Black Inc. to end ‘Best Australian Essays, Stories and Poems’; announces new collection

Black Inc. has announced it will no longer publish its series of Best Australian Essays, Stories and Poems, but will publish a new annual short story collection instead.

Beginning in December, Black Inc. will publish Best Summer Stories, which will include published and unpublished short fiction by Australian writers. The series will be edited by publisher Aviva Tuffield.

The Best Australian Essays was first published in 1998, under the guidance of Black Inc. executive chair Morry Schwartz and edited by Peter Craven. The Best Australian Stories followed in 1999, and The Best Australian Poems joined in 2003. From 2004, publisher Chris Feik took responsibility for the series.

Schwartz said that he is ‘very proud’ of the Best Australian Essays, Stories and Poems series, but that ‘the time for a revamp is here’. ‘Over the years, new channels for discovering and aggregating essays and poems have flourished in the Australian literary landscape, both in print publications and online. However, we believe that the hunger for a brilliant short story collection remains undiminished,’ he said. ‘Best Summer Stories will continue Black Inc.’s long tradition of celebrating Australia’s writing talent.’

Black Inc. is currently accepting submissions for Best Summer Stories, until 30 April 2018. For more information, see the publisher’s website.

Category: Local news