New Zealand Short Stories
Paula Morris, the editor of a new book of short stories, introduces her collection
When I was appointed editor of this new collection, my instructions were to choose stories written by New Zealanders in the last decade. In order to make that selection, I wanted to read as widely as possible. I would not select authors simply because they were important names in New Zealand literature. Novelists who occasionally write short stories were not excluded; however, those who write full-length novels may not always possess the specific abilities necessary to write short stories, and vice versa. A variety of people - publishers, editors, academics - alerted me to new names, or reminded me about familiar names that I associated with other forms of writing. The author may be living overseas, or publishing elsewhere, or setting his or her work in another country, but none of these were issues I considered relevant. Neither did it matter whether they were famous or obscure. The only active New Zealand short-story writer I ruled out of my considerations was myself, as it would have been incompatible with my role as editor.
I certainly had no wish to separate contemporary stories into those most influenced by iconic writers of the past, such as Katherine Mansfield, and those following more recent traditions; such categorizations are simplistic. There was no particular version of New Zealand I wanted to construct or dismantle. For although we may get glimpses of a society through its short stories, these cannot set out to give us a panoramic social summary, because such a goal is beyond their scope.
The stories chosen would reflect the diversity of contemporary New Zealand, I hoped. However, it quickly became apparent that the quality of the story - that small matter of the fluency of the writing - was more important to me than the ethnicity, gender, social background, or regional affiliation of its author. My purpose was not to ensure every group in this diverse nation was represented in some fair and proportional way, and there are some absences. Of writers from the Pacific Islands, Samoa is the dominant presence among the stories selected. This is perhaps unsurprising given the number of Samoans who have settled in New Zealand over recent decades. However, Samoa's dominance may not endure. The number of stories I read by authors from all the many different Pacific Islands, both published and unpublished, indicates that a new wave of talent is about to become prominent in our national literature.
All the writers here speak of New Zealand, I think, in direct and indirect ways, even the ones who set their work elsewhere. When writing fiction, says the master short-story writer William Trevor, 'you cannot escape the person you are ... All fiction has its autobiographical roots. 'Trevor was born in Ireland and, therefore, he says: I observe the world through Irish sensibilities, take for granted an Irish way of doing things ... and am reminded of familiarities of early environment when I'm separated from them.' The stories featured in this collection are evidence of this truth.
An outsider, after reading these stories, would draw certain conclusions about New Zealand They might conclude that Maori, the country's original inhabitants, may live in simple conditions or in one of the most expensive suburbs; that rather than the clean, green paradise sometimes presented to tourists from overseas, New Zealand has its fair share of social issues; that our businesses happily employ arrogant managers and rude consultants; that dwelling among us are the happily married and the smugly suburban; and that we like sport. Each of these narratives and many others are presented here.
Of course, a collection like this is partly a product of the taste and enthusiasms of its editor. At some point, early in my reading, I became conscious of this. A story had to grab me - move, provoke, excite, entertain or challenge me, stay with me in some way - if it was to be included. The stories I kept returning to were those that would not go away, would not be forgotten by me, and in this sense it is a subjective selection.
So, was the past decade a golden age for short fiction in New Zealand? Certainly, it could be seen as a period of investment and opportunity. For nine years the Prime Minister herself took on the arts, culture and heritage ministerial portfolio, quickly implementing a cultural recovery package of tens of millions of dollars. Furthermore, valuable prizes for writers were created. These included a residency in Berlin, Germany, and also residencies in locations around New Zealand, such as Randall Cottage in Wellington, allowing writers to leave home and work in fresh environments. The decade also saw the establishment of various postgraduate degree courses in creative writing. Victoria University led the way when Bill Manhire added an MA course to his already popular undergraduate course in creative writing and this was followed by other institutions.
A number of journals promoting new writing survived, including Landfall, established at the University of Otago in 1947. These titles were joined in this period by ventures likeJAAM and the e-zine Turbine, where many emerging writers get their start. And Radio New Zealand National, our single largest purchaser of short fiction, continued to buy around eighty stories a year because they remained very popular with the listening audience. Two of the writers included in this collection got their start writing for radio. All in all then, there were many positive developments for writers over the decade.
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Question 1 - 6
Choose YES/NO/NOT GIVEN
1.
Writing novels and short stories requires the same range of skills.
Yes
No
Not given
2.
Publishers, editors and academics provided valuable help in identifying sources of material.
Yes
No
Not given
3.
Authors living overseas tend to lose interest in writing about New Zealand.
Yes
No
Not given
4.
It was important that one particular author's work was excluded from the collection.
Yes
No
Not given
5.
Katherine Mansfield's influence on today's authors has been overstated.
Yes
No
Not given
6.
It is possible to give an overview of an entire society in a short story.
Yes
No
Not given