Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?, by Joyce Carol Oates Read it here in about an hour. Analysis: Thinking about meanings and endings… I’ve been reading quite a bit of Oates recently, in honour of Halloween month. This short story is typical of her writing: there’s something sinister, something dangerous, and plenty ofContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Author Archives: Mina Ma
Three stories for Halloween
If you’re looking for some spooky reads for Halloween, here are three short horror stories featuring cats. Best read on Halloween night, basking in the candle light emanating from inside a pumpkin, with some seasonal chocolates at your side, and all the doors and windows secure. You’ll never look at a cat the same wayContinue reading “Three stories for Halloween”
A short story I recently read
The Upstairs People, by Laura van den Berg Available here. Read it in about 20 minutes. Analysis: Thinking about time and structure… This story begins in the present – one year after the unnamed narrator’s father died. Then, only three sentences in, we jump back, and the narrator details a strange dream about her fatherContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
A short story I recently re-read
‘The Bus’, by Shirley Jackson Available here. You can read it in 40 minutes or so. Analysis: Thinking about structure… The story begins with the simple statement ‘Miss Harper was going home, although the night was wet and nasty.’ The word ‘home’ is repeated 5 times in the opening paragraph, as the reader is told (without aContinue reading “A short story I recently re-read”
A short story I recently re-read
‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, by Edgar Allan Poe Available here. Read it in about 15 minutes. Analysis: Thinking about using rhetorical devices… This is the opening of a classic Poe horror story. The story is told in the first person, by aContinue reading “A short story I recently re-read”
Three stories for autumn
If you’re looking for some reading to inspire your own writing this autumn, you might like to consider some of these stories: The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield Read an excerpt here. This is a metafictional novel – a story about stories. The narrator is reminiscent of a Brontë heroine, there are references to 18thContinue reading “Three stories for autumn”
A short story I recently read
‘Arachne’, by Nina MacLaughlin Available here. Less than a 15-minute read. Analysis: Thinking about adaptations and ‘writing back’… This story is an adaptation of the myth of Minerva (Roman Goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, strategic warfare, commerce, weaving, and the crafts) and her interactions with a mortal named Arachne. In the myth, Minerva punishes ArachneContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Two stories, one theme
This week, I read ‘My Sister, the Serial Killer’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite, and ‘The Girl with the Louding Voice’ by Abi Daré. Both are first novels by female Nigerian authors, and both highlight an issue that plagues modern Nigeria: the commodification of young women. Both authors tackle this issue in different ways, in different genresContinue reading “Two stories, one theme”
A short story I recently re-read
‘Girl’, by Jamaica Kincaid Available here. It’s very short – less than a 5-minute read. Analysis: Thinking about elements of story… The thing about short stories is that they’re able to defy expectations in a way that novels cannot (with a few exceptions), and the way this short story handles structure is a fantastic exampleContinue reading “A short story I recently re-read”
Book review
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess This cult classic novella is narrated by protagonist Alex, 15-years-old at the beginning of the story, and a violent psychopath. The story opens with Alex and his friends committing acts of ‘ultra-violence’ (a term Burgess coined) – stealing, assaulting, raping random strangers – and it isn’t until after thisContinue reading “Book review”
Mina Ma 