There are many different types, styles, formats, and techniques that authors may use or employ to communicate their chosen messages. All different types and kinds of stories can be and are communicated to the readers or listeners as the author rolls out his or her story or message through their chosen medium. One such medium employed in the world of literature is known as the short story. The short story is a distinctive literary genre like the poem, play, or novel. Authors must be concise, for they only have a few pages to create a world and a mood, tell the story, and reach a conclusion.

Many short stories, particularly those written nowadays, do not necessarily follow this logical pattern. They may begin and end abruptly in the middle of the described action. Sometimes the narrative is deliberately disjointed. Authors often experiment in short stories before employing their innovations in the longer, more challenging novel form. James Joyce called the short story an “epiphany” and emphasized the importance of “revelation” rather than development over time, as in a novel.

The short story originated in tales that were told around the fire by our prehistoric ancestors. Ancient Greek narratives such as the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” are composed of short rhymed sections that compare roughly to the short story. Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and Boccaccio’s “Decameron” are short stories set within a larger narrative framework. Short fiction in English, was we know it today, was developed in the 19th century by Edgar Allan Poe, who was a master of the macabre and suspense. Other 19th century short story authors include Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Since Poe’s day, most novelists have produced short stories, often beginning their careers in the form. Among these are Henry James, who depicted high society, among other things; Joseph Conrad, who wrote of the sea; Sherwood Anderson, whose subject was small-town life; and Theodore Dreiser, who focused on the city.

Many short story writers set their tales in a specific geographic area or depict a group in society such that their works become a composite portrait of the subject. James Joyce’s “Dubliners” (1914), for example, is made up of 15 stories, none more than a few pages, set in his native Ireland. Ernest Hemingway’s first book of short fiction, “In Our Time” (1925), focuses on manly pursuits like fishing and camping. Flannery O’Connor’s
“A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories” (1955) and “Everything that Rises Must Converge” (1965) are set in the Deep South and are imbued with biblical symbolism. Of course one must never overlook or forget the wonderful short stories penned by William Sydney Porter known by his pen name O. Henry. This American writer produced stories which were known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings .

As the short story developed in English, European authors were producing short story masterpieces in their own languages as well. No account of the short story is complete without a mention of Russian authors Anton Chekov and Nikolai Gogol and French writer Prosper Me’rime’e, all of whom flourished in their field in the native tongues.

The short story has always been and continues to be a favorite form of quiet human enjoyment, particularly when snuggled into a large and soft cushioned winged back chair nestled close to a crackling wood fire on a cold and snowy night.

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