effect". Flannery O'Connor emphasized the need to consider what is exactly meant by the descriptor short. Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed formation.
William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...
, British author and short story writer has said:
hort storiesseem to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards the grave and oblivion.
In the 1880s, the term "short story" acquired its modern meaning – having initially referred to children's tales. During the early to mid-20th century, the short story underwent expansive experimentation which further hindered attempts to comprehensively provide a definition. Longer stories that cannot be called novels are sometimes considered " novellas" or novelettes and, like short stories, may be collected into the more marketable form of "collections", often containing previously unpublished stories. Sometimes, authors who do not have the time or money to write a novella or novel decide to write short stories instead, working out a deal with a popular website or
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
to publish them for profit. Around the world, the modern short story is comparable to
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...
, dramas, novels and essays – although examination of it as a major literary form remains diminished.


Length

In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 for short stories; however, some have 15,000 words and are still classed as short stories. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes referred to as "short short stories", or " flash fiction". Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count, there is no official demarcation between an
anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
, a short story, and a novel. Rather, the form's parameters are given by the rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and considered so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres, countries, eras, and commentators. Like the novel, the short story's predominant shape reflects the demands of the available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely tied to the evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines of its constituent houses. As a point of reference for the genre writer, the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a Non-profit organization, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction an ...
define short story length in the
Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...
s for
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
submission guidelines as having a word count of fewer than 7,500 words.


History

Short stories date back to oral storytelling traditions which originally produced epics such as the
Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...
, the
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
, and
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'' and ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Iliad'', ...
''. Oral narratives were often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic verse, often including recurring sections or, in the case of Homer, '' Homeric epithets''. Such stylistic devices often acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition, and adaptation of the story. Short sections of verse might focus on individual narratives that could be told at one sitting. The overall arc of the
tale Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...
would emerge only through the telling of multiple such sections. According to Azhikode, the short story has existed "in the most ancient times as the parable, the adventure-story of men, gods and demons, the account of daily events, the joke". All languages have had variations of short tales and stories almost since their inceptions. Emerging in the 17th century from oral
storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pr ...
traditions, the short story has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy characterization. "The short story as a carefully contrived literary form is of modern origin", wrote Azhikode. Another ancient form of a short story, the
anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
, was popular under the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. Anecdotes functioned as a sort of
parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
, a brief realistic narrative that embodies a point. Many surviving Roman anecdotes were collected in the 13th or 14th century as the '' Gesta Romanorum''. Anecdotes remained popular throughout Europe well into the 18th century with the publication of the fictional anecdotal letters of Sir Roger de Coverley. In Europe, the oral story-telling tradition began to develop into written stories in the early 14th century, most notably with
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opu ...
'' and
Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was som ...
's ''
Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label= Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Da ...
''. Both of these books are composed of individual short stories, which range from farce or humorous anecdotes to well-crafted literary fiction, set within a larger narrative story (a
frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...
), although the frame-tale device was not adopted by all writers. At the end of the 16th century, some of the most popular short stories in Europe were the darkly tragic "
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...
" of Matteo Bandello, especially in their French translation. The mid 17th century in France saw the development of a refined short novel, the "nouvelle", by such authors as Madame de Lafayette. Traditional
fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
began to be published in the late 17th century; one of the most famous collections was by
Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tale ...
. The appearance of
Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of ''One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called ''Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the tal ...
's first modern translation of the
1001 Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
, a storehouse of Middle Eastern folk and fairy tales, is the '' Thousand and One Nights'' (or ''Arabian Nights'') (from 1704; another translation appeared in 1710–12). His translation would have an enormous influence on the 18th-century European short stories of
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...
,
Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...
and others. In India, there is a rich heritage of ancient folktales as well as a compiled body of short fiction which shaped the sensibility of modern Indian short story. Some of the famous
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
collections of legends, folktales, fairy tales, and fables are
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' (IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, sa, पञ्चतन्त्र, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story ...
,
Hitopadesha ''Hitopadesha'' (Sanskrit: हितोपदेशः, IAST: ''Hitopadeśa'', "Beneficial Advice") is an Indian text in the Sanskrit language consisting of fables with both animal and human characters. It incorporates maxims, worldly wisdom and ...
and Kathasaritsagara. Jataka tales, originally written in
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...
, is a compilation of tales concerning the previous births of Lord
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
. The
Frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...
, also known as the frame narrative or
story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...
, is a narrative technique that probably originated in ancient Indian works such as
Panchatantra The ''Panchatantra'' (IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, sa, पञ्चतन्त्र, "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story ...
. The evolution of printing technologies and periodical editions were among the factors contributing to the increasing importance of short story publications. Pioneering the rules of the genre in the
Western canon The Western canon is the body of high culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly valued in the West; works that have achieved the status of classics. However, not all these works originate in the Western world, ...
were, among others,
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
(United Kingdom),
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
(Russia),
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
(France),
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (; December 22, 1859 – February 3, 1895) was a Mexican writer and political figure. Biography Gutiérrez Nájera was born to catholic parents Manuel Gutiérrez Gómez (1818-1889) and Dolores Nájera y Huerta (1831-18 ...
(Mexico) and
Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as ''modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...
(Nicaragua).


