Spring Phantoms

“Short prose—whether it takes the various forms of the prose poem, flash fiction, parable, or fable—has been well chronicled in recent anthologies, but Spring Phantoms offers a necessary and new historical take on the subject. In choosing his examples Robert Alexander has been guided more by the “narrative possibilities” of short prose than by what a modern author might call his or her version of it. More important, with this anthology, once and for all, readers come upon a vibrant short prose tradition in 19th century English and American letters that was not beholden to the French or Russian traditions. We might call it an exploratory prose driven by a strong narrative impulse—that is, the desire to tell a little story. There are so many gems in this anthology by both well-known and underappreciated writers that readers will want to have Spring Phantoms close by, to randomly dip into its pages as they would a fine, and very large, box of chocolates.” —Peter Johnson, editor of The Prose Poem: An International Journal “If you want to understand why flash fiction has become such a popular literary form, read Spring Phantoms, an eclectic anthology of 19th-century short prose by British and American writers, which reveals that the art of compression is part of our literary DNA. From William Blake to Walt Whitman, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, and many lesser-known writers rescued from oblivion, we see why less is indeed more. All praise to Robert Alexander for his careful excavation of these treasures.”                                                 —Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood “Robert Alexander has done all aficionados of the short form a great service by collecting in one volume prose poems, sketches, and brief musings of some of Britain’s and America’s finest writers and strongest voices. These “little tastings” from the nineteenth century give us a look not just into literary history but into some of our collective historical concerns. With illuminating bio sketches providing context to the prose selections, this is a welcome contribution to the study of the roots of short prose.” —Tara Lynn Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and Founding Series Editor of The Best Small Fictions