Best Canadian Stories 2018

by Russell Smith (Editor)

Now in its 48th year, Best Canadian Stories has long championed the short story form and highlighted the work of many writers who have gone on to shape the Canadian literary canon. Caroline Adderson, Margaret Atwood, Clark Blaise, Tamas Dobozy, Mavis Gallant, Douglas Glover, Norman Levine, Rohinton Mistry, Alice Munro, Leon Rooke, Diane Schoemperlen, Kathleen Winter, and many others have appeared in its pages over the decades, making Best Canadian Stories the go-to source for what’s new in Canadian fiction writing for close to five decades.

Selected by guest editor Russell Smith, the 2018 edition draws together both newer and established writers to shape an engaging and luminous mosaic of writing in this country today—a continuation of not only a series, but a legacy in Canadian letters.

Genres: Anthologies

304 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Russell Claude Smith is a Canadian writer and newspaper columnist. Smith's novels and short stories are mostly set in Toronto, where he lives.

Smith grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He attended the Halifax Grammar School and Queen Elizabeth High School, and studied French literature at Queen's University, the University of Poitiers, and the University of Paris III. He has an MA in French from Queen's.

Russell Smith is one of Canada’s funniest and nastiest writers. His previous novels, including How Insensitive and Girl Crazy, are records of urban frenzy and exciting underworlds. He writes a provocative weekly column on the arts in the national Globe and Mail, and teaches in the MFA program at the University of Guelph. He hates folk music.

Reviews

[Steven Buechler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher

These pieces in this collection are from a combination of new and established writers yet they document a series of emotions and situations that we all have been in one way or another yet may have not been considered or reflected on by us readers. These are not stories that should be rushed through or perused, but admired for the craft, skill and thought that were put into their creation.

https://pacifictranquility.wordpress....

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourites were the ones by David Huebert, Kathy Page, Alex Pugsley, Stephen Marche (it is quite an achievement, and fascinating, to have written something this good under the algorithmic restraints he placed on himself—I love that shit), and Bill Gaston.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food for Nought 3/5
A Dozen Stomachs 3.5/5
Someone is Recording 4/5
Your Own Lucky Stars 4/5
Tracks 4/5
Kiint 4/5
Never Prosper 3.5/5
For What You're About to Do 3/5
Six Six Two Fifty 2/5
A titan bearing many a legitimate grievance 3/5
Gravity 3.5/5
Candidate 4/5
Twinkle, Twinkle 4/5
Visitation 3.5/5
Inches 4/5
A Day with Cyrus Mair 5/5

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

great collection, inspires one to write