Short Story Anthologies: Themed and Annual Collections
Short story anthologies are one of the best ways to discover new writers and experience the range of contemporary short fiction. A well-edited anthology is a curated experience, a guided tour through the best that the form has to offer. This guide covers the major annual collections, the best themed anthologies, and how to use anthologies to explore the short story.
The Best American Series
The Best American Short Stories series has been published annually since 1915. Each volume features twenty stories selected by a guest editor from hundreds of literary magazines. The series offers a snapshot of the year in American short fiction.
The guest editors are major writers themselves, and their selections reveal their tastes. The 2013 volume edited by Elizabeth Strout is different from the 2020 volume edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Reading multiple years’ editions reveals both the consistency and the evolution of the form.
The Best American Short Stories is the most reliable way to discover new writers. Many of the most important contemporary short story writers first appeared in these pages.
The O. Henry Prize Series
The O. Henry Prize Stories has been published annually since 1919. The series is named for the master of the twist ending, and it has a distinguished history. The prize has been awarded to some of the greatest stories of the twentieth century.
The series selects twenty stories each year. The editors are distinguished writers and critics. The series is known for its literary quality and its willingness to take risks on experimental fiction.
The Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses is an annual anthology that collects the best work published by small presses and literary magazines. It includes short stories, poetry, essays, and literary criticism.
The Pushcart Prize is particularly valuable for discovering work that might otherwise be overlooked. Small presses often publish the most innovative and challenging fiction. The anthology brings it to a wider audience.
Themed Anthologies
Themed anthologies collect stories around a subject, genre, or concept. They are a good way to explore a particular interest or discover writers working in a specific mode.
The New American Stories edited by Ben Marcus (2015) collects the best American short stories of recent decades. It is an essential anthology for anyone interested in contemporary short fiction.
The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories edited by Ben Marcus (2004) is an earlier edition of the same project. Both are excellent.
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories edited by Joyce Carol Oates (1992) covers the American tradition from Washington Irving to the late twentieth century. Oates’s introduction is a major statement about the form.
The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story edited by John Freeman (2021) is a more recent anthology covering the period from World War II to the present. Freeman’s selections are thoughtful and surprising.
The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories edited by Daniel Halpern (1999) collects work from around the world. It is an excellent introduction to the global short story.
Genre Anthologies
For readers interested in science fiction, The Year’s Best Science Fiction series edited by Gardner Dozois (1984–2020) was the definitive anthology for decades. It has been succeeded by other annual collections.
For horror, The Best Horror of the Year edited by Ellen Datlow is the most reliable annual collection. Datlow is the most respected editor in the field.
For mystery, The Best American Mystery Stories series (annual) covers the year’s best crime and mystery fiction.
How to Use Anthologies
Read the introduction. The editor’s introduction often explains their criteria, their perspective, and the state of the form. It is a valuable source of insight.
Read widely within the anthology. Do not skip the writers you have not heard of. The purpose of an anthology is discovery. The best find is often the writer you did not know you were looking for.
Pay attention to the story notes. Many anthologies include brief comments from the authors about the stories. These notes offer insight into craft and process.
Use anthologies as a guide to further reading. If a story in an anthology moves you, seek out the writer’s collection. Anthologies are gateways to deeper exploration.
Starting Your Anthology Collection
A good anthology collection might include:
The Best American Short Stories — the most recent five or ten years. The O. Henry Prize Stories — the most recent volume. The Pushcart Prize — the most recent volume. A major historical anthology covering the tradition you are most interested in. A themed anthology matching a genre or subject you love.
Digital Anthologies and the Future
The rise of digital publishing has created new forms of anthologies. Websites like Longform.org and The Atavist curate the best longform journalism and fiction. Podcasts like The New Yorker: Fiction function as audio anthologies, with writers reading and discussing stories. Email newsletters like The Saturday Evening Post and Literary Hub deliver curated fiction to subscribers.
