As mentioned last month, I decided to try something new for 2026: when I’m aware of an author’s birthday, I want to celebrate it by reading a short story or two by that author, preferably (although not always practicably) on their actual birthday. This month, I actually did some research on February birthday authors. Here’s who I’ve celebrated this month:
February 1:
Muriel Spark -- “The Portobello Road” from the collection All The Stories of Muriel Spark
February 2:
James Joyce -- “The Sisters” from the collection Dubliners
February 4:
Tsitsi Dangarembga -- “Jana Dives” from the Yale Review website
February 6:
Charles F. Millhouse -- “Testament of a Forgotten God” from the magazine Pulp Reality #1
February 7:
Charles Dickens -- “The Trial For Murder” from the collection The Collected Short Stories of Charles Dickens
February 8:
Mary Robinette Kowal -- “Dust to Dust” from Fireside Magazine
Jules Verne -- “A Drama in Mexico” from the collection Four Short Stories (translated by W.H.G. Kingston)
February 13:
Bryan Thomas Schmidt -- “First Hunt” from the anthology Aliens Vs. Predator: Ultimate Prey
February 18:
Sholom Aleichem -- “Really A Sukkah!” from the collection Holiday Tales
Toni Morrison -- “Recitatif” from the Bergen Community College website
Len Deighton -- “Paper Casualty” from the collection Declarations of War
February 19:
Richard Matheson -- “Button, Button” from the collection Button, Button: Uncanny Stories
February 22:
Joanna Russ -- “The Barbarian” from the anthology The Future is Female
February 24:
August Derleth -- “The Adventure of the Frightened Baronet” from the collection The Adventures of Solar Pons
February 25:
Anthony Burgess – “A Meeting in Valladolid” from the collection The Devil's Mode: Stories
February 26:
Stefan Grabinski -- “A Night’s Lodging” from the collection Orchard of the Dead and Other Macabre Tales (translated by Anthony Sciscione)
Theodore Sturgeon -- “The Man Who Lost The Sea” from the Strange Horizons website (April 2009)
February 27:
Elizabeth George -- “Lusting For Jenny, Inverted” from the anthology Two of the Deadliest
Michael A. Burnstein -- “Kaddish For The Last Survivor” from the collection I Remember The Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein
John Steinbeck -- “Breakfast” from the collection The Long Valley
February 28:
Walter Tevis -- “The Best in the Country” from the collection The King is Dead: Stories
February 29:
Patricia A. McKillip -- “The Fortune Teller” from the anthology Coyote Road
I love short fiction in all its forms: from novellas to novelettes, short stories, flash fiction, and drabbles. Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it.