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FICTION
The Largesse and the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves.
Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine by Diane Williams
Not a single moment here is what you might expect. While there is immense pleasure to be found in Williams’s spot-on observations about how we behave in our highest and lowest moments, the heart of the drama beats in the language of American short fiction’s grand master, whose originality, precision, and power bring the familiar into startling and enchanted relief.
Outside is the Ocean by Matthew Lansburg (Iowa Short Fiction Award)
Three days after her twentieth birthday, a young woman who grew up in Germany during World War II, crosses the Atlantic to start a new life. After two marriages and a troubled relationship with her son, Heike adopts a disabled child from Russia, a strong-willed girl named Galina. As Galina grows up, Heike’s grasp on reality frays, and she writes a series of letters to the son she thinks has abandoned her forever. It isn’t until Heike’s death that her son finds these letters and realizes how skewed his mother’s perceptions actually were.
November Storm by Robert Oldshue (Iowa Short Fiction Award)
In each of the stories in Robert Oldshue’s debut collection, the characters want to be decent but find that hard to define. In upstate New York, a November storm is one that comes early in the season. If it catches people off-guard, it can change them in the ways Oldshue’s characters are changed by different but equally surprising storms.
Without a Stitch in Time: a collection of the best humorous short pieces by Peter De Vries
A selection of forty-six articles and stories written for the New Yorker between 1943 and 1973, offers pun-filled autobiographical vignettes that reveal the source of De Vries’s nervous wit: the cognitive dissonance between his Calvinist upbringing in 1920s Chicago and the all-too-perfect postwar world.
Let Me Tell You: new stories, essays, other writings by Shirley Jackson
Edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman, Sarah Hyman DeWitt
Let Me Tell You brings together the deliciously eerie short stories Jackson is best known for, along with frank, inspiring lectures on writing, and comic essays about her large, boisterous family.
NON-FICTION
FLASH! : Writing the Very Short Story by John Dufresne
FLASH! identifies the qualities that make for excellent flash fiction, demystifies the writing process, and guides writers by exercise and example through the world of the very short story. John Dufresne’s characteristic warmth, wit, and humor remind writers of the joy in the creative process, making this a perfect guide for any writer interested in trying a new form.
Short-Form Creative Writing : a writer’s guide and anthology by H. K. Hummel , Stephanie Lenox , et al.
A complete introduction to the art and craft of extremely compressed works of imaginative literature. H. K. Hummel and Stephanie Lenox introduce both traditional and innovative approaches to the short form and demonstrate how it possesses structure, logic, and coherence while simultaneously resisting expectations.
Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin
Le Guin lays out ten chapters that address the most fundamental components of narrative, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view.
Brevity: A Flash Fiction Handbook by David Galef
A guide to writing flash fiction, from tips on technique to samples by canonical and contemporary authors to provocative prompts that inspire powerful stories in a little space.
The Practice of Creative Writing: A Guide for Students by Heather Sellers
Designed for students in the introductory course, The Practice of Creative Writing teaches writers how to trust their own voice, experiment with form, and develop a writing process that allows them to spend more productive time at the desk. Rather than locking into one genre early, writers are encouraged to work among and in between genres and to focus on creating a writing practice that privileges close observation, patience, and techniques of pattern, energy, and shape.
FILMS IN KANOPY
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COMEDY: short film festival
Spanning a spectrum of filmmaking styles, tones, and techniques, these seven films all have one goal common: to lighten your day with humor. From whimsical and ridiculous to dry and ironic, you’ll find the hit of comedy you need in this collection from the editors of Stash Magazine.
SURREAL: short film festival
A collection of five curious and quirky short films pushing the boundaries of modern story-telling and guaranteed to keep you thinking about the strange nature of reality and your place in it.
SCI-FI: short film festival
Three talented young filmmakers transport us into the near future with thought-provoking visions of how extraordinary technology will affect us socially and personally.
STUDENT: short film festival
Prepare yourself for a new wave of directors whose creative ambition and technical mastery expand the potential of short films with every graduating class. Have a look at these five extraordinary examples of animated student films.
3D ANIMATION: short film festival
This 30-minute program presents five short films showcasing the incredible range of comedy, emotion, and sense of wonder possible using 3D animation – the most innovative and successful digital medium on the planet.
BEYOND THE LIBRARY: PODCASTS
Story Corps From NPR
Stories of the human heart. A candid, unscripted conversation between two people about what’s really important in life: love, loss, family, friendship. When the world seems out of hand, tune in to StoryCorps and be reminded of the things that matter most.
1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales
These fast-paced stories and captivating tales are chosen for their unique flavor, are suitable for all ages and tastes, and provide a window to a time when writers knew how to tell great stories using descriptive words and phrases
The Moth
Each weekly episode of this Peabody Award-winning show featured audio of curated, unscripted, first-person stories from live Moth events, including their flagship Mainstage program and their variety of story slams.