Small Wonders: Fiction Writers Tackle Quantum Physics

If you have some downtime over the holidays, consider “getting entangled” in Quantum Shorts: Collected Flash Fiction Inspired by Quantum Physics, an anthology of short stories with quantum physics as its theme, available to download now as a free e-book.

Cover illustration by N. Syafiqah for the e-book Quantum Shorts: Collected Flash Fiction Inspired by Quantum Physics. The e-book is available for free download on the Google Play Store, Apple Books, and Kobo stores, as well as on farisbooks.com and the Quantum Shorts website at shorts.quantumlah.org. Courtesy of N. Syafiqah.

The anthology contains 37 stories shortlisted in three editions of the international Quantum Shorts competition. Each “quantum short” in the collection is less than 1000 words. The stories are the works of 32 writers from around the world who participated in the 2013, 2015, and 2017 biennial Quantum Shorts competitions for writers.

In the hands and minds of these authors, quantum physics has inspired stories that are whimsical and thought-provoking, ranging from futuristic imaginings to contemplations about the everyday. There are stories of lovers beginning their lives together, families facing crises, superheroes fighting their nemeses, and — of course — cats. Concepts including entanglement and superposition and technologies such as quantum computing are woven into the stories, sometimes in hard sci-fi style, other times almost imperceptibly.

Quantum Shorts is a project of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore. The Quantum Shorts competition, now in its eighth year, alternates between calls for short films and flash fiction. A new call for flash fiction opened on Dec. 10, 2019, with a deadline for entries of Feb. 29, 2020.

The e-book is available for free download on the Google Play Store, Apple Books, Kobo stores, as well as on farisbooks.com and the Quantum Shorts website at shorts.quantumlah.org. Information on the competition’s partners, guidelines to enter the competition, and a full set of rules are available at shorts.quantumlah.org.