1790–1850

Early examples of short stories were published separately between 1790 and 1810, but the first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810 and 1830 in several countries. The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like Richard Cumberland's "remarkable narrative", "The Poisoner of Montremos" (1791). Novelists such as Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
and
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
also wrote influential short stories during this time. Germany soon followed the United Kingdom's example by producing short stories; the first collection of short stories was by Heinrich von Kleist in 1810 and 1811.
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
became one of the first American short story writers, taking a cosmopolitan approach to writing. His concise technique, deemed the "single effect", has had tremendous influence on the formation of the modern short story. Examples include: *
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
** Prosper Mérimée *** Mateo Falcone (1829) *
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
**
E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...
*** "
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (german: Nussknacker und Mausekönig) is a story written in 1816 by Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating ...
" (1816), *** " The Sandman", **
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
*** first volume of collected fairy tales (1812) *
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
**
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
*** " The Fall of the House of Usher", *** "
The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...
", *** " The Cask of Amontillado", *** " The Pit and the Pendulum", *** "
The Gold Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...
", *** "
The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Du ...
"- one of the first detective stories *** "
The Purloined Letter "The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being " The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and " The Mystery of Marie Ro ...
"- one of the first detective stories **
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
*** '' Twice-Told Tales'' (1837) ** John Neal ***"Otter-Bag, the Oneida Chief" (1829) ***"David Whicher" (1832)


