The Penguin Book of the International Short Story

The best in short fiction from around the world, from celebrated anthologist and author John Freeman and award-winning novelist Rabih Alameddine In The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, writers from different nations, languages and sensibilities come together in a globe-spanning and long overdue tour of modern fiction. In 'Super-Frog Saves Tokyo', Haruki Murakami presents a man who believes a giant amphibian is enlisting him to protect his city from an impending earthquake. In 'War of the Clowns', Mozambique's Mia Couto sketches a perfect allegory for our divided culture. In the predecessor story to her iconic novel The Vegetarian, Han Kang depicts a protagonist quietly undergoing an unlikely transformation in a high-rise in Seoul. A Colm Tóibín character thinks, 'I do not even believe in Ireland', while Carol Bensimon reflects from Brazil, 'All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point'. Salman Rushdie brings us to unsettled rural India, Olga Tokarczuk to a circus exhibit, Abdellah Taïa to the queer Arab world, Ted Chiang to a far-off galaxy. For a long time, it was the norm for three quarters of the stories in international anthologies to be American or English. In this collection, the work of thoughtful and accomplished translators opens the door wide for those curious about what lies beyond the Western canon and classroom. Writers from six continents, ranging from new voices to literary icons, each offer a window into a distinct point of view, both transcending and illuminating their place of origin. They offer not only captivating prose, but a reminder of the power of the imagination across space and time.

John Freeman (External Editor) John Freeman is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story and California Rewritten. Rabih Alameddine (External Editor) Rabih Alameddine has written nine books that have been translated into more than twenty languages. His most recent awards include the 2019 Dos Passos Prize, the 2021 Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the 2025 National Book Award.