The Short Story Workshop

The 'father of science fiction' tells unusual tales that break the conventions of modern storytelling. We examine this air ballooning escapade and discuss its vibrant characters, the structure of the story, the importance of translation, and how genres are defined.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story When I Was A Witch features a female protagonist from New York whose wishes start to come true. We discuss villains, poetic justice, fake news and more.

This story was written by Louisa May Alcott to educate children about the war. We discuss the story's themes, Alcott's life and why we love Jo March from Little Women. 

This snappy relationship story from Ernest Hemingway has multiple interpretations. We discuss how time has changed how we look at it, Hemingway's distinctive style known as iceberg theory (or writing in negative space) and how very many cats he had.

The Grimm Brothers are renowned for their dark fairy tales, collected from across Europe. We look at a slightly unconventional one and discuss their distinctive style, modern adaptations of fairy tales, and why bears are good at dancing.

This week's story is 'Henry & Eliza' from Jane Austen's Juvenilia collection. The story is a savagely comedic parody which takes aim at the 'virtuous heroine'. We discuss Jane Austen's life, the themes she wrote about and more. 

We discuss Poe's most infamous story, with a focus on unreliable narrators, prose style, and tropes of gothic fiction. Find out why his death is still a mystery - and did he really know how the universe was created?

This week's story deconstructs the fairytale 'happily ever after' and is written by our own Simone King. We discuss satisfying story endings, footnote formatting, dialogue tips and more.

Katherine Mansfield was one of the most prominent short story writers of the early 20th century, and this week we're looking at one of her most famous stories. We give our own interpretations of the ending and discuss the context of her life.

We read and discuss Conan Doyle's favourite of the Sherlock Holmes stories. We discuss the mechanics of the detective fiction genre, debate Watson's usefulness, and talk about how Conan Doyle himself viewed his work and his success.