Short Diary Fiction: A New Global Anthology

Diaries capture the most intimate and revealing aspects of diarists’ perception of themselves and the world around them. Throughout history, fiction writers have turned to the diary genre to maximize the intimacy and credibility of their narratives and to tell stories that bridge the personal and the social. This collection is the first to make visible the historical and global scope of short stories that use diaries as a structuring form or thematic inspiration. The book gathers twenty stories that span three centuries, from ten different countries and seven different languages. Although written in a range of styles from Romanticism to science fiction to Gothic to climate fiction, these stories cohere around key diary themes: privacy and publicity, self-discovery and self-delusion, love and sexuality, gender roles and social codes, time and technology, among others. Featuring an introduction to diary fiction, guiding headnotes, and a list of additional recommended reading, Daniels-Lerberg and Henderson’s anthology makes a valuable intervention in literary history by illustrating the popularity of diary fiction across the globe and in diverse literary traditions. At the intersection of autobiographical self-narrative and riveting storytelling, these works of diary fiction promise to entertain, inform, and spark new ideas in both readers and keepers of diaries.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Editors’ Note - Henry James, “The Landscape Painter” (1866) - Constance Fenimore Woolson, “Misery Landing” (1874) - Anton Chekhov, “From the Diary of a Violent-Tempered Man” (1887) - Silvina Ocampo, “The Diary of Porfiria Bernal” (1900) - Shiga Naoya, “The Diary of Claudius” (1912) - Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman” (1918) - Virginia Woolf, “The Legacy” (1940) - Marcel Aymé, “Tickets on Time” (1943) - Donald Barthelme, “Me and Miss Mandible” (1964) - Wolfdietrich Schnurre, “Diary of a Dayfly” (1964) - Jane Bowles, “Emmy Moore’s Journal” (1973) - Ian McEwan, “Solid Geometry” (1975) - Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Diary of a Rose” (1982) - Ian Vladislavic, “Journal of a Wall” (1989) - Sherley Anne Williams, “Meditations on History” (1989) - Greg Egan, “The Hundred Light-Year Diary” (1992) - Gina Berriault, “The Diary of KW” (1996) - Michelle Cliff, “A Public Woman” (1996) - Helen Simpson, “Diary of an Interesting Year” (2009) - Mpho Phalwane, “Per Annum” (2018) Recommended Further Reading Sources and Permissions

About the Author :
Desirée Henderson is Professor of English at the University of Texas Arlington, USA, where she specializes in American literature, life writing, and women’s writing. Tracey Daniels-Lerberg is Assistant Professor (Lecturer) and Associate Writing Program Administrator, University of Utah, USA.

Review :
Fantastic collection of short diary fiction from around the world. The reader discovers the many ingenious ways in which writers, ranging from Henry James to Mpho Phalwane, have used the diary form and the idea of the diary in stories. The editors' introduction to the anthology provides helpful background and context, and each individual selection has its own informative introduction.