Writing event: London Short Story Festival

Following the success of last year's inaugural event, the London Short Story Festival will run again between 18 and 21 June
65 writers are taking part in the London Short Story Festival, including Marina Warner, Kevin Barry, Ben Okri, Helen Simpson and Jon McGregor. The festival, which includes creative writing masterclasses, talks and discussions on every aspect of short story reading, writing and publishing, is organised by London writer development agency Spread the Word and takes place at Waterstones Piccadilly.
Spread the Word director Sue Lawther said: ‘Things are changing dramatically in the world of publishing. Ebooks, iPads, mobile phones, Kindles: all lend themselves to reading short form fiction. We decided that we should take the lead in gathering together all the energy, talent, debate, publishers, writers and stories to shine a light on this up- and-coming literary form. What’s great about a short story is that, if it’s a good one, it draws you in immediately. You can, in a very short period of time, be transfixed, transported, moved and inspired. And if you don’t like it, well, you can just move on very quickly. It’s also a great way to discover new writers – dip into a short story and find that you love an author’s style, you’re curious about what they have to say and you’re hungry to read more from them. All this and you can do it on the bus to work.’

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