European Network of Short Fiction Research

Dear ENSFR members,

We are delighted to present an exclusive interview with Farhana Shaikh the founder of Dahlia Books, a short story press championing diverse and underrepresented voices.

The event will take place on Monday 24th November, at 6pm (UK time), over Teams.

Join conversation

Join us tonight form 6:00 Pm for an exclusive interview with Ra Page the founder of Comma Press.

@commapress.bsky.social

urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Join conversation

Join us for this exclusive interview with the founder of Comma Press.

urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Congratulations to them all but especially @cdrose.bsky.social

Here's an official thing! Official is good.

The 8th Annual ENSFR Conference (June 10-12, 2026)

Dear ENSFR Members,

Following the ideas initiated at the Leuven conference in 2017 on the short story, its contexts and co-texts, the 2026 ENSFR conference will be devoted to short forms appearing in magazines and newspapers.

CFP to follow.

Well done all and especially Ed Hogan @ensfr.bsky.social

Issue 27 - The Manchester Review Image: © Courtesy of Manchester City Galleries Editorial Róisín Leggett Bohan, 3 poems Livi Michael, ‘Signs’ Immanuel Misfud, ‘Rue Garenne’ (trans. Ruth Ward) Cormac Culkeen, ‘My Dog Ate the Sun’ Laur...

Issue 27 of The Manchester Review is Now Live!

We aim to bring together the best contemporary writing from a range of voices from across the globe.

We hope you enjoy reading our new issue.

www.themanchesterreview.co.uk

An ill wind: Poppyland, by D.J. Taylor, reviewed As the term refers to the stretch of the north Norfolk coastline between Sheringham and Mundesley, only one of the stories in D.J. Taylor’s engrossing new collection strictly takes place in ‘Poppyland...

An ill wind: Poppyland, by @djtaylorwriter.bsky.social , reviewed in The Spectator by George Cochrane

‘Norfolk life looks quietly bleak in these carefully worked short stories of broken homes, precarious employment, dwindling expectations and torpor’

🌺 New from DJ Taylor – Poppyland 🌺
Published Mon 2nd June, a dazzling collection of short stories explores the murky edges of nostalgia, ambition, and identity in England.

📖 Buy now:
www.saltpublishing.com/products/pop...

#Poppyland #DJTaylor #ShortStories #BookSky #IndieBooks #SaltModernStories

Corinne Fowler, Our Island Stories, reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles - The Manchester Review Fowler unearths the hidden legacies of slavery, capitalism and exploitation that make up contemporary British relationships with the countryside Corinne Fowler | Our Island Stories: Ten Walks through ...

Paul Anthony Knowles Reviews Corinne Fowler's Our Island Stories.

'Fowler unearths the hidden legacies of slavery, capitalism and exploitation that make up contemporary British relationships with the countryside'

www.themanchesterreview.co.uk?p=12892

YouTube video by Writing for Life Writing For Life: Outro

and finally...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Ud...
@ailsacox.bsky.social @ensfr.bsky.social @saltpublishing.com

ENSFR The European Network for Short Fiction Research was established in 2013 with the aim of fostering and promoting the study of short fiction in European universities and in interaction with short fic…

Some of my best PhD experiences @universityofessex.bsky.social included presenting and attending @ensfr.bsky.social conferences.

Here is my spotlight on writing short fiction (thanks Ines Gstrein & Paul Anthony Knowles). The challenge was answering 3 questions in 75 words!

ensfr.univ-angers.fr

YouTube video by Writing for Life Episode 7 Recovery

latest episode here!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOzR...
@ailsacox.bsky.social @ensfr.bsky.social @saltpublishing.com

Writing for Life

Episode 6: Can publishing make you ill?
www.youtube.com/@Writing_for...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bRW...
@ailsacox.bsky.social @ensfr.bsky.social

A blue swirled back featuring cartoon heads of the two hosts.

Small Pleasures podcast:

In the latest episode, Livi Michael and Sonya Moor look at two marvels of short fiction – Sarah Hall’s ‘Mrs Fox’ and Jackie Kay’s ‘My Daughter the Fox’.

