The Man Booker International Prize has been awarded to short story writer Lydia Davis, whose works are often less than three pages long, whilst some consist of only one sentence.
The genre of the short story, and more recently, ‘flash fiction’ is fast becoming a popular form of literature, both to read and create. The Man Booker International Prize has been awarded to short story writers for the past three years, although one of this year’s judges, Christopher Ricks, stated that he was unsure how to categorise Davis’ works: “Stories? Anecdotes?…Jokes?”
The increasing centrality of social networks in society ensures expressions of thought are contained within a limited number of characters. The Tube’s “Poems on the Underground” scheme exposes the public to short, concise poetry which is quick to read; Lydia Davis herself has even considered writing her fiction on Twitter, whilst The Telegraph has suggested we should “appreciate the potential of Twitter as an art form.”
Davis’ awarding-winning flash fiction has been hailed as a “new form for the short story”, leading the trend towards shorter and arguably more accessible literature.
The conciseness of flash fiction can be considered to be the quality which makes it so popular in Western society. From students and full time workers to full time parents, many people often say they wish they had more time to read the books they want to read, not the ones they must for their course or job.
In fact, it has become widely considered a luxury to have the time to sit down and read, with many people only reading for pleasure whilst on holiday. Is the emergence of flash fiction and its rising popularity running parallel alongside Western society’s increasing insistence on condensing the small pleasures of life into efficient chunks?
Fast food is a common presence in our lives, with the focus centred not on the enjoyment of the food but rather necessity of it. Is this similar to what we are seeing with flash fiction? Several of Davis’ stories can be read in under ten minutes, during a tea break or on the daily commute to work, allowing the reader accessibility to the world of fiction without the long term dedication that a novel may at times command.
Flash fiction is most certainly a genre to be embraced and Davis’ work, amongst others, can offer a small moment of enjoyment in the common disarray of modern life.