Vignettes and Postcards
edited by Erin Byrne and Anna Pook contains a collection of humorous, lyrical, and philosophical short stories that I found utterly engaging. The editors demonstrated keen literary instincts in anthologizing these fine pieces of short fiction. Anna Pook led writer’s workshops for several years from an upstairs room at the Paris bookstore Shakespeare and Company. The stories selected represent the work of the formidable workshop participants. Readers like me who have visited Paris will find themselves filled with nostalgia by the sights and sounds of Paris so imaginatively realized in particular stories such as Claire Fallou’s work. Kate Bujanovic’s Anna, so full of complexity as a character reveals her disappointment over love and how she finds solace in a soulful Paris bookshop (reminiscent of Shakespeare and Company) that appears to be brimming with the life she desperately seeks. I appreciated the finely etched details and the way the author created a vivid setting using precise, sensory language.
The editors enhanced the text by including original photographs that serve as illustrations for some of the stories and thoughtful epigraphs.All of the authors displayed a rare literary sensibility coupled with excellent craft that makes the stories worth reading over and over again. Each time I found fresh, enlightening insight. Once I started reading the collection of stories by a diverse group of authors, I found it hard to put down. It’s meritorious how close the editors appear to be to the project as if it were completely a labor of love.