Short fiction in a flash: a bite-size interview with Vesna Main, by Sonya Moor is now live on the ENSFR website.

ensfr.univ-angers.fr

Routledge Book Cover: Blue and Green design with title in white band in the middle

New Book: Anthologisation and Short Fiction: Magnitudes of Telling by Paul Delaney

This original new study explores the recent flowering of short fiction in Ireland. Specifically, it discusses the cultural, material, and ideological usages of the short form.

YouTube video by The Short Story Podcast Small Pleasures Episode 19: Sarah Hall 'Mrs Fox' and Jackie Kay 'My Daughter the Fox'

Our new Small Pleasures episode!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac0U...
@ensfr.bsky.social @ailsacox.bsky.social

A person looking out into the future

Final day for Papers!

Call for Papers for Ecological Futurity in Short Fiction Conference: 27th of June 2025.

The conference will take place in-person and online at the University of Manchester.

Deadline for abstracts: 2nd May 2025. To be sent to ensfrcg@gmail.com

An image of person looking out in the future represented by white clouds. The person is covered in green foliage and electric wires.

A week to Go for CFP!

Call for Papers for Ecological Futurity in Short Fiction Conference: 27th of June 2025.

The conference will take place in-person and online at the University of Manchester.

Deadline for abstracts: 2nd May 2025. To be sent to ensfrcg@gmail.com

Albertine Sarrazin, The Crib and Other Stories, trans. Sonya Moor, reviewed by Livi Michael - The Manchester Review Fine new translation of a wonderful writer who lived an extraordinary life Albertine Sarrazin | The Crib and Other Stories, trans. Sonya Moor | Confingo: £10.00 (available to pre-order)Reviewed by Liv...

www.themanchesterreview.co.uk?p=12884

Livi Michael reviews Albertina Sarrazin, The Crib and Other Stories, translated by Sonya Moor.

@confingopublishing.bsky.social

The Northern Publishers' Fair returns this Saturday! 📚📣

📍Manchester Central Library
📅Sat, April 26th
🕚Starts 11am
🎟️FREE FOR ALL!

RSVP at: fly-on-the-wall-press.eventcube.io/events/71509...

An Image of classical Greek Statues in green. A blue hand is behind it, and on the forefinger of the hand is a purple bust.

Mircea Eliade: Time, Death, and
the Unspeakable Secret

Translated from Romanian by Mac Linscott
Ricketts Edited by Bryan Rennie

30 May 2025: £13.99,

The Romanian writer Mircea Eliade Short Story collection
consists of six of his best short stories, taken from over a 30-year period.

Gaia Holmes, He Used to Do Dangerous Things, reviewed by Anna O'Boyle - The Manchester Review A poet’s inventive and unusual debut short fiction collection Gaia Holmes | He Used to Do Dangerous Things | Comma Press: £10.99Reviewed by Anna O’Boyle Gaia Holmes’ He Used to Do Dangerous Things sec...

www.themanchesterreview.co.uk?p=12879

Anna O'Boyle reviews He Used to Do Dangerous Things by Gaia Holmes

@commapress.bsky.social

Springtime in Castlefield. Patricia Farrell, @elizabethbaines.bsky.social @confingopublishing.bsky.social and the other one is me.

An Image of a person looking into the future. The person has leaves and computer wiring on their face.

Call for Papers for Ecological Futurity in Short Fiction Conference: 27th of June 2025.

The Ecological Futurity Conference will take place in-person and online at the University of Manchester on the 27th of June 2025.

Deadline for abstracts: 2nd May 2025. To be sent to ensfrcg@gmail.com

On the Calculation of Volume — Solvej Balle’s tale of time at a standstill In the first two of seven volumes, the International Booker-longlisted Danish author follows her protagonist, again and again, through the same day

"This being a serious work of literature, Tara doesn't think about playing the lottery or betting on the horses."

Me on Solvej Balle's time-loop novel Groundho-- ... I mean, On the Calculation of Volume Books I and II.