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NEWS
2010

I am short-story-writer-in-residence at Bristol University's Faculty of Science, based in the Nanoscience and Quantum Information Centre.

BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a week of my flash fiction in June 2010. More details soon.

MARCH


Think of Icebergs and London Park are published in Litro's March "Climate" issue.

FEB

Two flash stories I wrote inspired by the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, She Herself Was Gone and Of Fish and Bread and Tea, have been accepted for the next issue of the Horizon Review.

Think of Icebergs and London Park have been accepted for Litro's March "Climate" issue.

Plaits has been accepted for Short Fuse's March 10th hair-themed reading event!

Exchange Rates, a play I adapted from my short story, won the Total Beast 6-minute play competition and was performed in London on 31st January 2010.



JAN
I have recently posted a (non-complete) 2010 list of UK & Ireland lit mags that publish short stories on my blog. which may be of interest to short story writers.

I am the current Fiction Editor of Southword magazine, one of the judges for both the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Brit Writers' Awards. Click on the links for more about how to submit.

My Article on the joys of short stories, "Stopping to Smell the Miniature Roses" is published in Bellatrista.

Exchange Rates, a play I adapted from my short story, is a finalist in the Total Beast 6-minute play competition and will be performed, together with the other shortlisted entries, in London on 31st January 2010. For more details, click here


2009
DEC

My story, My Mother Was an Upright Piano, winner of the Binnacle's  2009 Ultra Short competition, has been nominated by the Binnacle for a Pushcart Prize.

Tues Dec 15th 6.30pm-9pm: I read alongside some of the excellent contributors to Short Circuit: The Guide to the Art of the Short Story at Ride the Word.
Where: Cafe Yumcha 45 Berwick St, Soho, London.

My essay on writing flash fiction is included in Short Cicuit,  the brand-new Guide to the Art of the Short Story, published by Salt and edited by Vanessa Gebbie. The book contains articles and essays by many prize-winning short story writers. See the
BOOKS page for more.

I am the new Fiction Editor of Southword magazine, one of the judges for both the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Brit Writers' Awards. Click on the links for more about how to submit.

My story, Under the Tree, has been accepted for publication by Electric Velocipede magazine.

NOV

My story, Straight Up, has been highly commended in the 2009 Aesthetica Creative Works competition.

On Nov 22nd I have been invited to host the first of a new series of events to boost emerging Jewish writers, Speaking from Experience. To submit your work for a chance to present on the night, email submissions@speakingexperience.com If you just want to come and listen: Please do! For any queries, contact: info@speakingexperience.com

OCT

The short screenplay I wrote based on my story North Cold is a finalist in the Waterford Film Festival Short Screenplay competition. Winners announced Nov 8th!

My flash story, Vegetable, Mineral, is a finalist in the PANK magazine 1,001 Awesome words competition and will be published.


SEPT

Two new reviews of The White Road and Other Stories:

"Whether you’re a fan of short stories or not, do yourself some good and get hold of a copy of Tania Hershman’s The White Road & Other Stories. If enough of us do that, then maybe Salt will ask her for another collection and that would be a very good thing indeed," says Bookmunch.

"The eponymous story of this collection is worth the price of admission. It is, without a doubt, one of the best short stories I’ve ever read," says PANK magazine.

See the White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.

AUGUST

Two flash stories, Inchworms and She is Misled, published in The Pedestal magazine.

My story Missy, published in PANK magazine, has been nominated by PANK for the 2009 Best of the Net anthology.

Two stories, She is Misled and Inchworms, have been accepted for Pedestal Magazine's August issue.


Two flash stories, The Mathematics of Sunshine and Transparent, are published in the latest issue of The London Magazine

Two stories, Unnaming and It Begins with Birds in Flight, and a  poem, Ending, She is Blue, are published in Metazen.

JULY

My flash story, My Mother Was an Upright Piano, is the Grand Prize Winner of the Sixth Binnacle Ultra-Short Story Competition.

My first published poem, Baby in a Jar, is published in Contrary's Summer Issue.

Plagiarism is a serious problem that can, and does, affect fiction writers. It is something we all need to be aware of when sharing unpublished work, and prevent ourselves from doing unwittingly to others. See the blog post I wrote on Anti-Plagiarism Day, July 17th, and read about other people's experiences.


