Peter Parker

Poise and wit: The Collected Stories of Shirley Hazzard reviewed

Hazzard is wonderfully attuned to subtle shifts in moods and feelings, particularly when writing dialogue, at which she excels

Always a pleasure to read: Shirley Hazzard, photographed in 1976. Credit: Getty Images 
issue 21 November 2020

Shirley Hazzard was in her late twenties when, in 1959, somewhat diffidently, she submitted her first short story to the New Yorker. It was, William Maxwell remembered, ‘an astonishment to the editors, because it was the work of a finished literary artist about whom they knew nothing whatever’, and he immediately accepted it for publication.

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