Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on and supported in one way or another Life as a Shorty (blog) and the short stories we’ve featured here. This blog started on a whim, after I realized this new website (developed by a good friend of mine) had a “blogging” section. I’d been brainstorming ways of how I might bring short stories (and short story authors) I love to a larger audience and this blog was my way of contributing even in some small way to recognizing and celebrating short stories. The name (Life as a Shorty) comes from the lyrically savvy Wu-Tang Clan, whose rap tune, C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) features the lyric: “Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so rough.” Of course the term “shorty” has changed a lot in pop culture over the last twenty years. In Wu-Tang’s rap the term refers to a young person trying to “make it” despite all odds against him/her. Perhaps the short story is a bit like this: the underdog of the literary world working hard to exist against, what? The literary market, maybe? (C.R.E.A.M.). Which again is why this blog exists: to recognize, feature, and celebrate short stories and their authors.  Thank you again for reading and participating in the conversation. Below is a list of authors and stories featured since October. Happy New Year!

October 26: Benjamin Kolp’s “Between Stars” published in Kenyon Review online

November 2: K.L. Browne’s “Toucan” published in Ascent

November 16: Jason Lee Brown’s “Left Leg, Just Above the Knee” published in Kenyon Review online

November 23: Kathryn Savage’s “Lesser Missiles” published in American Short Fiction online

November 30: Libby Flores’s “Legs” published in Tin House Open Bar

December 7: Peg Alford Pursell’s “A Depth so Familiar” and Erin Armstrong’s “Destination of Solitude” both published in the museum of americana

December 14: Roxane Gay’s “In the Event of my Father’s Death” reprinted in Vice Magazine

December 21: Ryan Ridge’s “Coyote” published in CHEAP POP