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|a This thesis consists of the creative work Stay, a collection of interlinked short stories. Although wholly self-contained, each story in Stay makes a vital contribution to the collection as a whole. Characters are revisited. Tiny slices of their lives are glimpsed, moments expanded. At other times, the cast is left to stagger through time, from revealed pasts to told futures, in ways that may or may not be imaginable to empathetic or curious readers, thus revealing a 'story around the stories'. This characteristic of the collection represents both its biggest strength and its primary challenge. The exegesis Fleeting Glimpses, Fragile Moments discusses the creative work Stay and the work's genre, the short story cycle. The exegesis looks at the history of the short story genre, and in particular, the sub-genre of short story 'cycles' or 'sequences'. It discusses this niche genre's unique characteristics, opportunities and challenges. Stay is analysed in terms of its relevant generic characteristics, alongside influential contemporary works within the genre. [Note: the collection of short stories, Stay, is embargoed until 28 February 2014]
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