Short Story Club on 21st May

Free online discussion group for all - read this short story beforehand

At our first Short Story Club in April, about twenty writers got together to discuss Katherine Mansfield’s story, ‘A Dill Pickle’. We could have gone on for hours, honestly, but in the one short hour we did have, we dug into the shifting power dynamics of this dialogue-laden piece, the personalities that emerged from the subtext of the character’s speech and actions, the use of symbols (especially food), and the extraordinary hinterland created by a brief encounter in a cafe.

For our next meeting, 6-7pm on the 21st of May, we’re going to read and discuss a very different story, ‘The Rain Horse’ by Ted Hughes. Hughes uses no dialogue at all in his intense account of a standoff between man and beast in the mud and rain of the English countryside. Rather, we watch weather, psychology and buried emotions create a level of tension similar to that in the Mansfield story but of a completely different tenor.

You don’t need to have attended the previous Short Story Club to come to this one. All are welcome, as are all responses. If this story riled you, we want to know! If it reminded you of something else you’ve read, please come along and share that intertextual connection. Our conversation will be informal, open, and will hopefully provide some new ways of thinking about story structure that you might apply to your own writing.

You can find ‘The Rain Horse’ online here.

Use this link to join the Zoom session on 21st May, 6pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83139641449?pwd=ZXlLZFJ5bWJDMWFZQ1V2S0IyRWRiQT09

The Zoom link is also included in our regularly-updated calendar on Substack.

I look forward to seeing you on the 21st!

Zoe

PS: My next online course also starts on 21st May: Saltwater Folk Tales is a chance to read and chat about lots of original folk tales of the shore and sea as well as contemporary fiction inspired by them, as a basis for finding your own way into folkloric retellings or original stories with salty inflections. You are welcome to join me, whether you’re just beginning to write or wanting to develop your writing and explore new directions (seawards!). The course is asynchronous, meaning there are no specific times you need to be online - so, no clash with Short Story Club if you would like to do both!