The art of writing short fiction is one that is more than a bit difficult to master, but a well-crafted short story can pack a punch as powerful as any full-length novel. In recent decades, the short story has come into its own as a literary form, gaining popularity due (at least in part) to the fact that the form allows the reader to experience the fictional world in all its glory without interruption. (After all, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic definition of the form suggests that a successful short story should be read in only one sitting.)

Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the past academic year doing an intensive study of American short fiction, but I am becoming more and more endeared to the reader-friendly nature of the short story. That being said, I’m always searching for anthologies of the latest (and greatest) short fiction from all over the globe. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found out that blog-turned-publishing house The Fiction Desk has just released its first anthology of short fiction, entitled Various Authors.

This volume, released at the beginning of April, is the first of what will become a quarterly anthology, and is available in paperback for only £9.99. Various Authors features a dozen stories by both new and established authors, including Charles Lambert, Adrian Stumpp, and Danny Rhodes, among others.