1850–1900

In the latter half of the 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words. In 1890s Britain, literary periodicals such as ''
The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...
'', ''
Black & White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
,'' and '' The Strand Magazine'' popularized the short story. Britain was not alone in the endeavor to strengthen the short story movement. French author
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
composed the short stories "''
Boule de Suif Boule may refer to: ;Ball games * Boules, a collective term for games involving players throwing balls at a smaller target ball ** Pétanque, a common variety originating in France and sometimes loosely called "boules" in English ** Boule Lyonnais ...
''" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) and "''L'Inutile Beauté''" ("The Useless Beauty", 1890), which are important examples of French
realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: * Classical Realism *Literary realism, a mov ...
. Russian author
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
was also influential in the movement. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India, many writers created short stories centered on daily life and the social scene of the different socioeconomic groups.
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
published more than 150 short stories on the lives of the poor and oppressed such as peasants, women, and villagers under colonial misrule and exploitation. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Tagore's contemporary, was another pioneer in Bengali short stories. Chattopadhyay's stories focused on the social scenario of rural Bengal and the lives of common people, especially the oppressed classes. The prolific Indian author of short stories Munshi Premchand, pioneered the genre in the
Hindustani language Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the lang ...
, writing over 200 short stories and many novels in a style characterized by realism and an unsentimental and authentic introspection into the complexities of Indian society. In the United States,
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
was responsible for creating some of the first short stories of American origin, "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Bi ...
" and "
Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...
". Twenty years later, in 1884,
Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...
, the first American professor of dramatic literature, published ''The Philosophy of the Short-Story''. During that same year, Matthews was the first one to name the emerging genre "short story". Another theorist of
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...
was
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
, who produced some of the most influential short narratives of the time. The spread of the short story movement continued into South America, specifically Brazil. The novelist
Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short stor ...
was an important short story writer from Brazil at the time, under the influences of
Xavier de Maistre Xavier de Maistre (; 10 October 1763 – 12 June 1852) of Savoy (then part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia) lived largely as a military man but is known as a French writer. The younger brother of Joseph de Maistre, a noted philosopher an ...
, Laurence Sterne,
Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
, among others. At the end of the 19th century, the writer João do Rio became popular by short stories about the
bohemianism Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, a ...
. Lima Barreto wrote about the former slaves and
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
in Brazil, with his most recognized work being '' Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma''. Examples include: *
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
**
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
***"The Kabuliwala" ***"The Hungry Stone" ***"The Wife's Letter" ***"The Parrot's Training" ***"Punishment" ** Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay ***"Bindu's Son" ***"Abhagi's Heaven" ***"Mahesh" ***"Ram's Good Lesson" ***"Lalu" (3 parts) ***"The Husband" **
Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...
***"The Shroud" ***"The Cost of Milk" ***"Lottery" *
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
