The Love Object by Edna O’Brien, 1967 Continue reading
‘The Hotel’ by Anne Enright
The Hotel by Anne Enright, 2017 Continue reading
‘The Hawk’ by Liam O’Flaherty
The Hawk by Liam O’Flaherty, 1949 Continue reading
‘The Black Monk’ by Anton Chekhov
The Black Monk by Anton Chekhov, 1894 Continue reading
‘Cloud, Castle, Lake’ by Vladimir Nabokov
Cloud, Castle, Lake by Vladimir Nabokov, 1937 Continue reading
‘Phantoms’ by Ivan Turgenev
Phantoms by Ivan Turgenev, 1864 Continue reading
‘Work, Death, And Sickness’ by Leo Tolstoy
Work, Death, And Sickness by Leo Tolstoy, 1903 Continue reading
‘Aspic’ by Tatyana Tolstaya
Aspic by Tatyana Tolstaya, 2016 Continue reading
‘A Room Forever’ by Breece D’J Pancake
A Room Forever by Breece D’J Pancake, 1983 Continue reading
2020 favorites
Seven years in and going strong on the SSMT website.
It was a difficult 2020 all around. And as life got infinitely more stressful, the notion of having time to sit back and read a short story seemed comical.
But, I would argue, taking time to read a short story (at least every so often) becomes even more important during times of adversity. Art can lift us out of our own anxiety, away from our own grief, and give us someone else’s perspective. Getting out of your own head, even only temporarily, was essential self-care in 2020.
So in keeping with SSMT tradition, here is the annual list ranking the stories highlighted this year on the site, sorted in order of my own enjoyment.
And look for a new spin on things in 2021 here. Every week, we’ll be highlighting stories from a different country. After leaning overwhelmingly American for seven years, it seemed like it was well past time to expand my reading horizons. Can’t hurt to change things up for 2021.
So look forward to that, and have a happy new year! Continue reading


