But film hasn’t given up. Instead, in peculiar ways, film has worked its way back into the network of billions of images that we share on a daily basis. And what is more curious is this: a large number of digital photographers have rejected the hyper-real pretensions of the early medium in favour of filters and effects that mimic the aberrations and limits of film photography.

Twitter is also a fiction publishing phenomenon. While not as popular as keitai shosetsu (literally, cellphone novel) in Japan, it is increasingly being taken on by serious writers, serious wannabe writers, and seriously get-on-the-bandwagon publishers.

The panel table was spot lit and a row of microphones were in place, looking very official. The hour the event was to begin came, and then went. The door opened, and all eyes turned to it, hoping to see the audience stream in. Then, shoulders sagged in unison when a lone person appeared, a friend of the bartender, wondering what he had done to disappoint.

Calling all poets: the deadline for the Montreal International Poetry Prize, is July 8th. 40 of your best lines could win you a prize of $50,000!
Submit now.

There are a couple of characteristics of funny fiction. Rules of behavior are often being broken (the merely embarrassing and rude as well as the lewd and scandalous). Things that aren’t usually talked about comfortably (or taboos) are tricky because we all have different taboos. More specifically, we have different limits to which we can be pushed and made to feel uncomfortable. I suppose this can account for what is often called “taste.” Stories don’t need to shock to be entertaining, but laughs are often born from discomfort as a kind of release.