** Bolesław Prus *** "
A Legend of Old Egypt "A Legend of Old Egypt" (Polish: ''"Z legend dawnego Egiptu"'') is a seven-page short story by Bolesław Prus, originally published January 1, 1888, in New Year's supplements to the Warsaw ''Kurier Codzienny'' (Daily Courier) and ''Tygodnik Ilust ...
" (1888) *
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
** Almeida Garrett ** Alexandre Herculano ** Eça de Queiroz *
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
**
Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...
*** ''
A Sportsman's Sketches ''A Sportsman's Sketches'' (russian: Записки охотника, Zapiski ohotnika; also known as ''A Sportman's Notebook'', ''The Hunting Sketches'' and ''Sketches from a Hunter's Album'') is an 1852 cycle of short stories by Ivan Turgenev. ...
'' ** Fyodor Dostoyevski *** "
The Meek One "A Gentle Creature" (russian: Кроткая, translit=Krotkaya), sometimes also translated as "The Meek One", is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in November 1876. The piece comes with the subtitle of "A Fantastic Story", and it ch ...
" (1876) *** "
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (russian: Сон смешного человека, ''Son smeshnovo cheloveka'') is a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the wo ...
" (1877) **
Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
*** " Ivan the Fool" (1885) *** "
How Much Land Does a Man Need? "How Much Land Does a Man Require?" (Russian: Много ли человеку земли нужно?, ''Mnogo li cheloveku zemli nuzhno?'') is an 1886 short story by Leo Tolstoy about a man who, in his lust for land, forfeits everything. Synopsi ...
" (1886) *** "
Alyosha the Pot "Alyosha the Pot" (russian: Алеша Горшок 'Alyosha Gorshok'' is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy (1905) about the life and death of a simple, uncomplaining worker. It was published after Tolstoy's death in 1911 and received high pra ...
" (1905) **
Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
*** " The Bet" (1889) *** "Ward No. 6" (1892) *** " The Lady with the Dog" (1899) **
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
*** " Twenty-six Men and a Girl" (1899) *
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
**
Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...
*** " The Three Strangers" (1883), *** "
A Mere Interlude "A Mere Interlude" is a short story by Thomas Hardy. It was first published in ''The Bolton Weekly Journal'' in October 1885. The story was reprinted in the collection '' A Changed Man and Other Tales'' (1913). Plot summary Baptista Trewthen is t ...
" (1885), *** "
Barbara of the House of Grebe "Barbara of the House of Grebe" is the second of ten short stories in Thomas Hardy's frame narrative '' A Group of Noble Dames''. It is told by the old surgeon. The story was published in ''The Graphic'' in 1890 and in book form in 1891. Plot sum ...
" (1890) **
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
*** ''
Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the ''Civil and Military Gaz ...
'' (1888) *** ''
The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...
'' (1894) **
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
*** '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)-''
detective story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
** H.G. Wells-
Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
*** " The Country of the Blind" (1904) *
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
**
Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a ...
*** ''
The Piazza Tales ''The Piazza Tales'' is a collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published by Dix & Edwards in the United States in May 1856 and in Britain in June. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the s ...
'' (1856) **
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
*** " The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" **
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
*** " The Real Thing" (1892) *** "Maud-Evelyn" *** ''
The Beast in the Jungle ''The Beast in the Jungle'' is a 1903 novella by Henry James, first published as part of the collection, ''The Better Sort''. Almost universally considered one of James' finest short narratives, this story treats appropriately universal themes: l ...
'' (1903) **
Kate Chopin Kate Chopin (, also ; born Katherine O'Flaherty; February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904) was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered by scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th-century feminis ...
** Stephen Crane


