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'The intensity of a short story'

21 June 2010

'I've always loved short stories. The process is probably less anxious than writing a novel. There's something about the intensity of a short story that I love... You can reinvent them all the time (whereas) with the novel there's the huge weight of tradition. There's something about modern life that suits the short story. It's a bit snipped up and jagged and raw and I think stories are like that...

There is a perception that short stories don't sell. But they love them in the US and Canada, and it's changing with the web and webzines. Young people love them. It's time we got rid of that cliche.'

Michele Roberts, author of Mud, in the Bookseller