JUNE
My poem, Baby in a Jar, has been accepted for publication by Contrary magazine.



MAY

I am delighted to be one of 20 authors published in a book of short stories and the photographs that inspired them, whose profits go to the Alzheimer's Society. For more details see my blog.

The White Road and Other Stories is longlisted for the prestigious Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.

My  prose poem, Up far and Everywhere, is published in the latest issue of Elimae. See the FICTION page for links to online stories.

As part of the Emerging Writers Network's Short Story Month, Dan Wickett discusses my story, On A Roll, from The White Road and Other Stories:
... Hershman hits the reader with a blow to the temple about 85% of the way through with the inclusion of a  paragraph about her personal history.  It's a subtle weaving in of almost an explanation for the unnamed narrator's actions...." Read the full blog post

My story, Come Back Tomorrow, originally published in Dogzplot, has been included in Wigleaf's 2009 Top 50 stories under 1000 words long. See the LINKS page for links to these publications and others.

Two of my flash stories, Transparency and And the Crowd Went Wild were shortlisted for the FISH One Page Short Story Prize.

My prose poem, Up Far and Everywhere, has been accepted for publication in the next issue of Elimae

Two new reviews of The White Road and Other Stories:

Jeremy Page of the Frogmore Papers says "The short short story is Hershman’s preferred form, and there are some very short shorts in this, her debut collection. For the most part her experiments are a resounding success – in fact, for this reader, she is at her most effective when at her most concise. ‘I am a camera’ comprises two short paragraphs which say everything that needs to be said, no more, no less."

In Front&Centre, Matthew Firth says "The White Road ... shows there is more than one way for writers to separate their work from the pack of safe and boring mainstream writing. Props to Hershman for showing readers that not all short fiction is dull and formulaic. "

See the
White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.



APRIL


April 7th: I am thrilled to be one of two authors commended in the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers!

Sally Zigmond reviews The White Road and Other Stories: "As I now read more novels than short stories, I had expected to prefer the longer stories in this collection to the flash fiction (as some reviewers have) but to me the longer ones were either too long or too short--not quite right for this Goldilocks. The flash fiction, on the other hand, I loved for its brevity, its inventiveness and its poetic quality." See the White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.

The White Road and Other Stories is reviewed by Matt Bell: "The White Road is a very fine collection, containing enough wonder and humor and heartbreak to overflow its slim pages, forcing the reader to share in the great emotion contained within. Hershman's talent is obvious, and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow across whatever new stories and new books might follow this excellent start." See the White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.

My flash story, Dangerous Shoes, has been accepted for publication in the next issue of the Los Angeles Review.



MARCH

The White Road and Other Stories is reviewed in Wet Ink, the Australian magazine of new writing: "This collection exemplifies everything that is best about the short story. With succinctness rarely seen in the work of someone new to fiction, Hershman extracts the very essence of a moment to reveal the poignant fragility of human relationships". See the White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.
 

My flash story, Prologue, has been accepted for publication by Eleven Eleven magazine and will appear in their July 2009 issue.

March 10th: Liars League: Art and Science

My new science-inspired flash story The Painter and the Physicist, was read by an actor at the Liars League event in London. Visit the FICTION page for more.



FEB

Feb 22nd: I read from one of my stories at the London Jewish Book Week launch of the WJR charity anthology, The Sea of Azov. For more details, visit JewishBookWeek.com.

Feb 11th: Five flash stories, A Sigh Rose  Inside Him,  Missy, My Uncle's Son, Suitcases Balanced on His Head, and Underground are now published in  PANK magazine's February Issue.




JAN

Jan 6th: I am visiting Debi Alper's blog on the eleventh and final "stop" on her virtual book tour. For information on the tour, click here.

JMWW Journal's Winter Issue includes a review of The White Road and Other Stories: "She weaves the warbly, neon threads of magical realism together with the steel rods of science, and the effect often is very satisfying." Visit the
White Road and Other Stories reviews page for more.


2008
DECEMBER

** The White Road and Other Stories makes it into Amazon UK's Top 20 Bestselling Short Story Collections! **

Dec 29rd: I am visiting Botswana on the tenth and penultimate "stop" on my virtual book tour: Lauri's Thoughts from Botswana blog.
For information on the tour, click 
here.

