Best American Fantasy

Another anthology of the “Year’s Best Fantasy” you may be asking?  Yes, but, if we can judge by the contents of the recommended reading list for the Best American Fantasy, which has gone live recently, it’s probably not like any of the current anthologies that present themselves as Year’s Bests.  My story, “The Creation of Birds”, which appeared in David Moles’ and Susan Groppi’s anthology, Twenty Epics, has been included in the recommended reading.  It’s an interesting list, so take a look.  It seems series editor Matt Cheney, along with editors Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, have not only searched through materials from a wide expanse of fantasy, but (again, judging from the recommended list of stories considered but not chosen for inclusion for a variety of reasons) have selected fantasy fiction that appeared in a variety of sources: academic-oriented literary journals, commercial genre magazines and anthologies, and online venues as well.  I have high hopes the anthology will provide a wide perspective of what is occuring in fantasy fiction these days, since so many different kinds of fantasy are appearing in the balkanized world of publishing.  It may provide a reading experience that helps bring together the various conversations that are being held in different rooms of the same house, so to speak.