Selected by #1 bestselling author Lee Child: the twenty finest short stories of 2021. There is no finer form for a crime than the short story. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged and its significance determined; all else is mere embellishment. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. But mystery fiction has changed a great deal over the years - as have all things - and the writers within these pages present far more than a simple case of crime and resolution. Far from predictable, these stories provide fertile grounds of aberrant circumstances and the poor choices they lead to. You will find diverse methods and motivations, original perspectives and perils. Above all, you will find tales of the extremes of human psychology caused by despair, hate, greed, fear, envy, insanity or love. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn, Ambrose Bierce, Michael Bracken, James Lee Burke, Martin Edwards, John Floyd, Jacqueline Freimor, Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Paul Kemprecos, Stephen King, Janice Law, Dennis McFadden, David Marcum, Tom Mead, David Morrell, Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, Joseph Walker, Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

Timeless fables of loyalty and betrayal Like Aesop's Fables, Kalilah and Dimnah is a collection designed not only for moral instruction, but also for the entertainment of readers. The stories, which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata, were adapted, augmented, and translated into Arabic by the scholar and state official Ibn al-Muqaffa' in the second/eighth century. The stories are engaging, entertaining, and often funny, from "The Man Who Found a Treasure But Could Not Keep It," to "The Raven Who Tried To Learn To Walk Like a Partridge" and "How the Wolf, the Raven, and the Jackal Destroyed the Camel." Kalilah and Dimnah is a "mirror for princes," a book meant to inculcate virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception. Many of the animals who populate the book represent ministers counseling kings, friends advising friends, or wives admonishing husbands. Throughout, Kalilah and Dimnah offers insight into the moral lessons Ibn al-Muqaffa' wished to impart to rulers-and readers. An English-only edition.

The first English translation of Dracontius' Orestes, written in an accessible way to appeal to scholars and non-scholars alike, accompanied by detailed notes and a comprehensive introduction to the work and its many contexts for all readers.

Is there an 'after the virus', or is covid-19 and a world of future pandemics simply something we will have to live with for an indefinite period of time? In all honesty, no one knows the answer to that, which is why it is so destabilising. The covid pandemic poses huge challenges for Scotland - but also a unique opportunity to rethink who we are as a country, where we are heading, and how to restructure our economy, culture, politics and relationships in addressing the deep disparities the virus has exposed. Bringing together the unique voices of some of our best creative writers, poets and commentators, this book makes a significant contribution to rethinking our future. It explores what 'after the virus' could look like, and how it might be possible. Here are the hopeful voices we need for a time of both uncertainty and exploration.

A Ghanaian explores the increasing influence of China across the region, a Kenyan student activist writes of exile in Kampala, a Liberian scientist shares her diary of the Ebola crisis; a Nigerian journalist travels to the north to meet a community at risk, a Kenyan travels to Senegal to interview a gay rights activist and a South African writer recounts a tale of family discord and murder in a remote seaside town. With an introductory essay by Ellah Allfrey, this anthology gathers new stories of contemporary Africa.

A glorious treasury of literary curiosities for every night of the year. Bedside Companion for Book Lovers contains an eclectic mix of fact and fiction, letters, diaries, essays and dedications, all suffused with the joys of books and reading. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life, it contains snippets from some of the greatest writers and book collectors from throughout history, including: Charles Dickens on the smell of books Maya Angelou on the pleasures of reading aloud Virginia Woolf on finding space for writing Nick Hornby on reading for pure enjoyment and much more. Along the way, you'll find advice on how to look after your most precious volumes, what to do when books start taking over your home, and where to find the most atmospheric libraries and bookshops around the world. Keep this beautifully illustrated book by your bedside and wander into a magical world of books every night of the year.