Coat and Shoes is published in the latest issue of Smokelong Quarterly along with an author interview.

New Scientist has included The White Road and Other Stories in its Christmas Books Special: Best of 2008, and the reviewer says: "Inspired by scientific progress and science journalism, including articles in New Scientist, and driven by an author dripping with talent, this is as good as modern reading gets." Read the full review.

I am talking about the environment, libraries and my typical day on the seventh "stop" on the "Walking the White Road: flash, fiction and science" Virtual Book Tour:  The Eco-Libris Blog - and there is a giveaway of a free copy of my book!
For information on the tour, click here.

Exchange Rates, the short play I adapted from my story of the same name, which is included in my collection, has been shortlisted for the Total Beast Six Minute Play competition and will be performed in London, with the other shortlisted plays, in 2009.

Online lit mag Drunk and Lonely Men has accepted my flash story, And Bruised, for their third issue.



NOVEMBER

Nov 23rd:
The BookBag reviewer John Lloyd gives The White Road and Other Stories a 5 Starred Review:  
This collection is one of those rare instances of a sustained brilliance, introducing to me a true artist with a high degree of quality control". Read the rest of the review.

Nov 18th: Stop 4 on the Virtual Book Tour: Sue Guiney's Blog, for a discussion about Religion and Fiction.
For information on the tour, click here.

Nov 13th: I am announced as European regional winner of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association's short story competition, for my story, Straight up. Visit the
FICTION
page to listen to the story 


Nov 9th: The third  stop on the "Walking the White Road: flash, fiction and science" is Vanessa Gebbie's News for a discussion on magical realism.
For information on the tour, click here.

Nov 7th: I am interviewed in the Jewish Chronicle.  My flash story, How Much the Ants Carry, has been published in Eyeshot.


Nov 5th: The second stop on the "Walking the White Road: flash, fiction and science" is LiteraryMinded.
For information on the tour, click here.



OCTOBER

Oct 28th: The "Walking the White Road: flash, fiction and science" Virtual Book Tour has now officially begun!
For information on the tour, click here.

My story, The White Road, is reprinted by New Scientist magazine, the science weekly whose articles inspired half the stories in her collection. Read it here.

Oct 24th: I am interviewed by Haaretz newspaper.

The White Road and Other Stories is reviewed in LabLit.

The "Walking the White Road: flash, fiction and science" Virtual Book Tour kicks off Oct 28th. Click on the image for details.

Three flash stories are published in the Mad Hatter's Review.


SEPTEMBER
My flash story, Come Back Tomorrow, is published by Dogzplot.

The excellent book blog Vulpes Libris published my article  What we Talk About When We Talk About Short Stories on short stories today as part of their Short Story Week.

I am interviewed today on WriteWords and on Nik Perring's excellent blog.


AUGUST

I am delighted to have won 2nd prize in the Vignette Press short story competiton and 3rd prize in the Momaya 2008 Short Story competition and Drinking Vodka in the Afternoon will be published in the Momaya annual anthology.

We Keep the Wall Between Us As We go
has been accepted for publication in the first issue of A capella Zoo, due out in October.

Birthday Cake, a prose poem, has been accepted by Ink, Sweat and Tears and will be published shortly.



JULY

Visit my Salt Author page.

Riffing on Strings
, the anthology of fiction and other writings inspired by String Theory and which includes my story, Secrets, is now available. See BOOKS.

The Angel in the Car Park and Egged On were broadcast as part  of the Rethink Daily's Sharp Things podcast series on July 1st and 9thSee the
FICTION page for how to listen.

My story, Vegetable, Mineral, is  one of three winners of Biscuit Publishing's 2008 Flash Fiction competition.

Thin Ice is a finalist in the 2008 Binnacle Ultra-Short competition and will be published in their Ultra-short edition. Two flash stories, Egged On and the Angel in the Car Park,  have been accepted for broadcast in July on Rethink Daily's Sharp Things podcast.


INTERVIEWS

I have been interviewed by:
Smokelong Quarterly
The Jewish Chronicle Haaretz newspaper
WriteWords
Nik Perring
WritingNeuroses
Normblog

and by 11 blogs during my Virtual Book Tour 2008.
For information on the tour, click here.

I provide short story critiquing & editing through The Writers' Workshop.

Contact them for more details.