Every story included in this year's Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions was published in 2019, which means they were all written and printed before we entered the global crisis in which we currently find ourselves. In times like these, writers frequently express worries that their art isn't up to the task of the moment, or that other activities must be more important than the telling of stories, maybe especially the telling of very short ones; at the same time, we know that many of us turn to fiction in times of trouble, most frequently novels and stories written for entirely different times: one popular activity this spring, for instance, has been a communal read of Tolstoy's War and Peace, a slightly longer story than any of those included here.

As I read through two hundred stories included on the longlist, I recognized how glad I was to have these many compressed but expansive fictions, sent time-traveling from our very recent past to offer our troubled present their preserved joys and wonders, their delights and surprises, their fresh recognitions of what it is that makes us human and of what binds us to each other.

I hope you'll read widely from both the Top 50 and the longlist, which are both full of exciting writers and stories: "best of" lists are always dependent on both the preferences and the blindspots of the selecting editors, but I truly believe there's much to celebrate and enjoy here, including many writers and magazines that were new to me. Thanks to Shome Dasgupta and the rest of the team for asking me to join them, and for all their work that made this year's effort possible.

Finally, congratulations to everyone included! Thank you for your stories, whose achievements will surely continue to inspire, cheer, and console others as powerfully as they did me.

Matt Bell's next novel, APPLESEED, will be out next year. A native of Michigan, he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.


To link to this directly: http://wigleaf.com/20top50intro.htm

W i g l e a f               05-31-20                                [home]