Best Canadian Stories 2021

by Diane Schoemperlen (Editor)

Overview

Selected by guest editor Diane Schoemperlen, the 2021 edition of Best Canadian Stories continues not only a series, but a legacy in Canadian letters.

“The best short stories,” writes editor Diane Schoemperlen, “are disruptive in all the best ways, diverse in all senses of the word, always looking back and leading forward at the same time … they must be written in the world, in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of more horrifying news every day.” Submitted and published by Canadian writers in 2020, Schoemperlen’s selections for Best Canadian Stories 2021 feature work by established practitioners of the form alongside exciting newcomers, and stories published by leading magazines and journals as well as those appearing in print for the first time—all of which, as Schoemperlen writes, “bring us news of the world and the shape of things to come.”

Featuring work by:

Senaa Ahmad
Chris Bailey
Shashi Bhat
Megan Callahan
Francine Cunningham
Lucia Gagliese
Alice Gauntley
Don Gillmor
Angélique Lalonde
Elise Levine
Colette Maitland
Sara O’Leary
Jasmine Sealy
Joshua Wales
Joy Waller

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771964357
Publisher:	Biblioasis
Publication date:	11/30/2021
Series:	Best Canadian
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Diane Schoemperlen is the author of the acclaimed novel In the Language of Love and of five short story collections including Forms of Devotion (Viking) and The Man of My Dreams, which was nominated for Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction. Her work has appeared widely in anthologies & magazines, including Ms and Story. She lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Table of Contents

Introduction Diane Schoemperlen 1

Let's Play Dead Senaa Ahmad 9

What Would You Do? Chris Bailey 25

Facsimile Shashi Bhat 31

Good Medicine Megan Callahan 47

Asleep Till You're Awake Francine Cunningham 57

Through the COVID-Glass Lucia Gagliese 63

Stripped Alice Gauntley 77

Dead Birds Don Gillmor 83

Lady with the Big Head Chronicle Angelique Lalonde 93

Arnhem Elise Levine 105

Downsizing Colette Maitland 119

The Ones We Carry with Us Sara O'Leary 135

Collapse Jasmine Sealy 141

Lightness Joshua Wales 153

Shinjuku for Stray Angels Joy Waller 163

Metcalf-Rooke Award 2021 169

Contributors' Biographies 171

Notable Stories of 2020 177

Publications Consulted 179

Acknowledgements 181

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Best Canadian Stories

“The legacy for Canadian literature in the Best Canadian Stories series can’t be overstated. For years the collection has been the place to discover Canadian writers.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“Best Canadian Stories … combines both emerging and established voices for a fascinating glimpse at the most exciting short fiction coming out of this country.”
—Open Book

“The arrival, late in the fall each year, of [this] collection is always cause for fanfare.”
—Quill & Quire

From the Publisher