Digital anthologies have advantages over print. They can be updated more frequently. They can include multimedia elements. They can reach readers who do not have access to bookstores. But they also face challenges: discoverability in an enormous digital marketplace, the difficulty of monetization, and the loss of the physical book experience.
The anthology form will continue to evolve. What will not change is the need for curation. In a world of infinite content, the editor’s role — selecting the best, providing context, creating a coherent collection — becomes more important, not less. The anthology is a defense against the overwhelming noise of the information age, a quiet space where quality matters more than quantity.
Single-Author Collections vs. Anthologies
Single-author collections and anthologies serve different purposes. A single-author collection gives the reader deep engagement with one writer’s vision. The stories within a collection may be linked by theme, character, or setting, and reading them in sequence reveals patterns and obsessions that no single story could show. Reading Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women is to see a world take shape.
Anthologies offer breadth rather than depth. They introduce the reader to many voices, many styles, many approaches. An anthology is a party where you are encouraged to find the guests you want to spend more time with. If a story in an anthology moves you, you can seek out the writer’s collection and go deeper.
The best readers use both. They read collections to immerse themselves in a single writer’s world. They read anthologies to discover new writers and to understand what is happening in the form. The relationship between the two modes is complementary, not competitive. A healthy reading practice includes both.
Building Your Anthology Library
A personal anthology library should be built over time, starting with the collections that match your interests. For the short story enthusiast, The Best American Short Stories series provides an annual survey of the form. For the genre reader, the Year’s Best Science Fiction, Best Horror of the Year, and Best American Mystery Stories series offer curated selections from their respective fields.
Historical anthologies provide context and depth. The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, surveys the American tradition from Washington Irving to the present. The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story, edited by John Freeman, covers the period from 1970 to the present. The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, captures the state of the form in the 1990s.
Anthologies also make excellent gifts. A well-chosen anthology can introduce someone to a dozen writers they might never have discovered. It is a gift that keeps giving — each story is a new encounter, a new discovery, a new pleasure. The anthology is the most generous of literary forms.
The Economics of Anthologies
The economics of anthology publishing are challenging. Advances are modest, and royalties are shared among many writers. Most anthologies are published by university presses or literary publishers, not major commercial houses. The future of the anthology depends on institutional support — libraries, universities, and grants.
Despite these challenges, anthologies continue to be published. The desire for curated reading experiences persists. Readers do not want to choose from infinite options. They want editors to make thoughtful choices and present them in a coherent collection. The anthology answers a genuine human need: the need for guidance through an overwhelming landscape of possibility.
The best argument for anthologies is their track record. They have introduced generations of readers to new writers. They have preserved work that might otherwise have been lost. They have shaped our understanding of literary history. They have provided comfort, challenge, and discovery to millions of readers. The anthology is a literary form worth preserving.
Why Anthologies Matter
Anthologies preserve the best of each year’s short fiction. They serve as archives of the form’s development. They introduce readers to writers they might otherwise miss. And they offer the pleasure of a curated experience — a selection made by an expert who has read hundreds of stories to find the twenty best.
Reading an anthology is like taking a masterclass in the short story. Each story is a lesson in craft, vision, and technique. Over the course of a volume, the reader learns not only about individual writers but about the state of the art.
For a comprehensive overview, read our article on Alice Munro Stories.
For a comprehensive overview, read our article on Analyzing Short Stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I read to understand short story anthologies better?
Start with foundational works that established the field, then move to contemporary scholarship. Critical editions with annotations provide valuable context. Academic journals offer current research and debates. Reading primary sources alongside secondary analysis deepens understanding of both the works and their interpretation.
How do scholars analyze works in this category?
Analysis approaches include close reading, historical contextualization, theoretical frameworks, and comparative study. Scholars examine elements such as structure, style, themes, character development, and cultural context. Multiple readings often reveal new insights that were not apparent on first encounter.
Why is short story anthologies important to understand?
Literature and arts reflect and shape human experience, offering insights into different cultures, historical periods, and ways of thinking. Engaging with serious works develops critical thinking, empathy, and communication skills. The study of literature enriches personal understanding and connects us to shared human experiences across time and place.