21st Century Short Stories

(Note: These stories are free and open to the public, but a few are hosted on sites where users are restricted to a certain number of views per month (The New Yorker, for example). Though not ideal, students who reach their maximum number of views can clear their browser history and continue to access the stories, or you can save a copy locally on your computer. Of course, these sources are providing quality content for free, so if you really like their site, you might consider supporting them through a purchase, a subscription or a social media share too.)

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi (b. 1977)

• “A Private Experience” (2009)
• “The Arrangements” (2016)
• “Apollo” (2015)

Adjei-Brenyah, Nana Kwame

• “The Era” (2018)
• “The Neon Guillotine” (2017)
• “Things My Mother Said” (2018)

Adelmann, Maria

• “Gretel’s Dream” (2018)
• “Elegy” (2016)
• “How to Wait” (2015)

Alexie, Sherman (b. 1966)

• “A Vacuum Is a Space Entirely Devoid of Matter” (2017)
• “Three Short Stories” (2016)
• “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” (2003)

Ausubel, Ramona

• “Safe Passage” (2008)
• “Tributaries” (2013)

Awad, Mona (b. 1978)

• “If That’s All There Is” (2016)
• “No Translation” (2013)

Bandi (b. 1950)

• “City of Specters” (2017)

Bell, Matt (b. 1980)

• “An Index of How Our Family Was Killed” (2009)

Bennett, Brit (b. 1990)

• “Ain’t That Good News” (2014)

Blasim, Hassan (b.1973)

• “Don’t Kill Me, I Beg You, This is My Tree” (2013)
• “The Green Zone Rabbit” (2013)

Cavell, Benjamin

• “Balls, Balls, Balls” (2003)

DeLillo, Don (b. 1936)

• “Baader-Meinhof” (2002)

Demers, Laura

• “Sleeping Beauty” (2021)

Gay, Roxane (b. 1974)

• “Do You Have a Place For Me?” (2010)
• “Law and Order: The Complete Series” (2010)
• “Motherfuckers” (2009)

Henríquez, Cristina (b. 1977)

• “Everything is Far From Here” (2017)
• “Goodbyes” (2011)

Johnson, Jocelyn Nicole

• “Control Negro” (2017)
• “The King of Xandria” (2016)
• “Worth” (2009)

Klay, Phil (b. 1983)

• “Ten Kliks South (2014)
• “Frago” (2014)
• “Redeployment” (2014)

Machado, Carmen Maria (b. 1986)

• “The Husband Stitch” (2018)

Motoya, Yukiko (b. 1979)

• “Why I Can No Longer Look at a Picnic Blanket Without Laughing” (2014)

Packer, ZZ (b. 1973)

• "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” (2000)
• “Gideon” (2007)

Pollack, Donald Ray (b. 1954)

• “Pills” (2008)

Roupenian, Kristen (b. 1981)

• “Cat Person” (2017)

Rich, Simon (b. 1984)

• “Physicians’ Lounge, April 1^st" (2018)
• “Scared Straight” (2013)

Sittenfeld, Curtis (b. 1975)

• “The Prairie Wife” (2017)

Smith, Zadie (b. 1975)

• “Martha, Martha” (2003)
• “The Waiter’s Wife” (1999)

So, Anthony Veasna (1992-2020)

• “Superking Son Scores Again” (2018)
• “The Shop” (2020)
• “Three Women of Chuck’s Donuts” (2020)

Swamy, Shruti

• “Night Garden” (2017)
• “The Laughter Artist” (2016)
• “The Neighbors” (2020)

Taylor, Brandon (b. 1989)

• “Frites” (2017)
• “French Absolutism” (2017)
• “Run” (2017)
• “Minor Moves” (2017)
• “The Larger World” (2018)

Thompson-Spires, Nafissa

• “Suicide, Watch” (2018)

White, Nick

• “The Exaggerations” (2013)
• “The Last of His Kind” (2015)

The Decameron Project (2020)

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, The New York Times asked twenty-nine authors to write short stories inspired by this moment. The collection suggests that “when reality is surreal, only fiction can make sense of it.” As it says in the introduction, “Memento mori — remember that you must die — is a worthy and necessary message for ordinary times, when you might forget. Memento vivere — remember that you must live — is the message of ‘The Decameron.’”

• Here is the Decameron Project Short Story collection

Flash Fiction

Flash fiction refers to a story that is less than 1,000 words. It is an emerging genre in literary studies that is growing in popularity. Part of the appeal of flash fiction is that it can be quickly read in times spent waiting, much like people check social media. Check out these websites for a quick introduction to flash fiction.

• Vestal Review: The Oldest Magazine of Flash Fiction
• Flash: The International Short Story Magazine
• “Flash Fiction Online”
• “Flash Fiction”
• “21 Flash Fiction Stories to Read While You Wait Anywhere”
• “A Flash of Flash Fiction: 10 Stories by Women”