Beaufort writer Tim Johnston, who was the main organizer of the Short Story America Festival & Conference that took place at the USCB Center for the Arts on Saturday, hopes the first-time conference becomes an annual event.

Johnston, who writes and teaches fiction at USCB, said the once revered form waned as television and radio rose. He sees the possibility of a happy ending, though, and thinks tablets and the Internet could bring the genre a new generation of readers.

"There's a short story renaissance happening," he said Saturday.