The Pleasant Hill BART station is one of three stations with a new short-story dispenser offering free printed reading material to passengers. (Dan Brekke/KQED)

These days, most BART riders spend their travel time staring at their phones—and understandably so. In an increasingly digitized world accelerated by the isolation of the pandemic, our lives have migrated almost entirely online. But now, BART riders are able to use touchless Short Story Dispensers to receive free one-, three- and five-minute reads at Richmond, Fruitvale, and Pleasant Hill Stations, with another one coming soon to Montgomery Street Station. Local writers will have the chance to have their work published and distributed as part of the project after the one-year pilot, sponsored by the BART Communications Department and Art Program, is up and running.

Riders using the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco will be able to read stories freely dispensed by kiosks under a partnership between the agency and Short Edition, according to a CBS SF report.

BART installed a short story dispenser at four stations. This image shows the one installed at Pleasanton Station. (Photo courtesy of BART).

BART has installed Short Story Dispensers at some of its stations, including the Richmond station. The touchless dispensers print out short stories for riders to read — for free. The stories are short reads, roughly one to three to five minutes long, and are printed on recyclable receipt paper, according to BART.

“Short Story Dispenser — Select your reading time: 1 minute; 3 minutes; 5 minutes,”

Short Édition’s Short Story Dispenser was embedded in four pilot communities around the country through a project called “Fostering Creative Community Connections,” a partnership between the Public Library Association (PLA) and French publisher Short Édition, and made possible by a grant from the Knight Foundation.

The Short Story Dispenser’s touchless interface. (Photo: Jessie McKenna)

Beacon Hill’s The Station coffee shop has long been a hub of community activity and advocacy, hosting everything from meetings to artwork to a free pantry. Now it’s home to Washington State’s first Short Story Dispenser, courtesy of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and French publisher Short Édition.

È a Torino il primo centro commerciale nel mondo che vende solo oggetti e servizi ecosostenibili (Photo Claudia Giraud)

[...] "una zona relax sul tetto dell’edificio per massimo 2mila soci che potranno godersi la piscina panoramica con vista sul Monviso (oltre alla SPA e a un cocktail bar) e provare l’iconico Dispenser per racconti brevi della casa editrice francese Short Edition che racconta: “quattro distributori all’aperto di racconti brevi consegneranno la letteratura scritta dai nostri scrittori in tutto il mondo, quelli della Scuola Holden, i membri della Green Pea e la saggezza dei filosofi classici, Pericle, Socrate, Platone e Aristotele, premendo un pulsante”."

This new creative opportunity comes from the French company Short Edition, creator of the Short Story Dispenser.

To become a writer, you simply need to write, but becoming published is a whole different story. Philly Storied City is giving Philadelphians the opportunity to do just that. A new and free local initiative recently opened submissions for a project that is meant to promote creativity for all and also offer a way for writers to gain a larger audience.

Interview réalisé par Etienne Savin. L'invité est Christophe Sibieude (co-fondateur de Short Édition).

[...] "Short Édition est arrivé aux États-Unis pour concrétiser le projet de faire de Philadelphie notre vitrine pour créer le concept de "storied city" ! Dans une ville il peut y avoir beaucoup d'acteurs concernés par le partage de la culture et de l'art et on peut installer des Distributeurs à de multiples endroits, inviter des auteurs locaux pour partager leurs contenus et faire vivre leurs oeuvres, créer une dynamique pour l'art et faire vivre les communautés des quartiers."

The Dispensers, which have become popular around the world, spit out the free, bite size reads for comuters, with the hope of getting people off their phones...

The international literary craze is now coming to Perth, with its very own Short Story Station located in Raine Square.

Perth is set to become the first Australian city to permanently hero the international literary trend: the very, very short story. The short story dispensing machines that distribute a variety of one, three or five-minute stories are the brainchild Short Edition, a French community publisher of short-form literature and will find its home at Raine Square from Friday 16 October.

The Short Story Dispenser at University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.

The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries is excited to participate in the Short Édition Long Story Short Award, its first annual inter-university writing contest. Short Édition is a French publishing house who UTA Libraries partners with in hosting a Short Story Dispenser on the second floor of Central Library. This Dispenser provides short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to the public, free of charge. “We are proud to partner with Short Édition and can’t wait to see what our students submit to the Long Story Short Award,” said Rebecca Bichel, dean of UTA Libraries. “Mavericks are innovative and creative, and we are confident that they will excel in this inaugural contest.”