The Best American Short Stories

The Best American Short Stories
Name	The Best American Short Stories
Caption	Cover of a representative annual volume
Author	Series editors and guest editors
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Best American Series
Subject	Short fiction anthologies
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
First	1915
Media type	Print, e-book
Pages	Varies
Isbn	Varies

The Best American Short Stories is an annual anthology series collecting notable short fiction published in North America, edited by a series editor and a rotating guest editor. Over more than a century the series has engaged editors, writers, and institutions across the literary landscape and intersected with awards, magazines, and universities that shape literary careers. It remains influential among readers, writers, and critics linked to major literary networks and cultural organizations.

History

The series originated in the early 20th century amid publishing developments involving publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, periodicals like The Atlantic (magazine), and syndicates similar to Scribner and Harper & Brothers. Early volumes engaged editors connected to institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, and Barnard College, and invoked literary figures associated with The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and The Paris Review. Over time the series reflected shifts in American letters alongside movements tied to Modernism, figures near T. S. Eliot, and later communities around Postmodernism and regional centers like Chicago (city), San Francisco, and New Orleans. Editorial stewardship intersected with awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and with organizations like the Library of Congress, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Selection and Editorial Process

Selection combines a long-serving series editor who surveys magazines and journals including The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Granta, Ploughshares, and Tin House with a rotating guest editor—often a major author affiliated with institutions like Yale University, Princeton University, or University of Iowa. The process mirrors peer-review practices in venues such as The Iowa Writers' Workshop and uses networks tied to agents at firms like William Morris Endeavor, editors at houses including Random House and Simon & Schuster, and columnists from outlets such as The New York Times. Guest editors have included writers associated with prizes like the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the National Book Critics Circle, creating links among journals, awards, and academic programs such as Stanford University and University of Michigan.

Annual Volumes and Notable Editions

Each annual volume credits a guest editor whose name appears on covers alongside the series editor; notable guest editors have included authors linked to Toni Morrison's circle, novelists associated with Philip Roth, poets from Robert Frost’s lineage, and short story craftsmen related to Alice Munro and Raymond Carver. Special or milestone editions involved partnerships with institutions like the Library of Congress and commemorative volumes aligned with anniversaries celebrated at venues such as The New York Public Library and festivals like the Bay Area Book Festival. Editions featuring introductions by figures tied to Maya Angelou, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Eudora Welty, and Jhumpa Lahiri garnered attention in reviews from outlets including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Impact and Reception

The anthology has influenced careers by providing exposure that led contributors to win prizes such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Inclusion has boosted publication relationships with houses like Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Knopf, and Little, Brown and Company, and increased teaching adoption in courses at Columbia University School of the Arts, Brown University, Kenyon College, and Sarah Lawrence College. Reviews and commentary have appeared in cultural venues such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic (magazine), The New Republic, Slate, and broadcasts on NPR and BBC Radio 4. The anthology’s selections have shaped anthologies, curricula, and translation choices tied to publishers like Europa Editions and institutions such as the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Contributors and Notable Stories

Contributors have included writers linked to major literary figures and institutions: authors associated with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston, Flannery O'Connor, James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, Don DeLillo, Sherman Alexie, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tayari Jones, Richard Yates, Joyce Carol Oates, Ruth Ozeki, Bret Anthony Johnston, Paul Yoon, Yiyun Li, Junot Díaz, Colson Whitehead, Roxane Gay, Ann Patchett, Saul Bellow, Annie Proulx, Elizabeth Strout, Stephen King, Denis Johnson, John Cheever, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Kazuo Ishiguro, Vladimir Nabokov, Alice Walker, Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, and Cynthia Ozick. Notable stories reprinted or first anthologized have often reappeared in collections that later won prizes like the O. Henry Award and been adapted for venues including BBC Television, HBO, and PBS.

Criticism and Controversies

The series has faced critique from scholars and commentators at institutions such as Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and New York University for representational gaps and editorial choices paralleling debates in forums like The New York Times Book Review and The Paris Review. Controversies involved discussions around diversity relevant to movements linked to Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and debates in journals such as n+1 and The Nation. Publishers, editors, and writers affiliated with agencies and houses including Creative Artists Agency and Knopf Doubleday have debated selection transparency, compensation, and the anthology’s role relative to prizes like the Man Booker Prize and institutional grantors such as the Guggenheim Foundation and MacArthur Foundation.

Category:Anthologies Category:Short story collections Category:American literature