Israel Short Stories

Israel Short Stories, the new and third short story anthology by Ang-Lit.Press, features 70 stories written by more than 50 authors, mostly English-speaking Israel residents and expatriates from the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, India, etc.

The selection criteria - fiction, written in English, set in Israel - attracted a vast variety of writers and themes. Almost 800 submissions in fact. Taken in their entirety, the stories provide a kaleidoscope of Israeli society, not the whole story but the English-speakers narrative in this dynamic, multi-cultural state now in its sixth decade. The authors’ biographies, printed at the end of their stories, hint at lives at least as interesting as their fictional characters.

True to our credo that the short story anthology is the perfect genre for the frenetic 21 st century - an instant literary fix for commuters, bedtime or occasional readers - the stories can be read in any order. Presenting them under the geographical headings - Jerusalem; Tel Aviv; Haifa & The North; Kibbutz & Moshav; Anywhere In Israel - might help some readers decide where they want to start reading on any particular day. It does not imply any special emphasis on location on our part. There may be cities and places readers will recognize or want to visit, but this is not a guidebook or travelogue. The backdrop is Israel but the stories are fiction.

As short story enthusiasts know, an anthology such as this, with almost as many authors as stories and no chronological order, reflects and celebrates the vast diversity of readers’ tastes and interests; there’s something for everyone. And then some.