Airini Beautrais
Ruin and Other Stories by Emma Hislop (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2023), 192pp, $30
I sometimes wonder why short story collections do not have the popularity of novels. As a writer of short fiction, I have had a number of people say to me, completely unsolicited, ‘I don’t really like short stories.’ I think one of the reasons for the disinterest, or in some cases, discomfort, with this form is that it doesn’t offer an ‘escape’ in the same way as a novel. The period of immersion in the fictional world is shorter. And, often, it involves a lot of psychological or emotional work. Rather than a way to get lost, the short story offers a way to probe a situation or idea. Reading a collection of stories can therefore be challenging and difficult. Instead of a slow burn, rising tension, it is conflict after conflict after conflict. [Read more…]