Exceptional Modern Short Story Collections
The short story collection is a fundamental building block of the literary world, and one that remains a great way to discover new writers. Though this list could contain hundreds of classics from Hemingway to Carver to O’Connor and beyond, we decided to stick with the last couple of decades and offer up some new masters of the concise and precise.
Jhumpa Lahiri - Interpreter of Maladies, 1999
A modern classic, Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of nine short stories won the Pulitzer and the PEN Award in 2000, and has sold millions of copies since. It is a poignant and powerful mix of stories that explores cultural identity, immigration and more in a way that has resonated for years since.
Ted Chiang - Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002
A collection of powerful speculative tales, one of which inspired the film Arrival, Ted Chiang’s debut collection has become a cult classic in the years since its release. It was selected by the Guardian as one of the 100 best books of the 21st century, and in just eight stories it explores themes and depths of imagination that many others might take far longer to achieve.
Miranda July - No One Belongs Here More than You, 2007
Miranda July’s collection of short fiction explores sensitive, sympathetic and vulnerable characters with a deft touch. Through various stories that are funny, quirky, and infused with July’s unique voice, the collection explores loneliness, intimacy and awkwardness with the sharpness and insight that has resonated over the years.
Kevin Barry - Dark Lies the Island, 2012
One of Ireland’s most compelling writers of recent years, following in a rich tradition of brilliance, Kevin Barry is a master of the short story. These tales are an exploration of love, cruelty, desperation and much else. Barry has the originality and humour of a master storyteller, and this collection is well worth the hype.
Carmen Maria Machado - Her Body and Other Parties, 2017
A book that disrupted the borders between fantasy, realism, comedy and horror, Carmen Maria Machado’s debut collection is truly brilliant. Jumping between genres and styles with mastery, she crafts short stories that are laser-focused on the lives of women, the violence they must live with, and the ways in which they are shaped by society’s expectations and rigidity.
Anthony Veasna So - Afterparties, 2021
A mix of absurd, tender and beautiful short stories that explore the lives of Cambodian-Americans in California, Anthony Veasna So’s debut collection won many awards though the author died tragically young. While grappling with topics like race, sexuality, friendship and the weight of inherited trauma, So manages to maintain a sense of humour and emotional depth.
Jamil Jan Kochai - The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and other stories, 2022
An Afghan-American writer who explores heritage, memory and the diaspora in these short stories, Jamil Jan Kochai was a finalist for the Pulitzer. These stories follow the complexities of lives in the modern Middle East, particularly Afghanistan, through its diaspora, looking at the political landscape and topics like immigration, war, occupation and surveillance in a fresh and powerful manner.
Jonathan Escoffery - If I Survive You, 2022
A series of linked stories that explore a family’s move from Jamaica to Miami, Escoffery’s debut collection has been widely praised. From racism to financial disaster, homesickness to sexuality, he manages to chronicle the absurdity of modern America with lyricism and lightness through the travails of a family that leaves Kingston for a promised land that rarely delivers.