Who to Know: 5 of Today’s Best Short Story Writers

Life

Dec 15

Voices and perspectives you cannot ignore.

Believe it or not, one of the most easily accessible ways to lead yourself closer to the truth is one that people remain unaware of or indifferent to, and that’s the world of short fiction. Take it from me; if you don’t know the right authors to read inof this genre, you may find yourself wishing for all the time you wasted re-reading their work. Let this serve as your introduction to short stories, and I hope these select writers will make you and the readers in your life great appreciators of the genre.

Danielle Evans

If you read only one short story collection before the end of this year, let it be The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans. Written over the span of ten years after the publication of her debut Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, Evans interrogates the intersections of race, politics, family, and history in contemporary society with a perfectly coveted wit. To read her work is to know one of the most inventive storytellers of a generation.

Carmen Maria Machado

For those up for more adventurous and experimental reading, the 2017 debut Her Body And Other Parties by DC comic writer and memoirist Carmen Maria Machado is your new go-to. Infusing elements of folklore, horror, and magical realism, her stories get to the heart of what we’re willing to put our bodies through to get what we want, done in grotesque but humorous fashion. There’s much more than meets the eye in her surprising, personable, and highly queer fiction, to say the least.

Nicole Krauss

The most difficult questions to answer are the ones that take lifetimes to make sense of. A valiant attempt to understand the unspoken ills of our deepest connections and the threats they hold can be seen in To Be A Man, the debut anthology from beloved novelist Nicole Krauss. Collecting her literary fiction from over the past two decades, this may ultimately be a decisive choice for readers new to short stories, but one that deserves your attention and adequate discussion with others.

Julia Armfield

If you like how the offerings of Carmen Maria Machado sound, you’ll be especially surprised by Salt Slow, Londoner Julia Armfield’s debut from earlier this year. While more leaning toward elements of fantasy and science fiction, a certain degree of disbelief should be suspended before opening it up, but best believe what you’ll get is both out of left field and of genius sensibility.

Lucia Berlin

The story of the late author Lucia Berlin’s rise to prominence is not unlike other writers whose work reached public acclaim after their death. A Manual for Cleaning Women and Evening in Paradise, two of her more well-known posthumous collections, introduced an author who was years ahead of her time and whose talents have, thankfully, found new life for new generations to explore. Out of all these picks, readers around the world have grown a special affinity for her rich, autobiographical tales.

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