Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced today that it will publish 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories, a centennial retrospective of HMH's celebrated anthology series. Selected by beloved short story writer and master of the form, Lorrie Moore, the title will showcase the finest representative stories in the series, as well as celebrate key literary moments over the last one hundred years.

Moore will select from more than two thousand stories published since The Best American Short Stories series began in 1915, including works from Edna Ferber to George Saunders, and the literary lights in between – William Faulkner, John Cheever, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sherman Alexie and Junot Diaz to name just a few of the authors. Co-editor Heidi Pitlor, in turn, will recount behind-the-scenes anecdotes and provide a decade-by-decade examination of the trends captured over a hundred years.

Bruce Nichols, SVP and Publisher of General Interest at HMH commented, “For an annual compendium to be going strong in its 100th year is astonishing—but it testifies to the enduring appeal and vigor of the short story in American writing. Styles and trends have changed and the reading public has expanded dramatically, yet short fiction has flourished in every decade of the past 100 years.”

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories will launch on Oct. 6, 2015, along with ten new titles in the Best American series, featuring a stellar line-up of guest editors. The series will include:

• The Best American Short Stories 2015, edited by T.C. Boyle
• The Best American Essays 2015, edited by Ariel Levy
• The Best American Mystery Stories 2015, edited by James Patterson
• The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015, edited by Rebecca Skloot
• The Best American Comics 2015, edited by Jonathan Lethem
• Best American Nonrequired Reading, edited by Adam Johnson
• Best American Travel Writing, edited by Andrew McCarthy
• Best American Infographics, edited by Maria Popova
• Best American Sports Writing, edited by Wright Thompson
• The inaugural edition of The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Joe Hill

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing
For nearly two centuries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade division has published some of the world’s most renowned novels, non-fiction, children’s books and reference works. As part of one of the world’s leading learning companies, it is uniquely positioned to create educational and entertaining content for multiple channels and in various formats — from hardcovers and paperbacks to eBooks and mobile apps. Its distinguished author list includes nine Nobel Prize winners, forty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners, thirteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O'Brien, and Umberto Eco, and a celebrated roster of children’s authors and illustrators including Lois Lowry, Chris Van Allsburg and David Wiesner. HMH is also home to The Best American series®; The American Heritage® and Webster’s New World™ dictionaries; Betty Crocker®, Better Homes and Gardens®, How to Cook Everything®, The Gourmet Cookbook, and other leading culinary properties; the Peterson Field Guides®; CliffsNotes; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children’s books and characters including Curious George®, The Little Prince and The Polar Express.

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