This is a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the most often studied short story writers from around the world.The 146 authors, and 800 works covered in this set reflect the range and diversity of nineteenth and twentieth century short-story writing. More than half the authors covered are from the United States, reflecting the strength of the genre in its birthplace. The second largest national grouping is England, added to which are some of the great authors of Ireland and Scotland. Readers will also find some of the cornerstone short fiction writers of Canada, the Continent, Russia, Asia, Africa, and South America. Women authors have excelled in the genre, and of the 49 surveyed in these volumes, 21 are new to this edition. Short Story Writers, Revised Edition , is the first revision of this Magill’s
Choice
set published in 1997. This new edition adds 44 more articles on important authors of short fiction. The three-volume set has 146 articles on the most frequently taught, most frequently read, most acclaimed, and most often researched short-fiction writers studied in American schools and colleges. All the essays in these volumes have been culled from the 480 author essays in Salem Press’
Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition
(2001) and have been updated. They collectively provide an essential look at the best in short-fiction writing in an easy-to-use and student-friendly format.The essays are arranged alphabetically, by authors’ surnames, in the three volumes, and their concise and accessible formats follow an easy-to-use template. Each essay begins with the author’s name, birth date and place, death date and place when appropriate, and a chronological list of the subject’s major publications of short fiction. The text of the essay is divided into four subsections: Other literary forms describes other genres in which the author has worked; Achievements addresses what the author has contributed to the genre and mentions any important honors and awards the author has received; Biography summarizes the author’s life; and Analysis, the main body of the text, is a detailed examination of the author’s short-story writing that usually includes three or four subheaded sections focusing on individual stories that help explain the author’s work.Volume 3 concludes with a glossary of more than 150 terms and techniques commonly used in the study of short fiction and a comprehensive index. A list of the many scholars who contributed their time and knowledge to writing the articles appears on the following page.
