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Today is National Short Story Day, to celebrate this wonderful literary form. Take a look at the central site here. We had intended to hold a read-in at the Albion Beatnik Bookstore to celebrate, but sadly the big freeze intervened, and Oxford is all but inaccessible.
But fear not. You can enjoy some of the best examples of the short story, in the warmth of your own home. For free. As compensation for the lack of our live voices, here are free pdfs of 10 fantastic short stories by Year Zero Writers. They cover a vast array of styles, from the subtle chill of Heikki Hietala’s work to the experimentalism of Marc Nash; the raw power of Cody James to the almost poetic Penny Goring; the surrealism of Oli Johns to the beautifully structured work of Marcella O’Connor. If you enjoy them, do check out the authors’ other works, but most of all next time you buy a book, make it a book of short stories.
Warning: content unsuitable for younger readers
Also free – the two Year Zero Writers anthologies:
Brief Objects of Beauty and Despair
Thirteen Shadows Waiting for Sunrise
The stories:
Death Kiss Corsage by Penny Goring
Stuorra-Jouni by Heikki Hietala
Carbon-based by Heikki Hietala
The Last Fluffer in La La Land by Dan Holloway
15 Minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge by Cody James
Donald Barthelme Goes to Church by Oli Johns
The Deterritorialisation of Nick Nolte by Oli Johns
Twin Topiary Tales of Male Grooming by Marc Nash
The Impotence by Marcella O’Connor
Find out about the authors by clicking the links
eight cuts 
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Damn. I forgot about that story (The Impotence). I wrote it years ago and forgot how shit it was. I just sneakily went in and edited out some of the more clunky instances of passive tense. I’m temped to go in again and lob off even more, but don’t have the time at the moment (not like anyone will read it anyway). I still have that feckin paper on Banville and pomosexual criticism to finish.
Oh should have signed that. It’s Marcella!
I guessed it was you, Marcella. I love the story! And I wanna see the pomosexual crit essay!!
It needs work. A lot of work. I will show you what I have thus far.