1900–1945

In the United Kingdom, periodicals like '' The Strand Magazine'' and '' Story-Teller'' contributed to the popularity of the short story. Several authors during this time wrote short stories centered on the devices of satire and humor. One such author, Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also known by his pen name of Saki, wrote
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...
short stories about
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
England.
P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
published his first collection of comical stories about the valet,
Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Berti ...
, in 1917. Other common genres of short stories during the early to mid 1900s in England were detective stories and thrillers. Many of these detective stories were written by authors such as G.K. Chesterton,
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fiction ...
, and Dorothy L. Sayers.
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
wrote his collection of short stories,
Twenty-One Stories ''Twenty-One Stories'' (1954) is a collection of short stories by Graham Greene. All but the last three stories appeared in his earlier 1947 collection ''Nineteen Stories'' (one story, "The Other Side Of The Border," was not included in the later ...
, between 1929 and 1954. Many of these short stories are classified in the genres of thriller, suspense, or even horror. The European short story movement during this time was not unique to England. In Ireland,
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
published his short story collection '' Dubliners'' in 1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth city. In the first half of the 20th century, a number of high-profile American magazines such as ''The
Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', ''
Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Ra ...
'', ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
'', ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'', and '' The Bookman'' published short stories in each issue. The demand for quality short stories was so great and the money paid so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first collection, '' Flappers and Philosophers,'' appeared in book form in 1920. Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style was perfectly suited for shorter fiction. Influenced by the short stories of Stephen Crane and
Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
, Hemingway's work "marks a new phase in the history of the short story". The creation and study of the short story as a medium began to emerge as an academic discipline due to
Blanche Colton Williams Blanche Colton Williams (February 10, 1879 – August 9, 1944) was an American author, editor, department head and professor of English literature, and pioneer in women’s higher education. She was known for her “groundbreaking work on str ...
' “groundbreaking work on structure and analysis of the short story” and her publication of ''A Handbook on Short Story Writing'' (1917), described as “the first practical aid to growing young writers that was put on the market in this country.”     In
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, Horacio Quiroga became one of the most influential short story writers in the Spanish language. With a clear influence from
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
, he had a great skill in using the
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
and the bizarre to show the struggle of man and animal to survive. He also excelled in portraying
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
and
hallucinatory A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...
states. In India, Saadat Hasan Manto, the master of the short story in the Urdu language, is revered for his exceptional depth, irony, and sardonic humor. The author of some 250 short stories, radio plays, essays, reminiscences, and a novel, Manto is widely admired for his analyses of violence, bigotry, prejudice, and the relationships between reason and unreason. Combining realism with surrealism and irony, Manto's works, such as the celebrated short story
Toba Tek Singh Toba Tek Singh ( pnb, , ur, ) is a city and capital of Toba Tek Singh District in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is surrounded by cities of Gojra, Kamalia, Rajana, Pir Mahal and Shorkot. History The city and district is named a ...
, are aesthetic masterpieces that continue to give profound insight into the nature of human loss, violence, and devastation. Another famous Urdu writer is Ismat Chughtai, whose short story, "Lihaaf" (The Quilt), on a lesbian relationship between an upper-class Muslim woman and her maidservant created great controversy following its publication in 1942. Examples include: *
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
**
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
*** "
A Hunger Artist "A Hunger Artist" (German: "Ein Hungerkünstler") is a short story by Franz Kafka first published in '' Die neue Rundschau'' in 1922. The story was also included in the collection '' A Hunger Artist'' (''Ein Hungerkünstler''), the last book Ka ...
" (1922) *
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
** Mário de Andrade ** António de Alcantâra Machado ***''Brás, Bexiga e Barra Funda'' (1928) ** Graciliano Ramos **
Carlos Drummond de Andrade Carlos Drummond de Andrade () (October 31, 1902 – August 17, 1987) was a Brazilian poet and writer, considered by some as the greatest Brazilian poet of all time. He has become something of a national cultural symbol in Brazil, where his wi ...
*
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
**
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...
***" Kew Gardens" (1919) ***"Solid Objects" **
W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
** V.S. Pritchett **
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...
** Muriel Spark ** L.P. Hartley **
Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
***"
Travel by Wire! "Travel by Wire!" is a science fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke. His first published story, it was first published in December 1937 in the magazine '' Amateur Science Stories''. It was subsequently published as part of th ...
" (1937) *
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
**
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
*
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
** Jaishankar Prasad *
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
** Ryūnosuke Akutagawa *
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
** Katherine Mansfield ***" The Doll's House" (1922) *
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
** Mário de Sá-Carneiro ** Florbela Espanca ** Fernando Pessoa *
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
**
O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the ...
*** "
The Ransom of Red Chief "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a short story by O. Henry first published in the July 6, 1907, issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post''. It follows two men who kidnap and demand a ransom for a wealthy Alabamian's son. Eventually, the men are driven cr ...
", *** "
The Cop and the Anthem "The Cop and the Anthem" is a December 1904 short story by the United States author O. Henry. It includes several of the classic elements of an O. Henry story, including a setting in New York City, an empathetic look at the state of mind of a ...
", *** " The Skylight Room", *** "
After Twenty Years "After Twenty Years" is a short story written by O. Henry, first published in his anthology, '' The Four Million'' in 1906. Plot Jimmy Wells and Bob were raised in New York City and grew up as very close friends. Their paths diverged when Bob ...
", *** " The Last Leaf", *** "
A Retrieved Reformation "A Retrieved Reformation" is a short story by American author O. Henry first published in '' The Cosmopolitan Magazine'', April 1903. The original title was "A Retrieved Reform". It was illustrated by A.I. Keller. History The story describes ...
" **
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
*** "
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, first published in ''Scribner's Magazine'' in 1933; it was also included in his collection '' Winner Take Nothing'' (1933). Plot synopsis Late at night, a deaf o ...
" (1926) *** "
Hills Like White Elephants "Hills Like White Elephants" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in August 1927, in the literary magazine ''transition'', then later in the 1927 short story collection '' Men Without Women''. Later the story was adapted ...
" (1927) *** " The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1936) **
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...
***''
Go Down, Moses "Go Down Moses" is a spiritual phrase that describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 5:1: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may se ...
'' **
Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...
***"Big Blonde" (1929) **
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
***" Nightfall"


