'The cast of authors assembled here is of an exceptionally high quality, and the range of topics and approaches is very well judged. It seems reasonable now to start speaking about the "new short story studies". This book is at the forefront of that movement, and is likely to remain so for some time.' Adrian Hunter, University of Stirling Foreword by Ali Smith New critical essays on modern British women short story writers What is the relationship between the British woman writer and the short story? This collection examines what this versatile genre offers women writers, and what this can tell us about the society and culture they inhabit. From the rise of the modern printing press at the end of the nineteenth century through to the present digital age, these essays examine how the short story has been deployed and reworked by women writers and how they have influenced and shaped the genre's development. Considering the effect of literary inheritances, societal and cultural change, and shifting publishing demands, this collection traces the evolution of the genre through to its continued appeal to women writing today. From the New Woman to contemporary feminisms, women's anthologies to microfiction, modernist writers to the contemporary works of Ali Smith and Helen Simpson, the chapters in this collection investigate a crucial yet under-examined field of British literature. Key Features - 11 new chapters which discuss a range of gender and genre issues from the fin-de-siècle to the present day, together with an Introduction by the editors and a Postscript by Clare Hanson - Provides the background to the genre's development giving readers a unique insight into a largely neglected aspect of women's writing - Includes new readings of women authors such as 'George Egerton', E. Nesbit, May Sinclair, Dorothy Richardson, Katherine Mansfield, Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Spark, Angela Carter, Michèle Roberts, Helen Simpson, Tessa Hadley and Holly Howitt-Dring - Uses recent critical approaches to explore themes such as haunting and trauma, class and feminist politics, and women's experimentation with form James Bailey is researching and writing on Muriel Spark at the University of Sheffield. Emma Young is a Learning Development Tutor at Bishop Grosseteste University. Cover design: Richard Budd [EUP logo] euppublishing.com