Critical Miniatures

Border Crossings

Richard Hughes Gibson

When translation becomes a part of the art of fiction.

In Through the Out Door

Richard Hughes Gibson

An abandoned—or abandoning—god might also reappear.

Conversation Pieces

Richard Hughes Gibson

Austen’s sparing use of attributions is also a sign of her confidence in her art. She dispensed with unnecessary scaffolding.

The Art of Compression

Richard Hughes Gibson

The very short story can conjure a fiction out of almost nothing.

Wonder-Working Powers

Richard Hughes Gibson

Philosophers are not the only cultivators of wonder.

On Fiction’s Lawlessness

Richard Hughes Gibson

If there is a war between database and narrative in Cervantes and Sterne, it is a merry one.

Cosmogonies

Richard Hughes Gibson

Fiction writers are world builders.