LONDON, UK. - March 11, 2004 - Monisha Saldanha, UK Director of Momaya Press, hosted a discussion on the future of the short story market in the UK to a group of writers at the Bean’N’Cup coffeehouse in Camden, London. Monisha also announced the launch of the Momaya Short Story Competition.

A recent survey, conducted by the Mslexia journal, found that over two-thirds of the 1,238 writers who took part in the survey are producing short stories, making it by far the most popular genre - way ahead of poetry, novels, and journalism. However, only about 320 short story collections were published in 2002. Half of these collections were published by small presses, which have positioned themselves as champions of this art form. Momaya Press has been founded with the aim of providing a forum for new authors, especially those interested in working with the short story.

Monisha noted that it is surprising that the short story is not more widely read, given that a short story can be read during the train commute to work, or during a lunch hour. Novels, in contrast, require more time and attention, which can be difficult with the busy work and home life experienced by many people. It seems, though, that while people are able to cram the writing of short stories into late nights and afternoon breaks, they prefer to read novels, even if their reading takes place in a fractured manner over many weeks.

For many writers, it is not enough to write a great piece of work. The writer wants the satisfaction of an audience that is appreciative. In order to grow this audience, small presses and publishers need to find outlets for short stories that will be conducive to bringing new readers. One way is to bring good short story writing to the attention of the large publishing houses and media organisations. The Momaya Short Story Competition aims to accomplish this goal by enlisting qualified judges from The Times Magazine and Vintage, an imprint of Random House. “We aim to generate great quality entries, that will convince The Times that they should be printing short stories in their weekend magazine, and Random House, that they should be publishing more anthologies and collections of short stories,” said Monisha. Submission details for the competition are at www.momayapress.com.

About Momaya Press
Momaya Press began with two literary-minded girls up late in a boarding school dormitory, sneaking fags and dreaming big. Ten years down the road, we’ve launched a writing contest and publishing house. We’re glad to contribute to the community of writers around the world, and to have others take part in our dream.

For more information, contact Monisha Saldanha at monisha@momayapress.com or review www.momayapress.com.