‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn.’

How short can a short story be?

This 6-worder, plus the important punctuation, attributed, probably wrongly, to Ernest Hemingway, is often offered as the answer par excellence.

But the good thing about the apocryphal, accepting that Hemingway’s authorship is, is that it nearly always gets you thinking.

So, just how short can a short story be?

Are there rules?

Well, don’t ask me, instead ask Linda Martin and Laura Keenan, co-publishers at Night Parrot Press, an independent Perth publisher which has just released its third collection of flash fiction, titled Three Can Keep a Secret.

The collection boasts contributions from 81 writers, including nationally prominent writers Barry Divola (Driving Stevie Fracasso, HarperCollins) and Donna Mazza (Fauna, Allen & Unwin), and a number of Fremantle writers including former ABC journalist Gillian O’Shaughnessy.

Gillian O’Shauhnessy

It’s a great read, not the least reason being you can pick it up, read one or two short, sharp pieces, smile, pause, stop, think, and return to another piece later.

You’ll want to get hold of the collection, for sure. Email Night Parrot Press at nightparrotpress@gmail.com

The collection will be officially launched at the The Australian Short Story Festival at Fremantle Arts Centre on October 29, an event you won’t want to miss whether you’re a writer or a reader!

Our editor, Michael Barker, was lucky enough to catch up with Gillian O’Shaugnessy to record a podcast interview where we discuss Three Can Keep a Secret and flash fiction more generally.