The Irish Short Story Event Hosted by The Reading Life

Hard to believe with a name like mine, I know, but I'm actually only just a bit Irish. However, you can be sure I'll be sporting some green on March 17th, and not just the usual $6 in George Washingtons I keep in my wallet just in case I need actual cash.

St. Patrick's Day is generally associated with drunkeness, and I've tended to hate the day ever since I started having to share a bus with people who begin taking beverages before sunup and seem to be set on annoying the crap out of anyone sober within a twenty foot radius. In recent years, I've barely bothered to note the day, other than a casual clothing nod.

That's why I was so happy to see that Mel of The Reading Life put together a celebration of Irish short story writers for this week. Calling it "Irish Short Story Week," the event will run from March 14th to the 20th, primarily on her blog, but anyone else is welcome to join in. The Book Stew will lurk out of its semi-hibernation (I just haven't read anything recently that made me want to jump up and write about it) and try to participate at least a few times this week with some thoughts on some short fiction written by Ireland's best.

Mel, of course, is going full court press, and you should definitely keep an eye on her site all this week for a lot of insightful commentary and links to Irish short stories. I like Mel's reading blog because she spends a lot of time looking at short fiction piece by piece, not as a larger collection. She's definitely someone to add to your RSS feeder after this week is over, if you haven't before.

Anyway, hope you have the luck of the Irish, put on your green this Thursday, and enjoy as I keep things short for the rest of the week! (Sorry, no pots of gold. They're on back order.)