Happy Birthday Katherine Mansfield

Today’s the birthday of short story writer Katherine Mansfield 10/14/1888 – 1/9/23. Back in the day studying the short story, I became interested in Mansfield’s writing not only because she’d been influenced by Chekhov but her style, like Hemingway’s, was lean. Something I admired then, and now.

A sampling of her writing: from Miss Brill:

Although it was so brilliantly fine–the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardines Publiques–Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur. The air was motionless, but when you opened your mouth there was just a faint chill, like a chill from a glass of iced water before you sip, and now and again a leaf came drifting–from nowhere, from the sky.