Since 1945

Following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the artistic range and amount of writers of short stories grew significantly. Due in part to frequent contributions from
John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The ...
, ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' would demonstrate substantial influence as a weekly short story publication for more than half a century.
Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two m ...
's story, " The Lottery" (1948), elicited the strongest response in the magazine's history to that time. Other frequent contributors during the 1940s included
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
,
Jean Stafford Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for '' The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford'' in 1970. Biography She was born in Covina, California, to M ...
, Eudora Welty, and
John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...
, who is best known for "The Swimmer" (1964), beautifully blending realism and surrealism. Many other American short story writers greatly influenced the evolving form of the short story. For example, J.D. Salinger's ''Nine Stories'' (1953) experimented with point of view and voice, while Flannery O'Connor's well-known story, "
A Good Man is Hard to Find ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories'' (published in the United Kingdom as ''The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales'') is a collection of short story, short stories by American author Flannery O'Connor. The collection was first published ...
" (1955), reinvigorated the
Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...
style. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s.
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen's "
I Stand Here Ironing "I Stand Here Ironing" is a short story by Tillie Olsen. It was published in her short story collection '' Tell Me a Riddle'' in 1956. Plot introduction The story is told from a mother's first person point of view. The narrator, a remarried mothe ...
" (1961) adopted a consciously feminist perspective.
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; ...
's collection, '' Going to Meet the Man'' (1965), told stories of African-American life.
Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
stories with a special poetic touch was a genre developed with great popular success by
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...
.
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
published many science fiction short stories in men's magazines in the 1960s and after. King's interest is in the supernatural and macabre. Donald Barthelme and John Barth produced works in the 1970s that demonstrate the rise of the postmodern short story. While traditionalism maintained a significant influence on the form of the short story,
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
gained widespread influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie. Carver helped usher in an "extreme minimalist aesthetic" and expand the scope of the short story, as did Lydia Davis, through her idiosyncratic and laconic style. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges is one of the most famous writers of short stories in the Spanish language. "The Library of Babel" (1941) and "The Aleph (short story), The Aleph" (1945) handle difficult subjects like infinity. Borges won American fame with "The Garden of Forking Paths", published in the August 1948 issue of ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. Two of the most representative writers of the Magical realism genre are also widely known Argentinian short story writers Adolfo Bioy Casares and Julio Cortázar. The Nobel prize laureate author Gabriel García Márquez and the Uruguay writer Juan Carlos Onetti are other significant magical realist short story writers from the Hispanic world. In Brazil, writing about poverty and the Favela, favelas, João Antonio became a well-known writer. Detective literature was led by Rubem Fonseca. João Guimarães Rosa wrote short stories in the book ''Sagarana'' using a complex, experimental language based on tales of oral tradition. The role of the bi-monthly magazine Desh (magazine), Desh (first published in 1933) is imperative in the development of the Bengali short story. Two of the most popular detective story writers of Bengali literature are Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (the creator of Byomkesh Bakshi) and Satyajit Ray (the creator of Feluda). Examples include: * Angola **José Luandino Vieira **José Eduardo Agualusa * Bengali language, Bengali ** Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, ** Manik Bandyopadhyay ** Mahasweta Devi, ** Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, ** Suchitra Bhattacharya, ** Ramapada Chowdhury ** Humayun Ahmed *
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
** Clarice Lispector, ** Lygia Fagundes Telles ** Adélia Prado ** Dalton Trevisan, ** Autran Dourado Moacyr Scliar ** Carlos Heitor Cony, ** Hilda Hilst ** Caio Fernando Abreu *Egypt **Naguib Mahfouz- Nobel Prize Winner *
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
** Amrita Pritam ** Dharamvir Bharati ** Bhisham Sahni ** Krishna Sobti ** Nirmal Verma ** Kamleshwar (writer) ** Mannu Bhandari ** Harishankar Parsai *Italy **Italo Calvino ***''Marcovaldo (1963)'' *
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
** Kenzaburō Ōe (Nobel prize winner of 1994), ** Yukio Mishima ** Haruki Murakami. *Mozambique ** Suleiman Cassamo, ** Paulina Chiziane, ** Eduardo White ** Mia Couto *Peru **Mario Vargas Llosa- Nobel Prize Laureate *Philippines **Peter Solis Nery ***"Lirio" (1998) ***"Candido" (2007) ***"Donato Bugtot" (2011) ***"Si Padre Olan kag ang Dios" (2013) *
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
** Vergílio Ferreira, ** Fernando Goncalves Namora ** Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen ** José Saramago ** Manuel da Silva Ramos *
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
**Daphne du Maurier ***"The Birds (story), The Birds" (1952) ***"Don't Look Now" (1971) *
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
**Frank O'Connor ***''The Lonely Voice'' **Wallace Stegner **John Updike **Joyce Carol Oates


