In the dim lighted attic of the LEM in Nancy, on Sunday, November 13th, people missed the mass to meet with Jan Carson, a female writer from Northern Ireland for a round table discussion about short stories. The audience made up of people who are passionate or curious about short stories got to know this very interesting writer’s point of view. Alongside Jan Carson, we could meet Barbara – translation and English literature specialist, Céline – Scottish literature specialist, Hélène – bookshop owner, and Claire – lecturer at the University of Lorraine. The roundtable started with the reading both in English and French of one of Jan Carson’s short stories.
Shorter, more demanding and condensed, short stories must combine fast rhythm with dramatization. “You can have a mad idea, explore it and play with it throughout 4,000 words.” The layout of short stories can be different from traditional prose. If for George Saunders a sentence should sound like it is being sung, for Jan Carson the most important thing is to punch people in the face while using parables and teaching them something. Therefore, in her short stories, Jan Carson does not explain everything to her readers, she prefers to finish on a note of uncertainty. “A short story can’t have a happy end,” according to her, because as a reader, we step in medias res into a story that has already started. We got to see a slice of life, and we leave the story too early to know how it will end.
In Northern Ireland, short stories are a whole universe with which festivals, university courses and newspapers engage. “Traditional lined-up novel comes from the colonial time. The short story is the manifestation of rebellion and expression of subjectivity.” Jan Carson described short stories as the best answer to novels steeped in patriarchy. The unity of her short stories is that they engage with political issues and explore the Irish environment. According to Céline, “The short story is part of the fragmented time in which we are living.” Short stories are the best solution for people wanting to be transported in a whole universe during the bus ride to the office or people who want to engage with the questions and subjects of their time. Not to be forgotten, literature is nowadays even more digital and therefore “sharable,” so said Claire.
This roundtable was a reminder that there are many short stories to discover, each imbued with the writer’s specific style. But if you want to go through the looking glass, something Jan Carson could advise you to do is to commit to writing each day – looking at your inner-self and your emotions or watching people and the environment in a public place. This is what she did in her Postcard Stories.
Maëlle Arnoux, M1 LEA CSI
