"25 for 25" — some contributor lists
some Short Story, Long contributors share some of their lists of "best" and favorite short stories from the last 25 years
Again:
Submissions are open now, until the end of the month!
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Then…
Last week, I shared a first attempt at a list toward the “25 Best Short Stories of the Century (so far).”
In the coming weeks, and then probably here and there throughout the rest of the year, I’m going to keep adding to my own list, do some interviews with authors of some of those stories, and also feature a whole bunch of great stuff from SSL contributors.
Here is the first of that, with some lists and spotlighting of favorite stories. A couple of these were on my own list, and I’m excited to dig in to some others that I’m less familiar with!
Ben Loory (“Man Woman Egg Bird”)
10 Favorite Stories of the 2000's (in no particular order):
“Black Bark” by Brian Evenson
“Remedies” by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
“Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events” by Kevin Moffett
Sandeep Sandhu (“Barack Obama Says the N-word”)
Even though she’s Chinese-American and I'm British-Indian, I have never read a story that reflected my own experiences and feelings about growing up across two cultures as well as this one. It's so funny and incisive, and is intersectional as fuck, delving into the politics of race and sex in a subtle yet deep way. Everything about it is on point, and not a single word is wasted. It made me want to read everything Wang had written (and I believe I have, now) because it's a story that is both technically and thematically brilliant.
Peter Witte (“The Free Throw Shooter”)
5 of my favorite short stories of the current century, in no particular order:
“Triumph Over the Grave” by Denis Johnson
“The Semplica Girl Diaries” by George Saunders
“On Becoming a Cat” by Emily Mitchell
“Going for a Beer” by Robert Coover
“Happiest Moment” by Lydia Davis
Shane Kowalski (“I Hope You Are Happy”)
I did this much too fast and am definitely leaving off too many great stories that I'll kick myself over later but these are the ones off the top of my head that I've gone back to for whatever reason or that have lingered with me through the years. I realized after the fact this is an odd-numbered list, but I couldn't cut any one of them. They are in no particular order. My favorite short stories of the century (so far):
“Tales of Darkness and the Unknown, Vol. XIV: The White Glove” by Steven Millhauser
“Start Here” by Diane Williams
“My Personal Statement from when I applied to Brown” by Mark Baumer
“Mudder Tongue” by Brian Evenson
Anna Vangala Jones (“The Legend of the Convenience Store Cashier”)
6 of my favorite short stories from this century (so far & in no particular order):
“Windeye" by Brian Evenson
“The Trespassing Forest" by Ben Loory
Leah Christianson (“Plain Sight”)
10 faves, in no particular order, with great apologies to many other faves that I've missed but love just as much:
“Fiddler, Fool Pair” by Kathryn Harlan
“The Bone Ward” by Kate Folk
“Doctor Visit” by Amy Stuber
“North Country” by Roxane Gay
“Settlers” by Rebecca Lee
I said this last week, but I love turning this into a bigger discussion. Got a bunch of great of recs in the comments. Keep ‘em coming! I’ve already read a couple of your recs, and have heard from a couple people who found some new faves via my list!
Thanks!
-Aaron
Father, Son, Holy Rabbit is SUCH a great story
I would (at the risk or promoting a Dzanc title) for sure have Nino Cipri's "Dead Air" from their collection Homesick on my top ten of the 2000's to join that SGJ story.