What's the Story?-5. What's the Story?, #5

What's the Story?-5: Memory Portraits [2026] is Kim Matics' fifth collection of long and short stories in the series called What's the Story? Each of the twenty-one stories is introduced by a poem intended to set the mood for the subsequent tale. A few stories have a bonus poem related to the tale's conclusion. This work of fiction includes the author's recollections of memorable individuals in both the East and West and from the distant past and recent present.
They are divided into four segments: I. Professional Men; II. Working Women; III. Married Lives; and IV. Existential Moments. The memory portraits complement the themes presented in the previous collection, What's the Story?-4: Memory Pictures [2025]. While elaborating on these imaginative tales, the author treats the characters and situations described with considerable literary license.