Transmitting Short Fiction. The Short Story in Irish Literary Periodicals

In recent years, short fiction critics have increasingly recognized the supreme importance of literary periodicals in fostering, developing, defining and transmitting short fiction ever since the late 19th century. This certainly holds true for Ireland, where the short story came to be recognized as the quintessential ‘national’ form in the decades after Independence. The celebrated literary magazine, The Bell, edited by Sean O’Faolain and Peadar O’Donnell, was instrumental in raising the profile of the short story in Ireland and in shaping the general – and quite normative – idea of what an Irish short story should look like. After The Bell, David Marcus took up the task of promoting the Irish short story, first in Irish Writing (1946-1957), later in “New Irish Writing Page” of The Irish Press (1968-1986). Even more recently, The Stinging Fly Magazine (1998-) similarly offers a space to new and established Irish short story writers. In this way, the magazine, and the small press that has been set up in its wake, have contributed significantly to the current boom of short fiction in Ireland. In my paper I will investigate the way in which these three periodicals – The Bell, Irish Writing, and The Stinging Fly – have both fostered and helped shape the tradition of the short story in Ireland. After a brief general description of the magazines and editors (1), I will analyse the editorial policies of each periodical (2), and discuss their specific take on the genre of the short story in general and on the Irish short story in particular (3). In my conclusion, I will assess the influence each of these periodicals has had (or still has) on the tradition and development of the short story in Ireland (4).status: publishe