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King presents Best American Short Stories 2007
Stephen King presents The Best American Short Stories 2007
Stephen King, best-selling author and guest editor of The Best American Short Stories 2007, introduces three of the page-turners he selected for this year’s collection. Each one delivers what Mr. King wants all stories to convey: a “sense of emotional involvement, of flipped-out amazement…like a big hot meteor screaming down from the Kansas sky.”
Tickets: $26; Members $24; Day of Show $30
Venue: Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
Showtimes: Oct 10, 2007, 7:30 pm
Stephen King, best-selling author and guest editor of The Best American Short Stories 2007, introduces three of the page-turners he selected for this year’s collection. Each one delivers what Mr. King wants all stories to convey: a “sense of emotional involvement, of flipped-out amazement…like a big hot meteor screaming down from the Kansas sky.”
Tickets: $26; Members $24; Day of Show $30
Venue: Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
Showtimes: Oct 10, 2007, 7:30 pm
Comments
Jim Shepard will join Richard Russo and Karen Russell, author of "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" at and evening hosted by Stephen King and Heidi Pitlor and Oct 16 at 8pm at Memorial Church, 1 Harvard Yard, Cambridge. Admission is $15, which includes purchase of the book. Tickets will go on sale mid-September at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.
17. The Best American Short Stories, 2007
Stephen King (Ed.), Houghton Mifflin, $14, 9780618713486
King's personal selection for stories of the year.
14. THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2007, edited by Stephen King and Heidi Pitlor. (Houghton Mifflin, $14.) Selections include works by T.C. Boyle, John Barth, William Gay and Karen Russell.
The Best American Short Stories 2007
Edited by Stephen King
Houghton Mifflin, 428 pp., $14, paperback original
At a story a night, there's enough variety and talent in the 20 selections here to keep readers entertained for nearly three weeks. Guest editor Stephen King's lineup includes literary all-stars: Alice Munro's "Dimension" is a chilling look at criminal insanity; Richard Russo's "Horseman" explores how a professor's encounter with student plagiarism triggers questions about her authenticity. But the real finds are the lesser-known writers. Beverly Jensen's haunting "Wake," about a rousing funeral in the midst of a nor'easter, is made even more poignant by the note that Jensen died at age 49.
A report from King's appearance in NY:
Stephen King, famous for his lengthy novels, proved to be of comparatively few words at a talk about short stories last night.
Asked for his advice to aspiring short fiction writers, he replied, “Write a lot and read a lot.”
King came to Memorial Church last night for a panel and book signing to promote “The Best American Short Stories 2007.”
King, who served as a guest editor for the book, was joined by Heidi Pitlor, the editor of the series, and Jim Shepard, Karen Russell, and Richard Russo, who each contributed short stories to the anthology.
The editors and writers focused their discussion on short stories and read excerpts from the compilation.
King spoke briefly about his experience as a guest editor and said that short-story writing is becoming a lost art.
“I always feel like an evangelist for the short story,” King said.
“We’re gunslingers,” he said. “We’re out on our own.”
King played the part well, urging audience members at the sold-out event to buy the annually published anthology.
“If you bought it, buy another,” King said.
“If you bought two, Christmas is coming,” he added.
Russell compared writing short stories to a fling and likened novel-writing to marriage.
“[Short-story writing] feels like the most natural form to me,” she said.
“A novel is like spelunking in the dark,” she added.
Audience member Luis D. Urbina ’10 said he did not realize that such a substantial culture existed around short-story writing.
“It’s surprising and kind of a good thing to see that so much effort is being put into short stories,” he said.
Chelsea G. Glover ’11 was surprised by King himself.
“I guess I thought he would be mysterious and dark and he was lively and humorous and open,” Glover said.
Dark he may not be, but King was mysterious when he wanted to be.
Referring to Pitlor, the series editor, he said with a widening of his eyes, “She read more short stories than anyone in America.”
Posted: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:00 GMT
The Best American Short Stories series is now in its 30th year, so it's fitting that one of America’s most famous writers, Stephen King, has edited the 2007 edition. He joins Leonard to share stories that reflect his own personal touch, plus works from John Barth, T.C. Boyle, William Gay, and others.
The podcast version isn't yet online (that I can find) but here's the link
Stephen King joins panel on the past, present, and future of short fiction
“I always wanted to start a book with, ‘Something is alive and well,’” author Stephen King said at Memorial Church on Tuesday. However, he was unable to offer such a prognosis for the medium being discussed that evening. “The short story is alive, but it isn’t what I’d call well.”
King, the editor of “The Best American Short Stories 2007,” was joined at the Harvard Book Store event by Heidi Pitlor, the series editor, and contributing authors Jim Shepard, Karen Russell, and Richard Russo to discuss the state of short fiction.
NO MORE ‘ASS IN THE AIR’
King said his decision to edit the collection was driven by a desire to reconnect with short fiction, to read as many stories as possible, and to garner inspiration to write new works of his own. Also important, as he said in the preface for the collection, was a hope that short stories be relocated from the “bottom shelf” in bookstores, where most have been relegated in recent years. This way, he said, he would be able to avoid dropping to his knees and “crawling with my ass in the air” to find the latest copy of a short-story magazine like “Tin House” or “Zoetrope: All-Story.”
