January 1, 1998: Headlines: COS - Chile: Writing - Chile: Editing: UC Davis: Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka edited Flash Fiction, an anthology of extremely short stories
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January 1, 1998: Headlines: COS - Chile: Writing - Chile: Editing: UC Davis: Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka edited Flash Fiction, an anthology of extremely short stories
Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka edited Flash Fiction, an anthology of extremely short stories
Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka edited Flash Fiction, an anthology of extremely short stories
Flash Fiction: A Thumbnail History
by Tom Hazuka
In 1988, I began work with James and Denis Thomas on an anthology of extremely short stories, a project we expected to finish within a year. We were off by a bit: It took us over three years to collect and critique nearly five thousand stories, and W.W. Norton did not publish Flash Fiction until June of 1992.
Flash Fiction was an outgrowth of our earlier work with Robert Shapard, Jon Maney and others on Sudden Fiction and Sudden Fiction International, two well-received collections of short-short stories that used 1,500 words as a length limit. After many months of immersion in the world of "mini-fiction," we became convinced that a finer distinction would be useful, even necessary: five-page stories and two-page stories are quite different animals.
Flash Fiction was designed as a celebration of the latter type, tours de force of at most 750 words that somehow achieve the effect of a satisfying short story in only a page or two. This is an extremely demanding form, not so much hard to do as hard to do well—which explains why we had to search through so many stories (nearly all of them already published) to cull the 72 pieces that make up Flash Fiction.
Initial response to the book was overwhelmingly positive. A few dismissed it as fiction for the MTV generation, pabulum for dolts whose attention span is challenged by even 750 words, but a simple question usually silenced these critics: Is poetry therefore fodder for idiots? The vast majority of poems fit on a page, or at most two, and no one accuses poets of pandering to the masses. ("In A Station of the Metro"? Good God, what drivel—not enough words!) Obviously, length is not the distinguishing feature of quality.
Flash Fiction is currently in a fifth printing, and has sold over 22,000 copies. Not exactly in the same league as Men Are From Mars, Women Are from Venus, but pretty impressive for a literary anthology. It was featured in both the Book of the Month Club and the Paperback Book Club, and is widely used in college literature and creative writing classes. Robert Redford bought the movie rights for two million bucks. (All right so I made that last one up.) Flash Fiction has even spawned yet another sub-division of the genre: Jerome Stern's Micro Fictions, stories of no more than 250 words.
Flash Fiction has helped to legitimize the extremely short story. Although work of this length has always been around, and occasionally found its way into print, Flash Fiction gave it a name, an identity, and a certain cachet: John Updike's in the book? Joyce Carol Oates? Ray Carver? Mark Strand, Jamaica Kincaid, David Foster Wallace, Stuart Dybek . . . ? If writers this talented are creating flash fiction, maybe it's time to take notice.
To our immense gratification, people have.
Copyright © 1998 by Tom Hazuka. All rights reserved.
When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
| Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." |
| Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors. |
| The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn. |
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Story Source: UC Davis
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