Celebrating Litro #100!

It’s a real pleasure to welcome you to Litro‘s 100th issue. Whether you’re a longstanding fan or a recent convert, we take great pride in making sure that we give you the best and brightest short fiction every month. And after 100 issues, with five to seven stories in each, that’s hundreds of stories and thousands of words which have helped brighten people’s commute or lunch hour by inspiring them, moving them, making them laugh, and helping them see the world just a little bit differently.

Multi-award-winning author Vanessa Gebbie has this to say:

I had a story in the very first edition of Litro. I loved the idea of my work being handed out at a tube station, in a home-published leaflet, folded in two by hand! I can’t even remember when that was… but suffice to say, I had no books out back then. I’ve written two collections since: Words from a Glass Bubble and Storm Warning, both from Salt Modern Fiction, and I’m a contributing editor of a textbook on writing short fiction, Short Circuit. I’ve just finished my first novel, thanks to a Grant for the Arts and I’m on to novel mark II, writing poetry and having fun. Earlier this year I was writer in residence at Stockholm Uni. Life is good.

Sci-fi writer Niall Boyce on the confidence that Litro Magazine gave him:

Having my story (“The Reconstruction”) published in Litro was very important  to me. I’d studied sciences rather than arts at university, and my sole training in creative writing consisted of a 12-week course with the Open University. Worse still, I wrote—still write—sci-fi. In short, I didn’t feel like I was a “Proper Author”. Being in Litro—seeing my work stacked on the counter in Foyles, and being read by strangers on the tube—was like a signpost telling me none of my worries mattered, and that I was going in the right direction. Since my story came out, I’ve gone on to write for a Doctor Who audiobook, and the spinoff series, Bernice Summerfield. I’ve also become a full-time senior editor of a major international journal. It’s all happened surprisingly quickly, and Litro was the catalyst.

Alan McCormick on being published in Litro early in his writing career:

One of the first stories I ever had published in print was “Who loves ya, baby?” in Litro #62 in 2007. Three years later I was delighted to have a short piece illustrated by the artist Jonny Voss in Litro #96. In the intervening years I’ve been Writer in Residence with InterAct, a Stroke charity, and had many stories published and performed. At the same time Litro has grown bigger and glossier, whilst retaining the qualities that have always made it an exciting and inspirational home for writers’ work: it’s still free, more and more widely distributed, and remains a consistent and loyal supporter of the short story. Happy 100th, Litro!

To read the issue online, click here.

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