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May is Short Story Month! In celebration of this, the JBC team is recommending some of their favorite short story collections. You can find more short story collections here.
Frankly Feminist edited by Yona Zeldis McDonough and Susan Weidman Schneider
“In Judaism, women’s voices have not always been amplified… When their voices have been included, only those deemed‘acceptable’ are highlighted. And too often, these voices start to echo each other in homogeneity. Not so in Frankly Feminist, which is a collection of short stories published in Lilith magazine since 1976.” ‑Jaime Herndon
Fly Already by Etgar Keret
“The stories in Fly Already share just this: human experiences — sometimes intimate, embarrassing, whimsical, and cynical, but always genuine accounts of various expressions of the human condition.” ‑Sasha Tamar Strelitz
Oy, Caramba!: An Anthology of Jewish Stories from Latin America edited by Ilan Stavans
“Stavans’ introduction alone, placing each writer in their historical and geographical context, makes the anthology a critical sourcebook. But the stories themselves demonstrate a range of vitality and power that is truly eye-opening.” ‑Josh Hanft
Jewish Noir: Contemporary Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds edited by Kenneth Wishnia
“Thirty-two stories by thirty-two writers, all acclaimed for their talents, makes this a very desirable book for the lover of noir in all its fascinating varieties.” ‑Miriam Bradman Abrahams
The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: Stories by Omer Friedlander
“In his debut short story collection, Omer Friedlander probes Israeli society through the lens of the manifold people who inhabit it.” ‑Ariella Carmell
I’d Like to Say Sorry, but There’s No One to Say Sorry To: Stories by Mikołaj Grynberg, tranlated by Sean Gasper Bye
“Grynberg spent years interviewing Polish Jews for his previous three works of nonfiction, and in I’d Like to Say Sorry, but There’s No One to Say Sorry To, he distills the essence of the stories people have left in his safekeeping.” ‑Basia Winograd
The Best Place on Earth: Stories by Ayelet Tsabari
“Imbuing the difficult circumstances and realities of Israeli (and expat) life with the softening sweetness of its details, Tsabari imparts a yearning for home that resonates across the globe.” ‑Nat Bernstein
Wild Milk: Stories by Sabrina Orah Mark
“In this collection of surreal stories, familiar Jewish narratives — involving rabbis, warding off the ayin hara, the Holocaust, and the receiving of the commandments — are reexamined through unexpected lenses: social media, children’s songs, American politics, a pretend film.” ‑Allison Pitinii Davis
Ladies’ Lunch: And Other Stories by Lore Segal
“Beloved New Yorker writer Lore Segal, at ninety-five-years-old, is a national treasure. Working at the height of her powers, in this story collection she turns her gimlet eye and compassionate humor on aging and life in the slow lane.”
Bonus recommendation!
The seventh issue of Paper Brigade features short fiction by Scott Nadelson and Adam Schorin — alongside articles, poetry, art, and photography — and is the perfect Short Story Month treat!
Simona is the Jewish Book Council’s manager of digital content strategy. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in English and History and studied abroad in India and England. Prior to the JBC she worked at Oxford University Press. Her writing has been featured in Lilith, The Normal School, Digging through the Fat, and other publications. She holds an MFA in fiction from The New School.
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