CategorySHORT STORY

Story collections are the country cousins of the American publishing landscape, tolerated with benevolent condescension while their authors are urged to produce that more glamorous product: novels. A novel might find a broad audience, even become a bestseller! Whereas—as a writer friend once put it—“You tell your agent you’ve written a story collection, and she looks at you like you farted.” Yes...

“I was away from Korea for a long time,” he said. We were having tea at a downtown café. I tried to recall the last time I’d seen him, but couldn’t. When I made some offhand comment about the tea timer on top of our table and how pretty it was, he reached for it at once and stuck it deep inside my purse. Shaped like an hourglass, the timer contained blue ink that flowed in reverse from bottom to...

H. B. Marriott-Watson, “Devil of the Marsh” (1893)

“Insert Coin”

Lauren Hough may be known for her spar-ready online presence, but in real life she’s pure warmth: years ago, she overheard us talking about the Insider Prize—American Short Fiction’s annual contest for incarcerated writers—at a coffee shop in Austin, and she walked up, and proclaimed, “I want to help!” So, this year, we asked her to be the judge. This year’s submissions capture the uncertainty...

The following is a story from Italo Svevo ‘s A Very Old Man. Svevo published two novels in the 1890s, but after they were dismissed by critics he abandoned literature, only returning after the young man whom he had hired to tutor him in English, James Joyce, asked to see his novels. With Joyce’s support, he published The Confessions of Zeno in 1923 to international acclaim. Svevo had...

The following is from Joe Meno’s Book of Extraordinary Tragedies. Meno is a fiction writer and journalist who lives in Chicago. Winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a finalist for the Story Prize, He is the best-selling author of several novels and short story collections including Marvel and a Wonder, The Great Perhaps, The Boy Detective Fails, and Hairstyles...

“The Gap”

The following is a story from the collection Haunted Tales: Classic Stories of Ghosts and the Supernatural, edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Lisa Morton. Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author, anthologist, and the editor of the acclaimed Ghosts: A Haunted History. She is a six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a recipient of the Black Quill Award, and winner of the 2012 Grand Prize from the...

The following is from William Gay’s short story collection, Stories from the Attic. Born in Tennessee in 1939, William Gay began writing at fifteen and wrote his first novel at twenty-five, but didn’t begin publishing until well into his fifties. He worked as a TV salesman, in local factories, did construction, hung sheetrock, and painted houses to support himself. His works include...