Sales and profits

:21st-century short story writers, 21st-century short story writers run into the thousands. Female short story writers have seen increased critical attention, with British authors, in particular, exploring modern feminist politics in their writings. Sales of short-story fiction are strong. In the UK, sales jumped 45% in 2017, driven by collections from international names such as Alice Munro, new writers to the genre such as Tom Hanks, and the revival of short story Salon (gathering), salons such as those held by the short fiction company Pin Drop Studio. More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK in 2017, generating £5.88 million, the genre's highest sales since 2010. Throughout the 2010s, a hypothetical "renaissance" was frequently speculated; Sam Baker (writer), Sam Baker deemed it the "perfect literary form for the 21st century". In 2012, Pin Drop Studio launched a short story salon held regularly in London and other major cities. Short story writers who have appeared at the salon to read their short stories to a live audience include Ben Okri, Lionel Shriver, Elizabeth Day, A. L. Kennedy, A.L. Kennedy,
William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...
, Graham Swift, David Nicholls (writer), David Nicholls, Will Self, Sebastian Faulks, Julian Barnes, Evie Wyld, Evie Wylde and Claire Fuller. Canadian short story writers include Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, and Lynn Coady. In 2013, Alice Munro became the first writer of only short stories to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her award-winning short story collections include ''Dance of the Happy Shades, Lives of Girls and Women, Who Do You Think You Are? (book), Who Do You Think You Are?, The Progress of Love, The Love of a Good Woman'' and ''Runaway (book), Runaway''.


Awards

Prominent short story awards such as The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, Sunday Times Short Story Award, the BBC National Short Story Award, the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, The London Magazine Short Story Priz

the Pin Drop Studio Short Story Award and many others, attract hundreds of entries each year. Published and non-published writers take part, sending their stories from around the world. In 2013, Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature—her citation read "master of the contemporary short story." She said she hopes the award would bring readership for the short story, as well as recognize the short story on its own merit, rather than "something that people do before they write their first novel." Short stories have been cited with regard to other laureates as well, Paul Heyse in 1910 and Gabriel García Márquez in 1982.


Adaptations

Short stories are sometimes adapted for radio, TV and film: * Radio dramas, as on ''NBC Presents: Short Story'' (1951–52). A popular example of this is "The Hitch-Hiker (radio play), The Hitch-Hiker", read by Orson Welles. * Short films, often rewritten by other people, and even as feature-length films; such is the case of "Children of the Corn", "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Birds (story), The Birds", "Brokeback Mountain", "Who Goes There?", "Duel (1971 film), Duel", "A Sound of Thunder", "The Body (2001 film), The Body", "Total Recall (1990 film), Total Recall", "The Lawnmower Man", "Hearts in Atlantis", and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". * Television specials, such as "12:01 PM" (1993 television movie), "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (October 11, 1963, on ''The Twilight Zone''), " The Lottery", and "Button, Button (The Twilight Zone), Button, Button" (on ''The Twilight Zone'').


Characteristics

As a concentrated, concise form of Narrative structure, narrative and descriptive prose fiction, the short story has been theorized through the traditional elements of dramatic structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation, and main characters), complication (the event that introduces the conflict), rising action, crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and his commitment to a course of action), climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point with the most action) and resolution (the point when the conflict is resolved). Because of their length, short stories may or may not follow this pattern. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition, more typically beginning in the middle of the action (''in medias res''). As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis, or turning point. In general, short stories feature endings which are either conclusive or open-ended. Ambiguity is a recurrent trope in short stories; by means of ending, characterisation or length. As with any art form, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary by the creator. Characteristic of short story authors, according to professor of English, Clare Hanson, was for them to be "losers and loners, exiles, women, blacks – writers who for one reason or another have not been part of the ruling “narrative” or epistemological/experiential framework of their society".


See also

* Anthology * Conte (literature), Conte * Conte cruel * Drabble * Flash fiction (also called microfiction) * Literary journal * Minisaga * Sketch story * Tall tale * Vignette (literature), Vignette


References


Bibliography

* *Dillard, Annie. (1990). ''The Writing Life.'' Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-016156-6 * * * * * * * * * * * *Storr, Will (2020). ''The Science of Storytelling'' William Collins Publications ISBN 978-0-00-827697-3 *''The Persephone Book of Short Stories'' (2012) Persephone Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1903-155-905 * * *


Still often cited

* * * * * * * * *


External links


''The Short History of the Short Story'' by William Boyd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short Story Short stories, Fiction forms Literary terminology