T
he act of putting one’s nose in a book is universally regarded as a “do not disturb” sign. But in writing a story, however short, authors seem to be committing to a certain amount of rumination—an analysis of life’s greatest mysteries in an easily digestible format.The nominees for this year’s Youth Short Story category of the Amazon Canada First Novel Award similarly managed to find the macro in the micro: a stray-cat romance becomes a metaphor for impermanence; an evening binge-watch becomes a symbol on the anesthetizing effect of mass media; and a family boat, engulfed in flames, becomes the embodiment of our tendency to laugh our way through morbid moments. A lot can be processed in precious little word counts. Here, the nominees explain what they learned about life while writing their miniature meditations.
