World Science Fiction Course > Coursework > Assigned Short Stories

Assigned Short Stories

collage by Brambilla of a flying saucer in the alps
© Franco Brambilla, Let’s Go Back to the Alps (2010)

We will be reading a few short stories per class. Some stories are only a few pages long, and no story is longer than 30pp.

You are also welcome to read additional stories from around the world.  Many anthologies are in the library or my office.  Some stories can also be found online: check out Translated SF, these magazines, and these blogs. If you find a story or an anthology that the library or I do not have, you can order it through Interlibrary Loan.  Sometimes, you can find an inexpensive, used copy of an anthology on Amazon, Alibris, Ebay, etc.  See also UNZ.com for old SF magazines (some issues are fully readable, other just have the tables of contents)

Materials to purchase

  • Evans, A. et al., ed. The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2010.
  • Cipri, Nino. NY: Defekt. Tordotcom, 2021.

Assigned stories (all US or UK authors) from The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction 

  • H. G. Wells, “The Star” (1897)
  • Isaac Asimov, “Reason” (1941)
  • Clifford D. Simak, “Desertion” (1944)
  • Judith Merril, “That Only a Mother” (1948)
  • Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains” (1950)
  • Arthur C. Clarke, “The Sentinel” (1951)
  • Avram Davidson, “The Golem” (1955)
  • Harlan Ellison, “‘Repent Harlequin!’ Said the Tictockman” (1965)
  • J. G. Ballard, “You & Me & the Continuum” (1966)
  • P. K. Dick, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (1966)
  • Samuel R. Delany, “Aye, and Gomorrah…” (1967)
  • Ursula Le Guin, “Nine Lives” (1969)
  • Brian Aldiss, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” (1969)
  • Joanna Russ, “When It Changed” (1972)
  • William Gibson, “Burning Chrome” (1982)
  • Octavia Butler, “Speech Sounds” (1983)
  • Pat Cadigan, “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)
  • Eileen Gunn, “Computer Friendly” (1989)
  • James Patrick Kelly, “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)
  • Ted Chiang, “Exhalation” (2008)

Assigned stories not in Wesleyan are on Canvas

  • W.E.B. DuBois, “The Comet” (USA, 1920)
  • Juan José Arreola, “Baby H.P.” (Mexico, 1952)
  • Margaret St. Clair, “Prott” (US, 1953)
  • Andrew North (Alice Mary Norton), “All Cats are Gray” (US, 1953)
  • Arkady & Boris Strugatsky, “The Strangers” (Russia, 1959)
  • Herbert Franke, “Thought Control” (Austria, 1961)
  • Lino Aldani, “Good Night, Sophie” (Italy, 1963)
  • Shinichi Hoshi, “Bokko-chan” (Japan, 1963)
  • Luigi Cozzi, “Rainy Day Revolution No. 39” (Italy, 1965)
  • Ilya Varshavsky, “Perpetual Motion” (Russia, 1965)
  • Primo Levi, “Man’s Friend” (Italy, 1966)
  • Sakyō Komatsu, “Take Your Choice” (Japan, 1967)
  • Tor Age Bringsvaerd, “Codemus” (Norway, 1968)
  • Stanislaw Lem, “Tale of the Computer that Fought a Dragon” (Poland, 1971)
  • José B. Adolph, “The Falsifier” (Peru, 1972)
  • James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon), “And I Awoke and Found Me Here…” (USA, 1972)
  • Yasutaka Tsutsui, “Standing Woman” (Japan, 1974)
  • Alicia Yánez Cossí, “The IWM 1000” (Chile, 1975)
  • Hanmura Ryō, Cardboard Box” (Japan, 1975)
  • Sergei Drugal, “The Exam” (Russia, 1979)
  • Federico Schaffler, “A Miscalculation” (Mexico, 1983)
  • Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild” (US, 1984)
  • Zheng Wenguang, “The Mirror Image of the Earth” (China, 1980)
  • Braulio Tavares, “Stuntmind” (Brazil, 1989)
  • Angélica Gorodischer, “The Unmistakeable Smell of Wood Violets” (Argentina, 1991)
  • Massimo Mongai, “Galactic Guidebook for the Gourmet” (Italy, 1999)
  • Pablo A. Castro, “Exerion” (Chile, 2000)
  • Vandana Singh, “Delhi” (India, 2004)
  • Alastair Reynolds, “Zima Blue” (USA, 2005)
  • Park Seonghwan, “Readmade Bodhisattva” (Korea, 2005)
  • Nnedi Okorafor, “From the Lost Diary of TreeFrog7” (Nigeria, 2009)
  • Fadzlishah Johanabas, “Act of Faith” (Malaysia, 2010)
  • Chen Qiufan, “A History of Future Illnesses” (China, 2012)
  • Jake Kerr, “The Alien Invasion As Seen in the Twitter Stream of @dweebless” (USA, 2012)
  • Carmen Maria Machado, “The Hungry Earth” (US, 2013)
  • Hao Jingfang, “Folding Beijing” (China, 2014)
  • Lavie Tidhar, “The Smell of Orange Groves”  (Israel, 2014)
  • Annalee Newitz, “Two Scenarios for the …” (US, 2014)
  • Charlie Jane Anders, “The Day It All Ended” (US, 2014)
  • Catherynne Valente, “The Future is Blue (USA, 2016)
  • Zhraa Alhaboby, “Baghdad Syndrome” (Iraq, 2016)
  • Hao Jingfang, “New Year Train” (China, 2017)
  • Vina Jie-Min Prasad, “A Series of Steaks” (Singapore, 2017)
  • Ng Yi-Seng, “Xingzhou” (Singapore, 2019)
  • Darie Little Badger, “Robo-Liopleurodon (First Nation, 2019)
  • Tlotlo Tsamaase, “Virtual Snapshot” (Botswana, 2019)