New Stories from the Midwest presents a collection of stories that celebrate an American region too often ignored in discussions about distinctive regional literature. The editors solicited nominations from more than 300 magazines, literary journals, and small presses and narrowed the selection to 19 authors. The stories, written by Midwestern writers or focusing on the Midwest, demonstrate that the quality of fiction from and about the heart of the country rivals that of any other region. Guest editor John McNally introduces the anthology, which features short fiction by Charles Baxter, Dan Chaon, Christopher Mohar, Rebecca Makkai, Lee Martin, and others.

The debut short story collection from the editor of the "Mid-American Review." Michael Czyzniejewski's writing is both poignant and playful. The collection includes fl ash and longer fiction and is the antithesis of those collections complained about for having every story too similar to each other.

Michael Czyzniejewski was born in Chicago and grew up in its south suburbs. He earned his MFA at Bowling Green State University and now teaches there while editing the "Mid-American Review." Since turning twenty-one, he has also worked at Wrigley Field, selling beer in the aisles. He lives in Bowling Green with his wife and son.