5 Short Stories That Shaped Me by Gurnaik Johal

London Writers Awards

Gurnaik Johal is the author of the short story collection We Move and novel Saraswati. In this blog, he shares his top five short stories that have inspired his craft, in conjunction with his upcoming Short Story Round Table workshop – taking place at The Albany on Tuesday 14 October 2025

 

Cityscape at sunset with a moving train on a raised track. Industrial buildings and smokestacks in the background, creating a warm, nostalgic feel.

1. Pet Milk, Stuart Dybek

This is the short story I’ve reread the most times. Each time I revisit it, a new detail stands out. It slips from present to past effortlessly, and in transporting the narrator back in time, really moves the reader.

 

 

 

 

A surrealist, animated image of a person in a pink shirt standing on a ceiling, with their reflection on the floor. A plane is visible through large windows.

2. Lu, Reshaping, Madeleine Thien

This is another amorphous story that reads differently each time I revisit it. Thien has a knack for description and characterisation – this is a great example of the short story as a character study.

 

 

 

 

Page from a magazine featuring a short story titled "EXTRA" by Yiyun Li. The left side has the text in columns; the right shows a washing machine door and a laundry basket.

3. Extra, Yiyun Li  

This was the story that made me a lover of short stories. There’s such a depth of empathy for all characters here, and Granny Lin, the main character has stuck with me for years.

 

 

 

 

 Colorful abstract book cover of "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison, featuring bold text and geometric shapes. Includes an introduction by Zadie Smith.4. Recitatif, Toni Morrison  

Morrison’s only short story is sometimes understood mainly by its central gimmick, that the reader never knows which race the two main characters are. But there’s much more than that experiment here – it feels more timely now as political division forces issues to become more black-and-white.

 

 

 

 

 Colorful bundles wrapped in fabric are stacked in a grid pattern. Each bundle is a different color, including blue, yellow, purple, pink, red, and green.

5. Rainbows, Joseph O’Neill 

O’Neill is a great comic writer and, with a background in law, is fantastic when writing about moral dilemmas. The problem at the centre of this story cuts across class and race really well.

 

 

 

Images 1-3, 5: The New Yorker. Image 4: Chatto & Windus

Published: Thursday 10 October 2025.