“People who are used to being on the bottom shelf are now on the front table in Barnes and Noble,” he said proudly.
Russell said that short fiction is the most natural form of literature to her and described her relationship with stories as being very unlike the marriage of writing a novel.
“Stories are like little flings. No matter how bad things go, you get out of there pretty quickly,” she said.
The authors also discussed the reasons behind the increasing trivialization of short fiction, both by readers who don’t bother to look on that proverbial bottom shelf and by writers who keep the genre “alive” but hardly “well.”
Shepard joked that all humans are “essentially lazy” and would prefer not to work at reading. Russo echoed his sentiments and attributed the lack of interest for short fiction to the “perceived difficulty of the form.”
According to King, the breadth of available mediums contributes to the disappearance of the original manner of storytelling. Rather than just reading, people have the option of watching television and movies for the same plot, though not necessarily for the same effect.
“We’re very sophisticated as a society in deciphering visual art,” King said.
“But you can fall out of a habit of visualizing by reading,” he cautioned. “You don’t understand that language once you fall out of it.”
King, who has seen a number of his novels grace the big screen, added that big-time film producers who tell their stories through a vehicle of images and sound are often restricted by Hollywood’s expectations.
RIGHT TO WRITE
King did add some hope and praise for his colleagues, though.
“People who write short stories are gunslingers,” King said, possibly referencing The Gunslinger, star of his magnum opus book-cycle, “The Dark Tower.” “We’re out on our own, freelancers, soldiers for hire.”
“We don’t need a happy ending if we don’t want it,” he added.
As for advice for young writers, the authors shared essentially the same stance: read a lot and keep writing.
But they urged caution, as well.
“Look into other careers,” Shepard said. “Consider carefully what your mother says, and have a backup.”
"Selected Shorts" is a co-presentation between the Westport Arts Center and Westport Country Playhouse, and sponsored by WSHU.
Stephen King is guest editor of "The Best American Short Stories 2007." King is known as the Master of the Macabre through his trademark blend of fantasy, horror, and psychological suspense.
Ivey will read T.C. Boyle's "Balto," a cliffhanger about a 12-year-old girl who can protect her beloved father if she lies under oath. Ms. O'Hara will read Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," an assimilation fable about a halfway house for the human children of werewolves.
Judith Ivey is a two-time Tony Award winner for Steaming and Hurlyburly, and an Obie Award winner for The Moonshot Tape. An Emmy nominee for "What the Deaf Man Heard," she has starred in "Designing Women" and "Down Home" and has made guest appearances on series including "Will & Grace" and "Law & Order: SVU." Ivey was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame with many film credits, among them Devil's Advocate, Washington Square and Brighton Beach Memoirs. She has also been honored for her recorded books, most recently, "The Incredible Journey of Edward Fontaine" for ages 8-12. Next season, she will direct the Off Broadway production of Secrets of a Soccer Mom.
Kelli O'Hara has been nominated for two Tony Awards, one for The Light in the Piazza and one for The Pajama Game. Her other Broadway credits are Jekyll & Hyde, Sondheim's Follies, Sweet Smell of Success and Dracula; and she has worked regionally and off-Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George, My Life with Albertine and Beauty. She recently played Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, and made her Carnegie Hall solo debut with the New York Pops. She will star in South Pacific at Lincoln Center in March 2008. Her first solo album is also forthcoming in 2008.
Author T. Coraghessan Boyle is the author of 19 books of fiction, including "After the Plague," "Drop City," "The Inner Circle," "Tooth and Claw and "Talk Talk." His book "World's End" won the PEN/Faulkner Award and "Drop City" was nominated for the 2003 National Book Award. His stories appear regularly in major American magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, The Paris Review, GQ and McSweeney's. He lives near Santa Barbara, California.
Author Karen Russell has been featured in The New Yorker's debut fiction issue and was chosen as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists in 2007. She is a graduate of the Columbia M.F.A. program and the 2005 recipient of the Transatlantic/Henfield Award; her short story collection, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," was just released in paperback. A native of Miami, she now lives in New York City, where she is working on a novel called "Swamplandia!," about a family of alligator wrestlers.
Now in its 20th season, "Selected Shorts" is produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio. The award-winning program is heard locally on Saturdays at 3PM on WSHU (FM 91.1).
Upcoming "Selected Shorts" will be co-presented by Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center, at the Playhouse, on December 4, January 15 and March 18. Programs will be announced.
Tickets to "Selected Shorts" are $15, $20 and $25. Purchase all four "Selected Shorts" and save $5 off each ticket.
For more information or reservations for "Selected Shorts," visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call Westport Country Playhouse box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529. Westport Country Playhouse is located at 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport, CT.
10. The Best American Short Stories 2007 edited by Stephen King and Heidi Pitlor. (Houghton Mifflin, $14.) Selections include works by T.C. Boyle, John Barth, William Gay and Karen Russell.