Vanessa Gebbie | Sandra Jensen

I loved the 13th International Conference on the Short Story in English that was held 2 years ago in Little Rock, but I have to say this year’s conference was very special. I suspect the reason for this is that the organisers decided to invite twice as many authors as they did in Little Rock. There was a downside: many more panels and readings, and so also many conflicts. It was impossible to go to all the events I wanted to go to, but I had a spectacular time. I thank everyone involved in this inspiring conference, particularly Sylvia Petter, Dr Susan Lohafer and of course Dr. Maurice A. Lee.

I was particularly delighted to re-connect with writers I’d met in Little Rock, and to meet so many new writers and academics in the field of writing, men and women I feel are now part of my extended family. There are too many to name, but here are a few…. Adnan Mahmutovic, Lauren B. Davis, Vanessa Gebbie,Robert Olen Butler and Kelly Lee Butler, Nuala Ni Chonchuir, Tania Hershman, Rebekah Clarkson, Valerie Sirr, Thomas E. Kennedy, Bharati Mukherjee, Velma Pollard, Nancy Fruend, Paul McVeigh, Rhoda Greaves, , Dr Suzanne Scafe, Anna Solding and so, so many others.

The 14th International Conference on the Short Story in English will be held in Shanghai, China, 13 – 16 July 2016. See you there!

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I can’t believe that it’s less than a month before the 13th International Conference on the Short Story in English in Vienna, Austria. Very exciting!

The theme is “Unbraiding the Short Story”.

This conference will bring writers of fiction in English (Irish, British, American, Canadian, Australian, Caribbean, South-African, Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, etc.) and writers who have had (or will have for this event) their work translated into English together with scholars of the short story, and all will join in reading sessions, roundtable discussions and panels, including ones devoted to translation.

The 13th International Conference on the Short Story in English will also host a number of sessions, both in the more traditional format (with presentation of papers) and in other formats involving performance, dance, art, films, etc., having in mind that the form of the short story is not necessarily confined to the limits of the written page but may open up to manifold fields of expression.

You can download the program of events from the website.

On Wednesday July 16, I’ll be reading one of my short stories, and on Thursday July 17th I’m on an extended length panel with Robert Olen Butler, Farhat Iftekharrudin and Billie Travalini. The subject of the panel is Liminality in the Threshold Story, moderated by Alice Clark from the University of Nantes.

There are a number of talks and workshops, and the guest author line-up includes Clark Blaise, Bharati Mukherjee, Tania Hershman, Vanessa Gebbie, Nuala Ní Chonchúir amongst many others, so I hope to see you there!