Faber to publish Anna Burns short story in new series

Faber has announced its third set of Faber Stories series to be published in October, featuring the likes of Man Booker winner Anna Burns and critically acclaimed US novelist Barbara Kingsolver.

The 10 titles will be published on 17th October 2019, as part of Faber's 90th anniversary celebrations. Faber announced the Faber Stories publishing programme last September, to mark its 90th anniversary in 2019 as a "publisher of distinctive literature", featuring short stories, poetry and new branding.

“Bringing together past, present and future, Faber Stories have been put together in collaboration with Gaby Wood, and this final set includes classic and rare stories from Anna Burns, Marianne Moore, Milan Kundera, Barbara Kingsolver and Adrian Tomine,” Faber said of the third series. “Each of the titles once again features a cover by a different designer working to the distinctive and much-loved series look.”

The collection includes 'Mostly Hero' by Anna Burns written before she completed her Man Booker-winning novel Milkman. It is described as “a hilarious, unflinching, dark tale, with shades of Quentin Tarantino and the Brothers Grimm,” by Faber. Originally self-published online, it is available in print for the first time and will be released simultaneously as an audio book, read by the author.  

Gaby Wood, the literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation and curator of the Faber Stories series, said: "For the third set of Faber Stories, we pushed our archival and creative inquiries a little further. The late Marianne Moore, known as a Faber poet, once lent her spry and witty voice to a prose retelling of three fairy tales by Charles Perrault, and it’s a pleasure to revive them here. The great graphic storyteller Adrian Tomine has reworked 'Intruders' especially to fit the format of this series.

"An early story by Milan Kundera about ageing and the dynamics of sexual power is brought to new readers, accompanied by praise it once received from Philip Roth. Two sharp, strange stories by the long-neglected Celia Fremlin should bring her a new generation of fans. And 'Giacomo Joyce', James Joyce’s fragile, fragmented meditation on unrequited love, has been given much thought by the novelist Colm Tóibín, who wrote a new introduction, and by the artist Leanne Shapton, who designed the book’s cover based on the handwriting in Joyce’s original manuscript.

“Those are just half of the stories in store, and each is its own kind of treasure.”