WHY WRITE AND WHY PUBLISH THE NOVELLA?

Canadian Notes and Queries (CNQ), in an article called Weighing the Novella, states that “…. Toronto’s fledgling Quattro Books has recently released books that brazenly proclaim their status as Novellas” and it goes on to say, “… This bottom-line attitude [of the North American book market] where size is deemed a valid measure and bigger is better reigns the ledger- has further relegated books to the status of mere product, or perhaps more accurately, fodder. And if it weren’t for a handful of determined presses, the novella form could well be non-existent in this country, leaving readers with an even more limited literary menu.”

Napoleon Bonaparte wrote a novella in 1795 at the age of 26, called, Clisson and Eugenie

Annabel Lyon is perplexed by the lack of recognition of the novella in Canada. “My theory is that Canadian novellas exist,” she says, “and we have read a lot of them, it’s just they have come under the radar.” She points to the novellas tucked into the back of recent short story collections by Rick Maddocks, Timothy Taylor and Zsuzsi Gartner. “Novellas,” she continues, “combine the concision and fineness of language of the short story, with a more spacious atmosphere….”

George Fetherling’s
Essay on the novella
“Briefly, the case for the novella”