Apologies and Promises

In the seven years I have been writing these blog posts, this month (April, 2015) is the first month I have failed to post an essay or commentary. I apologize to my readers and can only plead that my reasons are personal responsibilities to my family.

During this month, I planned several projects in response to comments and requests from some of my readers, for which I have done considerable reading, but have not had the time for concentrated thought and writing. The projects I have postponed, but which I still hope to get to, are as follows:

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            The stories of Scottish writer James Kelman, in response to suggestions from Brian Hamill, submissions editor for an interesting journal of New Fiction called Thi Wurd.

2.      The stories of British writer V. S. Pritchett, especially the stories in a new paperback of entitled On the Edge of the Cliff, sent to me by James Doyle of Turnpike Books.

3.      African Stories in a 2012 collection edited by Barbara  Solomon and W. Reginald Rampone, Jr. entitled An African Quilt.

4.      The Stories of Donald Antrim in his collection The Emerald Light in the Air, recommended by Jason Makansi.

But I fear I must postpone writing on these projects for still another month.  During the month of May, I plan to post a series of short essays on 31 stories (one for each day of Short Story Month) that are important in the development of the short story as a genre, beginning with Boccaccio in the Renaissance and extending at least through the so-called Renaissance of the Short Story near the end of the Twentieth Century. These pieces are part of a large "work-in-progress" on the history of the short story, on which I have been working for several years.