Melancholy – The Short Story Project

A curated collection of short stories surrounding themes of melancholy. Some call it the black bile, some call it the blues, or weltschmerz, in all its nomenclatures, melancholy and depression are central to human experience. This collection features selected literary expressions of this universal condition, woven by authors from all cultures and spanning all periods.

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Denmark

Hans Christian Andersen

The Little Mermaid

allegory - classics - loneliness - love - melancholy - unrequited love

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Oscar Wilde

The Happy Prince

allegory - love - melancholy

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USA

Zelda Fitzgerald

Miss Ella

American literature - atmospheric - classics - death - female authors - loneliness - love - melancholy - unrequited love

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Russia

Ivan Bunin

Gentle Breathing

coming of age - death - melancholy - psychological - realism - Russia

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Israel

Yam Traiber

Bells

contemporary - death - melancholy - memories - violence - war

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Germany

Terézia Mora

Lost in the Forest

alienation - atmospheric - existentialism - family - female authors - irony - loneliness - melancholy - psychological

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USA

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Birthmark

American literature - classics - love - melancholy

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USA

Grace Paley

Wants

divorce - existential - humor - love - relationships

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Naomi Nightingale

Nocturnal Yearnings

dark - existentialism - family - female authors

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Israel

Lea Goldberg

A Duty Call

holocaust - love - tragedy

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Spain

Almudena Sánchez

Señora Smaig

animals - mind-body

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USA

Kirie Pedersen

Summer of Fun

addiction - coming of age - friendship

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