Thursday, May 6, 2010

Short Story Month: Discuss It At Storied

Dan Wickett has kicked off Short Story Month at the Emerging Writers Network. There, some astute readers are discussing particular stories from upcoming collections. And once again, Steven Seighman has designed a nice logo (above). The American Short Fiction blog, Reading the Short Story, The Short Review, and BookFox, among others, will also be posting frequently on the subject. Our plans for May are to continue to post about books we receive as entries and on other subjects relevant to short fiction. In other words, business as usual.

Beyond the blogging, however, wouldn't it be nice to organize behind this idea further and some day have readings and other real world events for Short Story Month? How about an annual short story festival? What about a short story writers hall of fame?

Well, several months ago, I set up a test site to focus on such ideas and invited a few people to participate. It hasn't exactly caught fire, so I've decided to open it up to anyone who might be interested. The site is called Storied, and for now Ning is hosting (though the fees they'll start charging in July may change this). I'm the administrator by default, but there's plenty of room for people to present their own ideas and start their own discussions. So give it a try. Who knows? Maybe in May 2011 or 2012 we'll be gathering to celebrate Short Story Month with readings, film showings, panel discussions, book signings, and the kind of serious partying that would do any short story writer proud.