People produce art to explain and honour the life they know, and to many the short story is a logical medium for that expression. The more futuristic art gurus, however, believe that printed pages are destined for extinction as an art form and that the short story will be first on the Dodo list.

This is hard to believe in Australia where huge numbers of writers use the medium frequently and well. At the moment, we have some of the best short story writers we’ve ever had, which is significant when the list of past Australian story writers is considered. Farmer, McQueen, Carey, Garner, Clancy, Shiel, Barbalet, and many others will follow in the tradition established by Lawson, Rudd, Richardson, Prichard, Waten, Morrison, and Marshall as practitioners of a vibrant art form.