Earlier this month, Elizabeth Day wrote an article for The Observer about reading stories aloud. She made the interesting point that audiobook downloa...

I have long held a love for London's Exhibition Road, and so I was delighted when I was approached to write a short story for Road Stories, an anthology of writing inspired by the road and its famous cultural institutions.

This smorgasbord of stories explores love's dark underbelly. The author kickstarts the collection with a riotous story about a tiger in a zoo which falls in love with its keeper. In a frenzy of passion, it commits an act that sets off a series of events in which, after escaping from captivity, it kills a baby and a woman in the most guileless, unintentional manner.

Well, the film of War Horse came and went, much loved by many, less loved by others. I thought it was a wonderful adaptation of the story, as the play is too.

Other than a fairly crucial commitment to brevity, what is it that makes a short story a short story? As the 2012 edition of the world's richest prize for the form comes to a conclusion, I spoke with this year's shortlist to get their own insights into the art and craft of writing short fiction.

Britain is a funny place. We like to theme our years. The publishing world has decided that 2012 is the Year of the Short Story, when over in America it's pretty much been the decade of the short story.

It's that time of year for looking back, so here are five of the books I most enjoyed reading in 2011. All of them received their first UK publication this year.

The Next Thing: McClanahan's first novel will be put out next year by Tyrant Books. He is also writing The Sarah Book in 2012, a chapter of which is included here. Which is all looking pretty good for McClanahan disciples, particularly as he's planning some readings in Europe for next year. Look out for him.