Contemporary Visions and Voices in the Short Story

Spring / Summer 2003

Library consumers at the Washtenaw County Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled in Ann Arbor, Michigan had a special treat in spring and summer 2003! John Fulton, Ann Arbor author and University of Michigan lecturer, conducted an eight-part workshop entitled Contemporary Visions and Voices In the Short Story . At each session, Fulton read one or two stories and after each reading posed questions to facilitate discussion. He read stories written by a variety of authors including Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver, Jamaica Kincaid, Tim O'Brien, Charles Baxter and Bel Kaufman . The focus was on the short-short story and, at the last meeting, the group was introduced to the micro-short story.

Some of the participants posing at the closing session (Fulton seated on right).

The series was enthusiastically received by Library consumers. As many as thirty people attended each session and almost everyone was an active participant in the discussion. Fulton commented to the group that their take on stories was often very different from that of his young students at the University of Michigan. He said he was often struck by the insights of the group and enjoyed the sessions as much as any of the participants!
 

John Fulton reading to the group

The group was especially pleased with Fulton's fine reading abilities. Fulton says he became a writer because of fond memories of his mother reading out loud to him. He added that literature somehow comes alive with the human voice. Even when he reads silently to himself he imagines a voice speaking the words. As most listeners to books produced for the NLS program know, reading is an art form in itself.

A Michigan State Art grant through ArtServe Michigan supported the workshops. Fulton is the author of two books of fiction. His short story collection, Retribution , won the Southern Review Short Story Award for the best first collection of stories published in 2001. His novel, More Than Enough , was a Fall 2002 Barnes and Noble Discover Great Writers selection and a 2002-2003 finalist for the Society of Midland Authors Award. His stories have been short-listed for the O. Henry Award and have appeared in numerous national and international literary magazines, such as The Southern Review , Zoetrop , and Oxford America . Currently, Fulton is working on a new novel. He recently accepted a position at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

 
 
Contact information: Address, Telephone, Fax, Hours, Directions, Holidays, and Email