Alice Munro’s seminal story ‘Boys and Girls’ explores the problem of gender through the eyes of a young girl trying to find her place.

Published way back in 1892, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is one of the few short stories to have truly stood the test of time. It’s still widely read to this day, and has been adapted into countless films, theatre productions and radio plays.

Katy by Bryan Washington is a wonderfully compact, moving story, charting the coming together of two old friends after a lifetime apart. This analysis explores the craft employed by Washington in bringing the story together, including structure, tension and denouement.

Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason is a masterpiece in economy when it comes to creative writing. From start to finish, it follows the ambitions and dreams of the characters, as they head toward an inevitable conclusion.

Interpreter of maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri is elegant, beautifully written and there are plenty of literary tropes to discuss, including character arcs and the role of third-person narration.

Combining a mastery of structure and pace with a telling and uniquely strong voice and texture, ‘Cathedral’ has become a staple of creative writing and English literature syllabuses.

Rondine al nido is a chilling account of two young girls who find themselves in over their heads, and the ensuing aftermath

‘Sonny’s Blues’ is a key part of Baldwin’s canon, written at the height of his literary prowess, just one year before his masterpiece Giovanni’s Room. The story demonstrates many of the writing skills that Baldwin is known for, notably his ability to weave complex issues into beautifully simple stories that, at their heart, dive straight to the core of the human condition.

Devastatingly compact, pithy and the epitome of the American author’s iceberg theory, Hills like white elephants is one of Ernest Hemingway’s most well-known and celebrated pieces of short fiction.