To define Nigeria is to tell a half-truth. Many have tried, but most have concluded that it is impossible to capture the true scope and significance of Africa's most populous nation through words or images. And yet here, through personal essays from 24 of its writers, a more accurate picture comes into view: one that details the realities and contradictions of patriotism, examines the role of class and privilege in Nigerian society, juxtaposes inherited tradition with the diasporic experience and explores the power of storytelling and its intrinsic link to Nigeria's history. Within these pages, acclaimed and award-winning writers share memories and experiences of Nigeria that can be found nowhere else, bringing to the fore a country whose influence can be found everywhere. Powerful, lyrical and entirely unforgettable, OF THIS OUR COUNTRY weaves together a living portrait of Nigeria, one that is as beautiful as it is complex. With essays from: Nels Abbey, Ayo bami Adebayo , Yomi Adegoke, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Oyinkan Akande, Ike Anya, Sefi Atta, Bolu Babalola, J K Chukwu, Abi Dare, Inua Ellams Chikodili Emelumadu, Caleb Femi, Helon Habila, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Anietie Isong, Okey Ndibe, Chigozie Obioma, Irenosen Okojie, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, Lola Shoneyin, Umar Turaki, Chika Unigwe and Hafsa Zayyan.

The poems in Gun/Shy deal with the emotional weight of making do. Tinged with both the regrets and wisdom of aging, Jim Daniels's poems measure the wages of love in a changing world with its vanishing currency. He explores the effects of family work-putting children to bed, leading parents to their final resting places-and what is lost and gained in those exertions. Childhood and adolescence are examined, through both looking back on his own childhood and on that of his children. While his personal death count rises, Daniels reflects on his own mortality. He finds solace in small miracles-his mother stretching the budget to feed five children with ""hamburger surprise"" and potato skins, his children collecting stones and crabapples as if they were gold coins. Daniels, as he always has, carries the anchor of Detroit with him, the weight both a comfort and a burden. He explores race, white privilege, and factory work. Eight Mile Road, a fraught border, pulses with division, and the echoes of music, singing through Detroit's soiled but solid heart, resonate in these poems. His first long poem in many years, ""Gun/Shy,"" centers the book. Through the personas of several characters, Daniels dives into America's gun culture and the violent gulf between the fearful and the feared. Throughout, he seeks connection in likely and unlikely places: a river rising after spring rain and searchlights crossing the night sky. Comets and cloudy skies. Cement ponds and the Garden of Eden. Adolescence and death. Wounds physical and psychic. Disguises and more disguises. These are the myths we memorize to help us sleep at night, those that keep us awake and trembling. Daniels's accessible language, subtlety, and deftness make this collection one that belongs on every poetry reader's shelf.

Thousands of people around the world responded to SMITH Magazine's call for six-word memoirs. Following up on the smashing success of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning, here are more memoirs from Sarah Silverman, Junot Diaz, Neil Patrick Harris, Suze Orman, Gay Talese, Tony Hawk, Amy Tan--and hundreds of never-before-published writers.

Funny and bittersweet, witty and wild, or downright tragic, these addictive life stories are both monumental and miniscule. Six-word memoirs have become a globalphenomenon, offering anyone and everyone a telling peek at humanity and a chance to find the writer within.

"Father: 'Anything but journalism.' I rebelled." --Malcolm Gladwell

"Live man's life in woman's body " --Diane von Furstenberg

"Met wife at her bachelorette party." --Eddie Matz

"The miserable childhood leads to royalties." --Frank McCourt

"I never checked my lottery ticket." --Casey Burra

"Shiny head. Hippie hair. Shiny head." --Wally Lamb

"Bipolar, no two ways about it." --Jason Owen

"So would you believe me anyway?" --James Frey

"Can't look at heart donor's picture." --Tonia Hall

"Healed with steel, then got real." --Dr. Mehmet Oz

"I still practice my Oscar speech." --Jennifer Labbienti

"I've done it all except hear." --Marlee Matlin

'I cannot think of a time in living memory when this book would have been more urgent or more necessary' Sarah Perry, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Essex Serpent 'There are some books which are necessary and there are some which are enjoyable and heart wrenching and wonderful; this is all of these things. A book to give to everyone you love' Daisy Johnson, Man Booker shortlisted author of Everything Under It doesn't take much familiarity with the news to see that the world has become a more hate-filled place. In Others, a group of writers explore the power of words to help us to see the world as others see it, and to reveal some of the strangeness of our own selves. Through stories, poems, memoirs and essays, we look at otherness in a variety of its forms, from the dividing lines of politics and the anonymising forces of city life, through the disputed identities of disability, gender and neurodiversity, to the catastrophic imbalances of power that stands in the way of social equality. Whether the theme is a casual act of racism or an everyday interaction with someone whose experience seems impossible to imagine, the collection challenges us to recognise our own otherness to those we would set apart as different. Profits from this book will be donated to Stop Hate UK, which works to raise awareness of hate crime and encourage its reporting, and Refugee Action, which provides advice and support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Contributors include: Leila Aboulela, Gillian Allnutt, Damian Barr, Noam Chomsky, Rishi Dastidar, Peter Ho Davies, Louise Doughty, Salena Godden, Colin Grant, Sam Guglani, Matt Haig, Aamer Hussein, Anjali Joseph, A. L. Kennedy, Joanne Limburg, Rachel Mann, Tiffany Murray, Sara Novic, Edward Platt, Alex Preston, Tom Shakespeare, Kamila Shamsie, Will Storr, Preti Taneja and Marina Warner. 'An impressive cluster of names' New Statesman'Another superlative anthology from Unbound' The Bookseller

William Makepeace Thackeray has always been an author for those with discriminating literary palettes. `I do not hesitate to name Thackeray first' said his most devoted disciple, Anthony Trollope. Few would deny that he is the finest literary stylist of his time. Thackeray was at his most Thackerayan in what he called `small beer chronicles': the little things in life. His style reached its highest pitch in essays, his cutting wit in journalism. This is the first `sampler' which covers all of Thackeray's versatile genius: his cartoons, his journalism, his carefully restrained sentimentality (much to Victorian taste), his cutting satire, his essayism and what one could grandly call the Thackerayan world view---summed up (as printed here) in the foreword and afterword of his masterpiece, Vanity Fair. This collection of incidental pieces and cartoons (no writer has ever illustrated his own work better) catches him at his most characteristic. Enjoy. Key Points: * The first anthology of Thackeray's varied writings as journalist and essayist * With explanatory notes throughout by scholar and writer John Sutherland * Illustrated with sketches and cartoons by Thackeray * A charming gift for fans of Thackeray and Victoriana

In light of the recent Equality Court judgement on hate speech, the importance of hearing women's voices in a society increasingly dominated by male voices shouldn't be downplayed. The timely release of this, the fifth highly successful annual POWA Breaking the Silence collection, goes some way in describing the experiences of women whose lives have defied prescribed boundaries; lives that deliberately, or as a consequence of survival, transgress society's defined norms. Women who defy such norms are often subjected to discrimination, violence and exclusion. Sometimes, as in the case of activists and artists, and just about any woman who resists the prescribed mould of what it means to be a woman, the defiance is intentional. Other times, however, the defiance is a by-product of the often difficult task of survival, or even the quest to be true to oneself. Despite the many judgements, prejudices and multiple violations they face, women continue to work, live and strive to love according to their own design.

The Jacana Literary Foundation and the Other Foundation are thrilled to announce the publication of the third volume of The Gerald Kraak Anthology, The Heart of the Matter.

With the prize ceremony linked to Africa Day, the publication of the anthology is tied to the Pride Month of June and the celebrations of the LGBTQI+ community which occur across the globe.

The Heart of the Matter is a collection of the 21 shortlisted entries, chosen by this year's judges; Sisonke Msimang, Sylvia Tamale, Mark Gevisser and Otosirieze Obi-Young, from over 400 submissions received from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and six other African countries. It showcases some of the most provocative works of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. The winning essay "Mothers and Men" by OluTimehin Adegbeye truly captures the essence of the African LGBTQI+ community. The anthology showcases some of Africa's most talented writers.The unique prize calls for multi-layered, stirring African voices that represent a new wave of fresh storytelling, one that provokes thought on the topics of gender, social justice and sexuality. The anthology encapsulates the current struggle of the African LGBTQI+ community; same-sex relationships are still illegal in many countries, most of them in Africa. This anthology also coincides with some of the victories of the community; Botswana's High Court recently overturned a colonial-era law criminalising consensual same-sex relations.

The second of the Gerald Kraak Anthologies, As You Like It, received the LAMBDA Literary Award for LGBTQ Anthology Fiction 2019 at a ceremony in New York. A testament to the brave storytellers of Africa, and the impact they have.

The Gerald Kraak Anthology and Prize is made possible by the Jacana Literary Foundation and the Other Foundation.

Dear Booklover: P J O'Rourke said, "Creative writing teachers should be purged until every last instructor who has uttered the words 'Write what you know' is confined to a labour camp ...The blind guy with the funny little harp who composed The Iliad, how much combat do you think he saw?" Like ORourke, William Faulkner had his own take on the Other Commandment for writers, the one that goes, "Thou shalt not quit thy day job." Faulkner, who won the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature, had, twenty-five years before, worked at the post office in his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi. Mister Faulkner was known to say, "One of the saddest things is that the only thing a man can do for eight hours, is work. You can't eat eight hours a day, nor drink for eight hours a day, nor make love for eight hours." He must have been determined to give something else (writing, we may assume, perhaps a glass of whisky on the side) a whirl when he tendered his resignation to the postmaster. "I reckon I'll be at the beck and call of folks with money all my life", he said, "but thank God I won't ever again have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two cents to buy a stamp." The authors in this book have tried their hands at some of the same jobs you have held, or still keep. They've worked on the railroad, busted rocks with a sledgehammer, fought fires, wiped tables, soldiered and carpentered and spied, delivered pizzas, lacquered boat paddles, counted heads for the church, sold underwear, and, yes, delivered the mail. Theyve driven garbage trucks. And, like William Faulkner, they have quit those day jobs. And like Faulkner they write. They tell good tales. If you wonder what work preceded their efforts to produce a great pile of books, if you would like to know how they made the transition to, as William Gay said, "clocking in at the culture factory", then this is the book you have been waiting for. -- Sonny Brewer, Editor, Fairhope, Alabama. List of Contributors: Barb Johnson; Brad Watson; Cassandra King; Clay Risen; Connie May Fowler; Daniel Wallace; George Singleton; Howard Bahr; Janis Owens; John Grisham; Joshilyn Jackson; Larry Brown; Matthew Teague; Michelle Richmond; Pat Conroy; Rick Bragg; Silas House; Steve Yarbrough.; Suzanne Hudson; Tim Gautreaux; Tom Franklin; William Gay; Winston Groom.

With tales from the more plausible end of the SF spectrum, where Time can be stretched, other worlds discovered, aliens encountered and quantum realms explored, everything has a strong spine of real-world science. Celebrating the enduring spirit of hard science fiction this new anthology is a tribute to Compelling Science Fiction magazine whose publisher Joe Stech is the foreword writer and consulting editor of the stunning new collection of stories from contemporary and classic authors, including Otis Kline, Adrian Tchaikovsky and H.G. Wells. Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

All the wonder, terror and delight of Greek mythology springs forth from the pages of this unique and much-needed anthology. Rhonda Hendricks has not only selected from the works of the ancient authors the best -- and often earliest -- versions of these tales; she has also arranged them so as to give a cumulative view of classical mythology beginning with The Creation and The Birth of Zeus. Of particular interest are: The Ages of Mankind, The Birth of Athena, Oedipus the King, Heracles, Theseus, Jason and Medea, The Judgement of Paris, The Trojan Horse, Pygmalion, and Cupid and Psyche. These texts offer a new perspective on classical mythology and, by so doing, cast a new light on this cornerstone of Western culture.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction. Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical; the autobiographical "Fathers and Sons," which alludes, for the first time in Hemingway's career, to his father's suicide; "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," a "brilliant fusion of personal observation, heresay, and invention," wrote Hemingway's biographer, Carlos Baker; and the title story itself, of which Hemingway said: "I put all the true stuff in," with enough material, he boasted, to fill four novels. Beautiful in their simplicity, startling in their originality, and unsurpassed in their craftsmanship, the stories in this volume highlight one of America's master storytellers at the top of his form.

From Hugo Award-Winning Editor Neil Clarke, the Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year Collected in a Single Paperback Volume Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more-a task that can be accomplished by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to present the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers. The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year's writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome "sensawunda" that the genre has to offer.