Introduction

I recently stopped reviewing books. After more than thirty years writing for various publications, I felt that I’d run out of things to say. So I was a bit hesitant to offer up this anthology, in case it felt too much like reviewing. Once I got started, though, I found I had quite a lot to say about short fiction. I’ve tried to pick stories that mean something to me personally, that have influenced my own writing or thoughts, or that have lodged themselves in my mind for one reason or another. They are in no particular order.

In all those years of journalism, I was rarely commissioned to review a collection of short stories – an indictment of the way the publishing industry and the media undervalue the form. I believe that things are slowly changing, that there is a whole ecosystem of writers, readers and publishers who do value short stories, and A Personal Anthology is a very welcome part of that. Long may it continue.