Grenoble, the innovative French city nestled in the Alps, made global headlines in 2015 by becoming the world’s first to install short story vending machines—a brilliant, eco-friendly way to inject culture into everyday waits. Dubbed “Distributeurs d’Histoires Courtes” (Short Story Dispensers), these sleek, screenless orange-and-black machines were a collaboration between the city’s Green Party mayor Éric Piolle and local startup Short Édition. Piolle, an anti-consumerist advocate who famously banned street ads in 2014, championed the project to foster “ties between the people and the city” by swapping mindless scrolling for bite-sized literature.
What They Are
- The Setup: Eight (later expanded to 14) machines dotted across Grenoble’s seven square miles—in train stations, city hall, libraries, the tourism office, museums, and even social centers. They’re like slim, futuristic cylinders (about the size of a tall trash can) with no screens or ads—just three simple buttons.
- How It Works: Press a button for your wait time:
- 1 minute: A micro-flash fiction or poem.
- 3 minutes: A quick tale with a twist.
- 5 minutes: A fuller short story. No coins needed—it’s free! The machine randomly selects and prints the story on narrow, receipt-like thermal paper (BPA-free, no ink or cartridges, zero waste). Stories fold neatly into your pocket or wallet for later.
- The Content: Pulled from Short Édition’s massive digital library—over 100,000 submissions from 6,800+ authors (including pros like Xavier Bray and amateurs). Genres span romance, sci-fi, humor, horror, and poetry. Winners from writing contests get featured, and popular ones cycle in based on reader votes. Classics like Shakespeare or Virginia Woolf sometimes pop up too.
- The Tech: Print-on-demand innovation ensures freshness; the randomness adds serendipity (no genre selection—it’s the surprise that hooks you).
Why It Rocked
Impact: The Grenoble pilot proved a hit, inspiring global spread—now 600+ machines in France, the US (e.g., San Francisco’s Café Zoetrope), Canada, and airports like Paris’s Charles de Gaulle. By 2025, they’ve printed over 13 million stories, earning spots in CES showcases and features in The New Yorker and The Atlantic. It’s boosted short fiction’s relevance, proving “the short story shakes you up” in snack-sized doses.
Engagement: Commuters, tourists, and locals went wild—machines dispensed millions of stories, turning “dead time” (bus stops, queues) into delightful escapes. One user in a Guardian piece called it “nibbling fiction instead of snacks.” Videos show folks grinning at their scrolls, sparking chats and shares.
Brand Tie-In: Born from a eureka moment in front of a snack machine (co-founder Christophe Sibieude wondered: “Why not literature?”), it combats digital distraction while promoting indie writers. Short Édition started as a mobile-optimized publisher in 2011, with 141,000+ subscribers.
