The Dramaturgy of Style · Voice in Short Fiction

One of America’s best young writers pre­sents a critical appreciation of voice in short fiction, using drama and poetry to frame his discussion.

Discussing contemporary voice in American fiction, Stephens says: “There is a cadence which the writer steals from the actual, shaping this rhythm into the voice of fiction. When tension enters into the equation of speech and voice, drama­turgical moments occur. Actors trans­form words into living moments. So do writers.”

Stephens draws on world literature to illustrate his concept of voice. He dis­cusses early influences such as Beckett, Kafka, Borges, and Babel. He focuses on Paul Blackburn, Joel Oppenheimer, Gil­bert Sorrentino, Hubert Selby, Jr., Viet­nam war fiction writers (Larry Heine­mann, Gustav Hasford, Stephen Wright, W. D. Ehrhart, Robert Auletta, among others), Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Stephen Dixon, Harold Pinter, Sam Shepard, David Mamet, and a host of others.