John Baker’s Blog

Short stories are not something I’d choose to read instead of novels - I always have at least one of those on the go - but they are something I like to read alongside novels because the two narrative forms offer such different pleasures. When reading a novel I often want to become engrossed, to [...]

What phases are involved in the creation of a text?

I came back from vacation earlier this month, and the forest across the street from my grocery store had been chopped down to make way for a shopping center. It fascinated me, how completely that changed the look and feel of a street that I use [...]

What phases are involved in the creation of a text?
When I started writing (short stories) I used to carry a notebook around and make endless notes: ideas for current works in progress; ideas for new stories; overheard conversations. I still carry a notebook but rarely make notes. They tend now to be from books [...]

In recent years we have seen a resurgence in the art or craft of story telling in the west. This at the same time as these forms are being neglected and lost in what we euphemistically call the developing world.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian novelist (Purple Hibiscus) talks of a sense of loss because of [...]