The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Short Stories provides a fascinating snapshot of New Zealand fiction in the early twenty-first century. The 31-story collection includes significant work from our foremost fiction writers - including C. K. Stead, Patricia Grace, Fiona Kidman, Witi Ihimaera, Damien Wilkins, Owen Marshall, Vincent O'Sullivan, Fiona Farrell and Emily Perkins - alongside exciting work by a strong group of new, younger rising literary stars, such as Eleanor Catton, Carl Nixon, Julian Novitz and Alice Tawhai. The stories come from a variety of previously published sources, with a handful published here for the very first time.