The Best American Short Stories 2025

A collection of the year’s best short stories, selected by celebrated bestselling author Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, and series editor Nicole Lamy.

The Best American series, launched in 1915, is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction, and it is the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.

Celeste Ng—Puschcart Prize winner and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere—selects twenty stories out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published this year.