Hudds LitFest – Writer’s new book revives the short story
Wed, 22 Feb 2017 14:23:00 GMT
Dr Michael Stewart’s new book, Mr Jolly, revives the art of writing short stories – Hudds Lit Fest, Saturday 18 March, 11am to 12 noon
WITH his first book of short stories now in print, the University of Huddersfield’s Head of Creative Writing, Dr Michael Stewart (pictured right), is better poised than ever to continue his campaign for a revival of interest in a form of literature once massively popular but which has mostly fallen from favour with UK publishers.
Mr Jolly is the title of his collection of darkly comic, but strange and unsettling tales. Now, Dr Stewart – already an award-winning novelist and playwright – will discuss his approach to short story writing alongside other leading exponents when he takes part in a panel discussion at 2017’s Huddersfield Literature Festival.
“I’ve actually been writing short stories for a long time,” said Dr Stewart. “But it has taken a while to get this new book published because short stories are not as popular as they were – it took two novels to be published first.”
“I am always agitating for the form to be revived,” continued Dr Stewart, who also took part in a session on the topic at the 2016 festival.
“When the e-book came into being we were all led to believe that the short story would become popular again, because length wouldn’t be an issue. But that’s not really happened, except in certain genres.”
In other parts of the world the short story has retained its popularity, said Dr Stewart, who recently attended a conference on the topic held in Shanghai. But in Britain, the days when a writer could earn a comfortable living contributing short fiction to magazines have gone.
Dr Stewart is certain that the form – which long pre-dates the novel – retains its literary value and at the University of Huddersfield he teaches a module on short stories.
“It’s great training, partly because its length makes it suitable to study over a two-hour seminar. But also, if students learn to craft short stories, they learn about writing in a way that becomes more manageable than trying to orient characters over a 200-page narrative. It is a very good way to learn some of the crafts and technique of story writing.”
The new collection from Michael Stewart, Mr Jolly, is collection of stories that have been written over a fairly lengthy period and published by various outlets.
“The theme is that there is no theme! It is me trying to push the form really. Each story is an attempt to do something different with the short story,” said Dr Stewart. “There is a lot of black comedy and the stories are Twilight Zone-esque, meant to unsettle you a little bit.
“A lot of them take an imaginative leap into a kind of magical idea. For example, the title story is about a character who makes a scarecrow to keep the birds from his allotment and forms a relationship with it. Another story is about a world where bald-headed men hunt down long haired men, and a recurring theme in the collection is the image of a naked man – I like the idea of looking at us stripped down to what we really are.”
► Appearing alongside Michael at the Huddersfield Literature Festival are short story writers, Carys Bray (photo courtesy of Colin NcPherson) and Tessa Hadley (photo courtesy of Mark Vessey)
- On Saturday 18 March (11am-12noon) at the University of Huddersfield’s, Brontë Lecture Theatre, Dr Stewart appears alongside leading writers Carys Bray and Tessa Hadley to discuss short stories and their future. Tickets (£3 and £1.50) can be reserved online.
