historic present 
noun [mass noun] Grammar
The present tense used instead of the past in vivid narrative, especially in titles, such as ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, and informally in speech, e.g. ‘so I say to him’.It includes historic present, but for the moment no attempt is made to identify instances of this....
- In Bell's opinion the historic present in English is an exciting, but unusual, narrative strategy.
- This might only be a literary device or literary preference, since use of the historic present vivifies the action.