Canada's First Short Story Dispenser

Last night, I shared some flash writing guidelines. I aim to follow these guidelines when I am drafting my own stories (or, if I stray from these rules, am aware that I am doing so). Recently, I had a cool thing happen in my writing life with a flash story that I wrote about climate change called “Triple Island City” (set in Nunavut’s triple island).

My story was ‘published’ in a short story dispenser at the Edmonton International Airport. There’s been a lot of media on this project because it’s the only short story dispenser in Canada (and, I believe, only one of two airports in the world that have them). Jason Lee Norman (who is an author, editor and publisher) worked hard to get the story dispenser to Edmonton and then collected and edited the work of 78 local writers whose stories would be dispensed.    

The user can select a story that is either one minute, three minutes, or five minutes and it is free to use. I would love a world where we encountered short stories (and art) everywhere (especially in unsuspecting places)—I think this is a good start!   

If you happen to be at the Edmonton International Airport, be sure to snag a short story! And, if you're interested in writing flash stories, I hope you find my guidelines useful.