As another year of school draws to an end, the summer months provide the perfect opportunity to make a dent in your reading list. However, we know that exams and assignments can leave you feeling tired and, by the end of the semester, you may not feel quite like diving into War & Peace. Fortunately, we have a solution for students who are looking to unwind without letting their reading fall completely off the radar ahead of September: short stories.
If you haven’t read many short stories before, anthologies are the best place to start because these collections expose readers to a vast range of different authors, writing styles, perspectives, and experiences. Here are a few suggestions to get your summer reading started:
The Granta Book of the African Short Story
The Granta Book of the African Short Story edited by Helon Habila is a collection of gripping, thought-provoking, and deftly-crafted stories from writers across the African continent, including Uwem Akpan, Fatou Diome, Dambudzo Marechera, and Leila Aboulela. If you enjoy travelling through new spaces with stories, you should also read The Granta Book of the Irish Short Story edited by Anne Enright or The Granta Book of the American Short Story edited by Richard Ford.
A Country of Refuge
Editor Lucy Popescu’s anthology A Country Of Refuge is a perfect example of literature’s responsibility to educate and empower. Alongside poetry, the collection includes a wide range of fictional and memoir-esque stories centred around the experiences of people who have been forced to seek refuge. With writers from Roma Tearne to Hassan Adulrazzak and Amanda Craig, readers are often granted personal insight into the crises that drive people from their homelands as well as the social, political, and economic landscapes which are alternately welcoming and hostile to people seeking asylum.
Bawaajigan: Stories of Power
There are countless short story anthologies compiled by Indigenous authors if you are eager to hear from voices who may not feature on your school curriculum. Notably, Bawaajigan: Stories of Power, edited by Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith, gathers works by Indigenous writers such as Lee Maracle, Autumn Bernhardt, Wendy Bone, and Gerald Silliker Pisim Maskwa from across Turtle Island. If you are looking for authors further afield, Going Home Stories by Archie Weller focuses on the lives of several aboriginal characters across Western Australia, Huia Short Stories annual collections showcase works by Maori writers, and the short stories in Kristiana Kahakauwila’sThis Is Paradise centre around the Hawaiian islands.
There may be travel restrictions in place during this pandemic, but with these anthologies, you can, at least, enjoy exploring the world through short stories. Happy reading!