Guardian Short Storie

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Sebastian Barry on James Joyce's Eveline – books podcast

2019-01-0119:1011

Forty years after he first discovered it, Sebastian Barry explains why he loves James Joyce’s short story Eveline, then reads it for you, as part of our seasonal series of short stories selected by leading novelists

Zadie Smith on Giuseppe Pontiggia's Umberto Buti – books podcast

2018-12-3125:506

Zadie Smith shares why she loves this almost ‘anti-Italian’ story from Giuseppe Pontiggia, then reads the story, as part of our seasonal series of short stories selected by leading novelists

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Ama Ata Aidoo – books podcast

2018-12-2646:044

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares why she admires the ‘old-fashioned social realism’ of the Ghanaian writer’s No Sweetness Here, then reads the story, as part of our seasonal series of short stories selected by leading novelists

Neil Gaiman on Rudyard Kipling's The Gardener – books podcast

2018-12-2533:023

Neil Gaiman introduces Rudyard Kipling’s The Gardener, a melancholy tale from 1925, as part of our seasonal series of short stories selected by leading novelists. Afterwards, the story is read by actor Marion Bailey

Penelope Lively on MR James' Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad – books podcast

2018-12-2450:582

You’ll never sleep in a twin bedroom again after hearing this classic Edwardian ghost story, selected by Penelope Lively and read by Simon Callow as part of our seasonal series of short stories selected by leading novelists

Jonathan Safran Foer on Aleksandar Hemon's The Bees, Part 1 – short story podcast

2018-01-0946:178

Jonathan Safran Foer explains why he loves this tale about the Bosnian author’s father, which is then read by Chris Moran

David Mitchell on The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs – short story podcast

2018-01-0530:54

Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell introduces one of the great, early 20th century horror stories: WW Jacobs’s spine-tingling The Monkey’s Paw

Stephen Fry on Saki's Sredni Vashtar - short story podcast

2018-01-0216:042

A small boy’s rebellion takes a sinister turn in Saki’s classic tale – a story loved by Stephen Fry, who explains why

Neil Gaiman on Rudyard Kipling's The Gardener – short story podcast

2017-12-2904:194

In this instalment of our seasonal short story special, we have Neil Gaiman share why he loves Kipling’s melancholy story, which is then read by actor Marion Bailey

Penelope Lively on MR James's Oh Whistle and I'll Come to you, my lad - short story podcast

2017-12-2650:51

You’ll never sleep in a twin bedroom again after hearing this classic Edwardian ghost story, selected by Penelope Lively read by Simon Callow

James Salter reads Break it Down by Lydia Davis

2013-05-2328:316

James Salter, the veteran American novelist and short story writer, reads a story by Lydia Davis, winner of the 2013 Man Booker International prize

Will Self reads 'On Exactitude in Science' by Jorge Luis Borges

2013-01-0406:191

Jorge Luis Borges’s combination of the anecdotal, philosophical and the literary showed Will Self how to achieve the ‘truly veridical’. He gets his coordinates from ‘On Exactitude in Science’

Nathan Englander reads 'The Story of My Dovecote' by Isaac Babel

2013-01-0332:301

Nathan Englander finds Jewish history, corruption and man’s inhumanity to man and pigeons in Isaac Babel’s ‘The Story Of My Dovecote’

Sebastian Barry reads 'Eveline' by James Joyce

2013-01-0219:106

Forty years after he first read it, Sebastian Barry returns to James Joyce’s short story Eveline

Anita Desai reads The Postmaster by Rabindranath Tagore

2013-01-0125:182

Rabindranath Tagore returned again and again to the voiceless women of Bengal, as in his short story The Postmaster, says Anita Desai

Jon McGregor reads 'Notes from the House Spirits' by Lucy Wood

2012-12-3132:465

Lucy Wood builds a story from glimpses and suggestions in ‘Notes from the House Spirits’, says Jon McGregor

Yiyun Li reads 'Three People' by William Trevor

2012-12-3045:292

Yiyun Li reads William Trevor’s ‘Three People’, a short story which moved her to write a story in reply, ‘Gold Boy, Emerald Girl’

AS Byatt reads 'At Hiruharama' by Penelope Fitzgerald

2012-12-2925:19

Penelope Fitzgerald looks at the world anew in her short story ‘At Hiruharama’, says AS Byatt

Hanif Kureishi reads 'A Hunger Artist' by Franz Kafka

2012-12-2826:261

Franz Kafka’s story of a man who starves himself for entertainment, The Hunger Artist, is ‘absurb, moving and timely’, says Hanif Kureishi

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reads 'No Sweetness Here' by Ama Ata Aidoo

2012-12-2746:033

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie admires the ‘old-fashioned social realism’ of Ama Ata Aidoo’s ‘No Sweetness Here’

Comments (3)

Charles Ayo

This is an amazing story

Jul 28th

Kiran Bhatt

i love the texture of the voice ..so well read

Feb 2nd

Karan

This is such a great series, we need more episodes. Such high quality content is rare. Plus its thoroughly enjoyable. I request the Guardian to do more of these

Dec 16th

#box-pro-ellipsis-17321973695581{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Guardian Short Storie

Charles Ayo

Kiran Bhatt

Karan