ENSFR Conferences
In Different Shapes: The Short Story and Its Modes of Circulation in Magazines and Newspapers (2026)
Artois University, France
Devoted to short forms appearing in magazines and newspapers, the conference will consider any story printed in such media but also stories that were solely published in magazines and newspapers (as opposed to stories that were later collected in book form), adapted into film or into longer works of fiction (as is often the case with The New Yorker). Panelists may also work on any short form to be found in magazines (commercials, letters to the editor, notes…) as well as illustrated stories—the illustrations providing yet another short story from to explore. Certain magazines target a specific audience, and it could be stimulating to reflect upon writers’ ability to please (at least on the surface) literary editors. In the nineteenth century, stories were often referred to as “articles,” “tales” or “sketches”—how does this influence our understanding of the text? What are the differences between stories printed in magazines and those printed in newspapers?
Landscape and Temporality (2023)
University of Manchester, UK
The conference’s goal was not to look at the short form in antagonism to other literary forms, but rather, to cross-examine the marginal spaces that short fiction occupies and the intersections between landscape and temporality, that the short story form can shine a light upon. It also considered the relationship that the short story form has in its depictions of temporality and ask does the short story form do things uniquely, that other literary forms don’t do, in its depiction of temporality.
Short Fiction as World Literature (2022)
University of Lisbon, Portugal
This conference brought together scholars with an interest in examining the tension of the enduring novel-centrism of literary studies tension and the different ways in which it may extend to the field of world literature. The goal was not to look at the short form once again in stark opposition to the novel. Rather, we invited papers that interrogate the marginal spaces of short fiction from other angles and explore the underestimated potential of the short story as a cosmopolitan form, focusing on how it may tell an alternative history of literary circulation.
Short Fiction as Humble Fiction (2019)
Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3, France
Aiming to shift the perspective and claim short fiction not exactly as a minor genre, but as a humble one, this conference called us to ask: what can short fiction do that the novel cannot? Using the concept of the ‘humble’ as a critical tool that may help reframe and redefine short fiction, we opened a rich debate surrounding how short stories deal with humble beings, broach humble topics, whilst using the humble tool of brevity.
Objects of Desire (2018)
Catholic University of Lille, France
Centred around the topic of “Objects of Desire”, this conference included papers in French and English debating the relation between short fiction and desire across different periods and genres, such as flash fiction, the novella and short story cycles. As a concentrated and intense form of prose writing, after all, short fiction lends itself very well to representations of desire. As Sarah Hall says, “The form is very good at unzipping the mind’s fly” (‘Sex, Death and the Short Story’).
Short Fiction: Co-texts and Contexts / Le Récit Bref : Co-textes et Contexts (2017)
KU Leuven, Belgium
In this bilingual conference, we discussed the forms, functions and implications of the different, multi-textual publication contexts that have accompanied the modern short story since the 19th century, exploring the many different ways in which short stories interact with these co-texts and contexts in various literary traditions. Plenary speakers were Dean Baldwin and Yvon Houssais. Invited writers were Annelies Verbeke, Alison MacLeod, Thomas Morris and Luca Ricci. A selection of the conference papers were published in a special issue of Journal for the Short Story in English, Interférences Littéraires and an essay collection, The Modern Short Story and Magazine Culture (Edinburgh University Press, 2022).
“The Child of the Century”: Reading and Writing Short Fiction Across Media (2016)
Edge Hill University, UK
The short story, described by Elizabeth Bowen in 1936 as ‘the child of [the 20th] century’ is still growing and developing in the 21st century, alongside an equally rapid acceleration in new media. The conference explored the generic affinities between short fiction and other art forms; intermedial transformations; and migrations of the form. This includes the impact of changing technologies on its writing and transmission, historically and at the present moment. Our keynote speaker, Nicholas Royle, spoke about his latest publication, In Camera (Negative Press, 2016), a collaboration with artist David Gledhill.
Reading Short Fiction in Transnational Contexts (2015)
University of Dublin, Ireland
Aiming to address the extent to which the idea of transnationalism relates to works of short fiction, this conference comprised a series of lectures and panel discussions on a range of issues including, but not limited to, the relations between short fiction and issues in translation, the Empire, nation-building, international audiences, the gendering of nation. It also especially featured a panel discussion on the first five years of Best European Fiction, an annual anthology of short fiction in English (and translation into English) published by the Dalkey Archive Press, as well as readings by contemporary Irish short fiction writers.
ENSFR-Affiliated Conferences
Remembering Flannery O’Connor 100 Years after Her Birthday: Transnational, Intersectional and Multidisciplinary Approaches (2025)
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
More than Meets the Ear: Sound & Short Fiction (2019)
University of Vienna, Austria
Formes Brèves et Adolescence / Short Forms and Adolescence (2019)
University of Angers, France
Borders, Intersections and Identity in the Contemporary Short Story in English (2019)
University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
The American Short Story: New Horizons (2017)
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany