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Postcard Stories
Each day of 2015 Jan Carson wrote a short story on the back of a postcard and mailed it to a friend. Each of these tiny stories was inspired by an event, an overheard conversation, a piece of art or just a fleeting glance of something worth thinking about further. Collected in one volume, Carson’s postcards present a panoramic view of contemporary Belfast — its coffee shops, streets and museums and airports — and offer it to the wider world. Even as they seem to spring from a writer’s solitary perspective, taken together, these observations and their distribution speak of human connectedness. Like a pleasant surprise in the mail, this collection reminds us how many friendships are born and strengthened in a story shared. Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips.
80 pages, Paperback
Published May 30, 2017
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324 people want to read
About the author
Jan Carson
26 books243 followersJan Carson is a writer and community arts development officer currently based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She has a BA in English Literature from Queen’s University Belfast and an MLitt. In Theology and Contemporary Culture from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland. Jan has had short stories published in literary journals on both sides of the Atlantic, has had two of her plays produced for the Belfast stage and is a current recipient of the Arts Council NI’s Artist’s Career Enhancement Bursary. Her first novel, “Malcolm Orange Disappears” will be published by Liberties Press, Dublin on June 2nd 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
February 24, 2021
Each day in 2015, Irish writer Jan Carson composed a short story on a postcard and mailed it to a friend. For this collection, she's selected one from each week, identified not by title, but instead by the location in Belfast where it was written, date, and name of recipient of the card. The project obviously served its purpose of conquering writer's block and the stories are fun to read.
A March story starts by informing us the narrator's was "not a dog family" and ends:
A March story starts by informing us the narrator's was "not a dog family" and ends:
Therefore, when the yellow dog approached me in the park with its gums pinking like cooked ham slices, also its teeth bared, I assumed this dog's mouth to be smiling in a peculiarly doggish fashion and extended a friendly hand, which I still miss and, in missing, regret the fact that we were not a dog family.If you like these, there's a sequel, Postcard Stories 2, novels, and Carson's blog, https://www.jancarson.co.uk/blog, which is quite active as I write this review.
December 9, 2021
I just love the concept of these works of flash fiction, postcard size stories, that have a geographic connection to a street or location in Northern Ireland, that originated as a story written on the back of a postcard - an alternative restriction to the usual one when writing flash fiction of keeping it to 100 -150 words - and that the postcard was both sent and retained, a gift and a collection.
When I first picked it up, a little while ago now, I looked at the contents and went to read a few entries from the locations that were familiar to me, Belfast International Airport, Newtownards Road, Holywood Road, Linenhall Street, Holywood, Ormeau Road, but of course that was me thinking of my own story, so it didn't make much sense. I was looking for something that wasn't there.
So now I read it again, this time from the beginning and just allow it to tell me its own story, it's bite sized exercise in writing, the awakening of imagination, the sharing of the craft, its way of thinking of others while being in the act of creation.
I read, am entertained and wonder what it must have been like to receive one of these. Is there a connection between the story and the recipient, is it random, did they reply, did they understand the motivation of the author, did it matter? How did you get to be one of the recipients? Does she really have that many friends whose addresses she knows, a database perhaps, or is the postcard sending a fiction in itself?
Here she is practicing using the second person narrative voice.
I've read Jan Carson's novel The Fire Starters, I know she is a fan of absurdist fiction. I also know that she works in the community arts sector and has taught creative writing skills to people to help build empathy, using storytelling to show how we can imagine being in the shoes of another. I remember being reassured by this knowledge, because the protagonist in her novel completely lacks empathy, and that is a frightening thing.
It turns out there are only so many free coffees a person can drink before realising a hot beverage cannot cure loneliness, grief or melancholy.
The collection ends on a melancholy note, that makes me think I ought to take my own aromatherapy potions to the St George's Market, as an antidote to the melancholy nature of certain members of the population.
I have Postcard Stories 2, so I will be hoping that perhaps, as we wander more streets in the year that followed Postcard Stories, there might be reason for more optimism and perhaps we might learn how to get on the postcard list.
This not quite Ireland proper/ is not the Mainland/ is certainly not Europe in the Continental sense.
When I first picked it up, a little while ago now, I looked at the contents and went to read a few entries from the locations that were familiar to me, Belfast International Airport, Newtownards Road, Holywood Road, Linenhall Street, Holywood, Ormeau Road, but of course that was me thinking of my own story, so it didn't make much sense. I was looking for something that wasn't there.
So now I read it again, this time from the beginning and just allow it to tell me its own story, it's bite sized exercise in writing, the awakening of imagination, the sharing of the craft, its way of thinking of others while being in the act of creation.
I read, am entertained and wonder what it must have been like to receive one of these. Is there a connection between the story and the recipient, is it random, did they reply, did they understand the motivation of the author, did it matter? How did you get to be one of the recipients? Does she really have that many friends whose addresses she knows, a database perhaps, or is the postcard sending a fiction in itself?
Here she is practicing using the second person narrative voice.
When you were seven years old you threw a dart at a black-haired girl, running away in the garden. The dart lodged and stuck just below her shoulder blade. She fell forward in the grass. The flight on the dart was red and black and white. These were also the colours of the duvet cover in your parents' bedroom. This was the 80's. Afterwards the dart came away clean as needles. No harm done. You did not tell and neither did she.
I've read Jan Carson's novel The Fire Starters, I know she is a fan of absurdist fiction. I also know that she works in the community arts sector and has taught creative writing skills to people to help build empathy, using storytelling to show how we can imagine being in the shoes of another. I remember being reassured by this knowledge, because the protagonist in her novel completely lacks empathy, and that is a frightening thing.
'If your drink doesn't make you happy, we'll make you another,' I read aloud, pointing to the sign above the barista's head.It's been there, right behind him, with the toastie machine and the coffee syrups, for so long now that he's forgotten all about it.
It turns out there are only so many free coffees a person can drink before realising a hot beverage cannot cure loneliness, grief or melancholy.
The collection ends on a melancholy note, that makes me think I ought to take my own aromatherapy potions to the St George's Market, as an antidote to the melancholy nature of certain members of the population.
Every year during the month leading up to Christmas, Eleanor takes a stall at St George's Market and sells disappointment in small, hand-made bottles...She stocks any number of different disappointments: the disappointment of an unsupportive parent, the disappointment of a homely child, the disappointment of being alone or not nearly alone enough, the disappointment of cats, good wine, box sets and religion, the dry disappointment of Christmas Day evening which is easily the most popular product on her stall.
I have Postcard Stories 2, so I will be hoping that perhaps, as we wander more streets in the year that followed Postcard Stories, there might be reason for more optimism and perhaps we might learn how to get on the postcard list.
April 30, 2020
Loved this little flash fiction collection by Jan Carson. It's been awhile since I've read flash and it was nice to get back into with a writer I enjoy so much. I especially loved the story about leaving your father in Ikea because he was "too old to go on" and not coming back because there's "only one route through Ikea;" the story about creating a robot of yourself to do the things you don't want to; and the one about the Loch Ness Monster. Her writing is a perfect mixture of beautiful and odd. I definitely think I'll return to these stories again.
May 12, 2024
Mīlīgas, reizēm forši absurdas un sirreālas miniatūras, kur tomēr gribējās mazāk vienkāršu prikolu.
October 28, 2017
As a postcard collector and a member of Goodread's The Postcard Exchange and Postcrossing, I am drawn to books that feature postcards in some way, shape, or form. I find it interesting how people utilize postcards in today's age of digital communication.
In 2015, Jan Carson wrote a story on the back of a postcard each day of the year. She then mailed each postcard to a friend. The book features fifty-two (one postcard from each week of the year) postcards, stories only.
Although a few illustrations are included, it would have been enjoyable to see the fronts of each corresponding card, although I understand the focus of the book is on the stories.
The book also provides a quick study of life in Belfast, from the story-telling perspective of the author.
In 2015, Jan Carson wrote a story on the back of a postcard each day of the year. She then mailed each postcard to a friend. The book features fifty-two (one postcard from each week of the year) postcards, stories only.
Although a few illustrations are included, it would have been enjoyable to see the fronts of each corresponding card, although I understand the focus of the book is on the stories.
The book also provides a quick study of life in Belfast, from the story-telling perspective of the author.
April 1, 2023
Collections of micro fiction are rare. Collections of micro fiction by novelists are rarer still. I recently read The Fire Starters by Jan Carson (Transworld Digital, 2019) and loved its surreal lyrical qualities through which the devastating reality of living in Northern Ireland is explored. A month or so later I was browsing the online catalogue of The Emma Press and saw Postcard Stories (2017), illustrated by Benjamin Phillips. The title is in reference to how the book came about: ‘Every day in 2015, Jan Carson wrote a story on the back of a postcard and mailed it to a friend.’ The book contains 52 stories, one for each week, in which ‘Carson presents a panoramic view of contemporary Belfast’.
In her book, Going Short (Adhoc Fiction, 2020), Nancy Stohlman writes:
One of my favorite approaches to writing a flash fiction story is what I call the zoom lens – taking an ultra close-up shot of what’s potentially a much bigger story. It’s like narrowing the focus from a wide-angle landscape to a single flower. In flash fiction, the single flower can be the whole world.
This zoom lens approach is often used by Carson in her stories. One example is in August’s opening story in which the main character leaves her father in Ikea because ‘[h]e was too old to go on.’ The actual story takes place in a slither of time, but it also encompasses the difficulties which arise from having to watch the struggles of an ageing parent. ‘I could see he was glad of the rest, glad to have the expectation lifted from him.’
Carson’s stories don’t have titles. Instead readers are given the week in which they were written, where and to whom. The last story, written in St George’s Market, Belfast, opens with ‘[e]very year during the month leading up to Christmas, Eleanor takes a stall at St George’s Market and sells disappointment in small, hand-made bottles.’ There is a myriad of different disappointments and ‘[i]t is mostly locals who buy from her. The tourists tend to skip straight from the felt handbag stall on her left to the organic candles on her right’. Tania Hershman writes that ‘the reader more willingly accepts oddities and suspends disbelief in the ‘truth’ of such worlds than with a longer piece.’ (Short Circuit, p.173) Carson takes full advantage of this in many of her stories, for example a child is born with a bird’s egg in his/her hand or in the backseat of a car is a horse and a tunnel.
Over and over Jan Carson asserts her authority as a competent and compelling short fiction writer. Along with her astute insight, Postcard Stories is a wonderful collection of poignant and touching narratives.
In her book, Going Short (Adhoc Fiction, 2020), Nancy Stohlman writes:
One of my favorite approaches to writing a flash fiction story is what I call the zoom lens – taking an ultra close-up shot of what’s potentially a much bigger story. It’s like narrowing the focus from a wide-angle landscape to a single flower. In flash fiction, the single flower can be the whole world.
This zoom lens approach is often used by Carson in her stories. One example is in August’s opening story in which the main character leaves her father in Ikea because ‘[h]e was too old to go on.’ The actual story takes place in a slither of time, but it also encompasses the difficulties which arise from having to watch the struggles of an ageing parent. ‘I could see he was glad of the rest, glad to have the expectation lifted from him.’
Carson’s stories don’t have titles. Instead readers are given the week in which they were written, where and to whom. The last story, written in St George’s Market, Belfast, opens with ‘[e]very year during the month leading up to Christmas, Eleanor takes a stall at St George’s Market and sells disappointment in small, hand-made bottles.’ There is a myriad of different disappointments and ‘[i]t is mostly locals who buy from her. The tourists tend to skip straight from the felt handbag stall on her left to the organic candles on her right’. Tania Hershman writes that ‘the reader more willingly accepts oddities and suspends disbelief in the ‘truth’ of such worlds than with a longer piece.’ (Short Circuit, p.173) Carson takes full advantage of this in many of her stories, for example a child is born with a bird’s egg in his/her hand or in the backseat of a car is a horse and a tunnel.
Over and over Jan Carson asserts her authority as a competent and compelling short fiction writer. Along with her astute insight, Postcard Stories is a wonderful collection of poignant and touching narratives.
January 22, 2018
I enjoyed these clever little stories.
July 30, 2019
This is a book of weekly postcards written to friends. Carson writes novels, short stories, and in the case of this book, flash fiction. I first encountered flash fiction when I read Bottled Goods a few months ago. I have quickly fallen in love with the genre.
What is flash fiction? The simplest definition is that stories under 2,000 words can be considered flash fiction (http://www.thereviewreview.net/publis...). It appeals to me because I love the descriptions in flash fiction that may be intense, targeted, and out -of-the-ordinary. It can include poignant observations that remind us to look.
Carson is in Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast, and my favorite entries were those based in the city and/or culture. One of my favorites was the postcard for December 2nd, 2015.
...the inability to take a compliment is wired into us Northern folks...Which leads me to a conversation I once heard on a bus between Knock and Castlereagh.
'What a beautiful -looking wee baby' said this one older lady to a woman sitting opposite her with a buggy.
The woman with a buggy, pre-conditioned as she was to deflect compliments of all kinds, did not miss a beat, nor chance to look at her sleeping child for fear of nurturing an arrogant streak.'Oh this old thing,' she replied curtly, 'sure, I've had it for ages'.
Flash fiction can resemble poetry, which may be a reason it appeals to me. Carson does often dip into fantastical happenings (some call it magical realism but I reserve that label for fiction in a Latin American, or Latino context in the United States, where the fantastical descriptions are part of the cultural landscape). I'm sure there are essays out there arguing the point, but for now I will stick to my definition, and label what Carson does as fantasy or fantastical realism.
This is a wonderful read for those familiar with Northern Irish history and culture, and those who want to learn more. It is succinct and like a book of poems, I read each one at least twice.
What is flash fiction? The simplest definition is that stories under 2,000 words can be considered flash fiction (http://www.thereviewreview.net/publis...). It appeals to me because I love the descriptions in flash fiction that may be intense, targeted, and out -of-the-ordinary. It can include poignant observations that remind us to look.
Carson is in Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast, and my favorite entries were those based in the city and/or culture. One of my favorites was the postcard for December 2nd, 2015.
...the inability to take a compliment is wired into us Northern folks...Which leads me to a conversation I once heard on a bus between Knock and Castlereagh.
'What a beautiful -looking wee baby' said this one older lady to a woman sitting opposite her with a buggy.
The woman with a buggy, pre-conditioned as she was to deflect compliments of all kinds, did not miss a beat, nor chance to look at her sleeping child for fear of nurturing an arrogant streak.'Oh this old thing,' she replied curtly, 'sure, I've had it for ages'.
Flash fiction can resemble poetry, which may be a reason it appeals to me. Carson does often dip into fantastical happenings (some call it magical realism but I reserve that label for fiction in a Latin American, or Latino context in the United States, where the fantastical descriptions are part of the cultural landscape). I'm sure there are essays out there arguing the point, but for now I will stick to my definition, and label what Carson does as fantasy or fantastical realism.
This is a wonderful read for those familiar with Northern Irish history and culture, and those who want to learn more. It is succinct and like a book of poems, I read each one at least twice.
December 30, 2020
I loved this book. Jan spent a year writing a story on a postcard each day and sending them to her friends and this collection is the best one from each week gather into a slim volume by an indie press. It is like a box of chocolates and we know what Forrest Gump said about those. Each little flash fiction brings you to a new world by many are set in her native Belfast.
I've been lucky enough to hear Jan read from this book twice (Hinterland in Kells and the Rick OShea Book Club 2019) and it is a mark of the quality of her book and reading that she didn't repeat any stories and both times I was left moved and laughing.
Try it, it won't take long to read and it will brighten your day to know we have such a good writer in our midst.
I've been lucky enough to hear Jan read from this book twice (Hinterland in Kells and the Rick OShea Book Club 2019) and it is a mark of the quality of her book and reading that she didn't repeat any stories and both times I was left moved and laughing.
Try it, it won't take long to read and it will brighten your day to know we have such a good writer in our midst.
June 30, 2020
A great wee collection of stories that covers a broad range of topics including families, moving house, the Loch Ness monster and how wholly incapable NI folk are in taking a compliment from others (we really can't).
August 21, 2018
This book is great fun. Each story is short enough to fit on a postcard and is very readable--funny and poignant.
January 31, 2022
A quirky selection of short stories -each written on a postcard - covering a wide range of themes and stories. With all short story selections, some resonated more than others for me.
December 24, 2024
Extremely, extremely short stories from Belfast. Most stories are 1-3 paragraphs. These are quirkier than I’d prefer. I was going to rate this as 2 stars but I did appreciate some of the later stories more, so am rounding up to 3.
I think this author is a bit too quirky for me.
I think this author is a bit too quirky for me.
October 8, 2022
Des petites histoires brèves.
Hâte de les travailler et les traduire pour les cours
Hâte de les travailler et les traduire pour les cours
April 18, 2025
Honestly, the first time I have highlighted lines in a book. Chuckled over a number of the stories
August 25, 2019
I am so glad Jan Carson wrote this book.❤
May 27, 2017
Postcard Stories, by Jan Carson (with illustrations by Benjamin Phillips), is a collection of fifty-two short stories, one for each week of a year. They were originally written on the back of postcards and then mailed individually to the author’s friends. Set in or around contemporary Belfast they capture the attitudes and vernacular of their subjects with wit and precision. As with Carson’s previous work, there is at times an injection of magical realism which beautifully offsets the dry humour of her candid observations.
To tell a story as short as these the prose must throughout remain pithy. The author presents the quirks and poignancy of little moments in everyday life with warmth and affection. These small snapshots of the ordinary become extraordinary when painted with her words.
The stories in which elderly people feature offer a wry yet sympathetic account of life from their perspectives. All the characters are recognisable, their foibles presented with gentle perceptiveness.
From Ulster Hall Belfast (Week 34), where the narrator is mourning her increasing forgetfulness:
“There was not even a way to say that I had forgotten these things; only a jumble of words too long or too short for the job and a clenching of fists when the words would not come.”
From Armagh (Week 8)
“A provincial Northern Irish library, early evening, and the usual suspects have gathered for a creative writing workshop: two amateur poets, a sci-fi guy in a black t-shirt, a lady who writes letters to her sister in Australia, and that one elderly gentleman who’s working on a biography of someone you’ve never heard of.”
Writers feature as many of the stories appear personal.
From Whiteabbey (Week 9), which tells of a gathering of friends:
“Three writers and a much more useful person gathered for a dinner party. They ate aubergines and couscous impregnated with tequila. Like Jesus, they kept the good wine for pudding. Later, they ended their evening with Bob Dylan and cheese so ripe it might have been shoes.”
From Linenhall Street, Belfast (Week 29), where the author talks of making a robot of herself:
“The robot of me will not be funny or write stories or be good at conversation with wine. I will be particularly careful to ensure the robot is a dull dinner party guest for fear that my friends might begin to prefer its company over mine.”
One of my favourite tales in the collection was Albertbridge Road, Belfast (Week 27). It starts:
“The Tall Ships arrived in Belfast yesterday. They were not as tall as we’d been led to believe. We thought you might be able to see them from space or, at the very least, Cave Hill.”
Another I particularly enjoyed was Linenhall Street, Belfast (Week 50) where the narrator ponders bible stories and the characters who do not feature:
“which made me think of the shepherd who went off for a quick wee at exactly the wrong angelic moment, and all the people who, upon hearing there was only one portion of loaves and fish to split between so many, went home to fix their own sandwiches”
Both of these feature a last line so perfect I had to stop to savour the effect before rereading from the beginning. The length of each story allows for this. In many ways they are akin to poetry.
There are tales that play with word meanings: a consideration of happiness prompted by a sign in a coffee shop; a museum as a place to take the old things that remind the narrator of events they would prefer to forget. There are stories which deal with meetings and misunderstandings, arrivals and departures, loneliness and the throwaway comments that lodge in memory, endlessly chewed over yet remaining difficult to swallow.
The collection is ideal for dipping into. It is an attractively presented, slim volume with illustrative sketches for a number of the tales. Perfect for slipping into a bag or a pocket, this is a sagacious and entertaining read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, The Emma Press.
To tell a story as short as these the prose must throughout remain pithy. The author presents the quirks and poignancy of little moments in everyday life with warmth and affection. These small snapshots of the ordinary become extraordinary when painted with her words.
The stories in which elderly people feature offer a wry yet sympathetic account of life from their perspectives. All the characters are recognisable, their foibles presented with gentle perceptiveness.
From Ulster Hall Belfast (Week 34), where the narrator is mourning her increasing forgetfulness:
“There was not even a way to say that I had forgotten these things; only a jumble of words too long or too short for the job and a clenching of fists when the words would not come.”
From Armagh (Week 8)
“A provincial Northern Irish library, early evening, and the usual suspects have gathered for a creative writing workshop: two amateur poets, a sci-fi guy in a black t-shirt, a lady who writes letters to her sister in Australia, and that one elderly gentleman who’s working on a biography of someone you’ve never heard of.”
Writers feature as many of the stories appear personal.
From Whiteabbey (Week 9), which tells of a gathering of friends:
“Three writers and a much more useful person gathered for a dinner party. They ate aubergines and couscous impregnated with tequila. Like Jesus, they kept the good wine for pudding. Later, they ended their evening with Bob Dylan and cheese so ripe it might have been shoes.”
From Linenhall Street, Belfast (Week 29), where the author talks of making a robot of herself:
“The robot of me will not be funny or write stories or be good at conversation with wine. I will be particularly careful to ensure the robot is a dull dinner party guest for fear that my friends might begin to prefer its company over mine.”
One of my favourite tales in the collection was Albertbridge Road, Belfast (Week 27). It starts:
“The Tall Ships arrived in Belfast yesterday. They were not as tall as we’d been led to believe. We thought you might be able to see them from space or, at the very least, Cave Hill.”
Another I particularly enjoyed was Linenhall Street, Belfast (Week 50) where the narrator ponders bible stories and the characters who do not feature:
“which made me think of the shepherd who went off for a quick wee at exactly the wrong angelic moment, and all the people who, upon hearing there was only one portion of loaves and fish to split between so many, went home to fix their own sandwiches”
Both of these feature a last line so perfect I had to stop to savour the effect before rereading from the beginning. The length of each story allows for this. In many ways they are akin to poetry.
There are tales that play with word meanings: a consideration of happiness prompted by a sign in a coffee shop; a museum as a place to take the old things that remind the narrator of events they would prefer to forget. There are stories which deal with meetings and misunderstandings, arrivals and departures, loneliness and the throwaway comments that lodge in memory, endlessly chewed over yet remaining difficult to swallow.
The collection is ideal for dipping into. It is an attractively presented, slim volume with illustrative sketches for a number of the tales. Perfect for slipping into a bag or a pocket, this is a sagacious and entertaining read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, The Emma Press.
July 2, 2023
This book is a perfect little mix of weird and wonderful. Personal favourites were the tree listeners, the IKEA story, and the disappointments for sale at the market.
It was simply just very nice. Carson is an excellent writer, and these pieces of flash fiction combine to make, for lack of a better word, a very sweet collection. In my opinion, one of the best things a book can be is less than 100 pages - I love reading in one sitting, so the fact I finished this in about half hour was very enjoyable.
A good short story collection, would highly recommend for a quick read. No notes!
4/5 stars
It was simply just very nice. Carson is an excellent writer, and these pieces of flash fiction combine to make, for lack of a better word, a very sweet collection. In my opinion, one of the best things a book can be is less than 100 pages - I love reading in one sitting, so the fact I finished this in about half hour was very enjoyable.
A good short story collection, would highly recommend for a quick read. No notes!
4/5 stars
March 1, 2018
This is a slim volume for a regular paperback price, but it has 50 short stories, so short that they fit on a post card. As with any short story collection, I liked some very well and some not so much. Some of my favorites are: Week 35, Week 44, and Week 50. I also liked the author's take on the old lady who lived in the shoe after all her children had grown and gone. I am sure some of the recipients of her short story postcards were very pleased with their stories.
December 22, 2022
Some of these were revelatory, others were just fun, none were flops. Jan Carson seems to have a lifeline to life's hidden meanings and paradoxical games. I like her crisp and daring writing, and her remarkable versatility - the stories range from science fiction to stream of consciousness, from comic to genuinely touching. This micro genre is deceptive - it takes a true master of words to wring meaning from so few words, let alone move, shock or make the reader think. Carson succeeds.
April 29, 2019
Love these stories, such a clever idea, every day for a year she sent her friends a postcard and wrote a story on it. This book is a selection of 52 of those stories. Its a lovely little book, full of wit, interesting situations and new ways of looking at life. Some are poignant others funny and thought provoking.
July 8, 2022
I am always fascinated by the teeny micro stories that can be found in that little white space on the back of a postcard. Never noticed? The next time you're in an antique store, flip an old postcard over and see what story you stumble upon.
This book illustrates a clever way to put short stories out into the world.
This book illustrates a clever way to put short stories out into the world.
July 7, 2025
Carson has been able to distill a place and time so well that if one were to travel there they would be able to talk to the locals and say “remember when it was this way, it’s always been, no?” Or something to that effect. I loved every one of these stories and the concept and voice of the piece as a whole is so clever and well-conceived. Experiment or lark it became something really special.
November 21, 2017
Absolutely magnificent. Jan has a strong voice. She paints her subjects and locations in a very memorable and relatable manner. I loved the odd magical realism pieces. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire collection and am grateful for the inspiration it has given me to pursue my own writing.
August 16, 2018
Eh.... another good experiment... stories written on the back of postcards. The focus of his stories is Belfast, and it might be more enjoyable to those who enjoy experimental writing, or who have an acquaintance with Belfast.
June 4, 2020
I picked this up because it sounded like it might provide a few mentor texts for writing flash fiction in our Creative Writing course. There were a few that stood out to me, but I didn't connect with most of them.
December 15, 2020
These snippers showed a little of Belfast and I liked what I saw, so I was greedy and wanted more. I'd be excited to see a collection of these from different writers and to use this idea for writing prompts.
January 16, 2022
Elke dag in 2015 Schrijft Jan Carson een postcard naar 1 van haar vrienden. Een selectie per week is te lezen in dit boek.
Het boek speelt zich af in en rond Belfast rond het huis van de schrijfster.
Een erg leuk concept en een aanrader!
Het boek speelt zich af in en rond Belfast rond het huis van de schrijfster.
Een erg leuk concept en een aanrader!
June 24, 2017
Read this in afew hours and really adored it.
July 10, 2017
Love it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews