PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018

The second anthology in the annual series continues Catapult's landmark publishing partnership with PEN America and features the best debut short fiction published in the US and Canada each year. PEN America will award the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers prize of $2000 to 12 writers, and Catapult will publish the dozen stories in a gorgeously designed anthology.

Each yearly anthology's winners are selected by three high-profile judges; stories for the 2018 edition will be chosen by Jodi Angel (You Only Get Letters From Jail), Lesley Nneka Arimah (What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky; a National Book Award “5 Under 35” and winner of the 2017 Kirkus Prize), and Alexandra Kleeman (You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine).

Unique among comparative titles, each story in the PEN anthology is framed by an introduction by the publication's editor explaining why they nominated the story for the prize, giving writers who aspire to be published insight into the editors' thought processes.

The first volume received well-deserved critical praise, and stories from the anthology were featured in Levar Burton Reads, Electric Literature, and The Rumpus

The PEN America/Catapult anthology is aspirational and inspirational for anyone working hard to be a writer, and a rare opportunity for debut short fiction writers to reach a wider audience; it appeals to MFA students, aspiring writers, and other lovers of literary fiction.

This anthology is not only a bold endorsement of fresh, raw, and risky new voices, but also a thoughtfully selected, deliberately arranged compendium for those wanting to know what's next in the literary world.

In a time where keeping up with everything published online and in print feels impossible, this anthology champions and amplifies the essential contributions literary magazines make to the literary ecosystem and provides a unique survey of stories from the most important and beloved journals on the continent.

The support network, awareness of, and enthusiasm for this book will continue to grow each year; the support 2018 authors, journals, and editors will double the existing base of 2017 contributors