The
best The Fish Anthologies & Novels
These are the Fish Anthologies to date. Since 1995, Fish Publishing has produced an annual anthology of the winning stories from its writing competitions. It is a unique collection and features work from some writers who are now well-known and widely acclaimed. It has always been Fish Publishing’s aim to produce the very best in new short fiction, completely free from restriction on style or origin. The writers represented in these anthologies come from all over the world.
Our judging process has always been impartial and our judges include such luminaries as Pat McCabe, Roddy Doyle and Joseph o'Connor. All entries are judged anonymously with, each story being judged entirely on its own merits.
Some of the anthologies are, alas, now out of print. This is partly due to a devastating fire, which destroyed the Fish offices a couple of years ago, taking much of our book stock with it. However you can still buy some of our titles through The Fish Shop Or you can buy on-line by clicking on the more recent images.
We hope you enjoy browsing through our back catalogue. You can see some stories from these Anthologies in our Short Stories to Read Online section. If you have any queries about our previous short story collections you can email us at info@fishpublishing.com
Enjoy.
2007 A Paper Heart Is Beating, A Paper Boat Sets Sail
This 2007 Fish Anthology brings together thirty-six of the best stories from the 2006/7 Fish Short Fiction competitions. These are the winners of the Fish-Knife Award, Short Histories II, the Historical One-Page Prize,the Fish SHort Story Competition 2006 and the best from the 2007 One Page Prize and the winning poems from the second Fish International Poetry Prize. The stories come from the UK, US, Cananda, Australia, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, the Czech Republic and, of course, Ireland.. (Read extracts on-line)
2006 Grandmother, Girl, Wolf and Other Stories
This twelfth Fish Anthology brings together the sexteen best stories from the 2005/6 Fish Short Story Prize, the ten best from the 2006 One Page Prize and the fisve winning poems from the inaugural Fish International Poetry Prize. The stories and poems come from diverse countries, and represent the best emerging talent in short fiction.
2006 All the King's Horses - The Short Histories Anthology
All The King's Horses and Other Stories is the Anthology of the winning entries for the Short Histories Prize, jointly run by Fish Publishing and The Historical Novel Society. It includes ten short stories set in a wide variety of historical contexts. It is highly recommended by author and judge of the competition, Michel Faber.
2005 The Mountains of Mars
Literary anthologies, especially of new work, act as a kind of indicator to a society’s concerns. This Short Story collection, such a sharp and useful enterprise, goes beyond that. Its internationality demonstrates how our concerns are held in common across the globe. - Frank Delaney
2004 Spoonface
From the daily routine of a carer in ‘Spoonface’, to the powerful, recurring image of a freezer in ‘Shadow Lives’. It was the remarkable focus on the ordinary that made these Fish short stories such a pleasure to read. - Hugo Hamilton
2003 Feathers & Cigarettes
In a world where twenty screens of bullshit seem to be revolving without respite… there is nothing that can surpass the ‘explosion of art’ and its obstinate insistence on making sense of things. These dedicated scribes, as though some secret society, heroically, humbly, are espousing a noble cause. - Pat McCabe
2002 Franklin's Grace
It’s supposed to be a short form, the good story, but it has about it a largeness I love. There is something to admire in all these tales, these strange, insistent inventions… they take place in a rich and satisfying mixture of places, countries of the mind and heart, ranging from the deadly streets of Sarajevo to the wilder shores of love. - Christopher Hope
2001
Asylum 1928
There are many fine stories in this new Fish Anthology. Some small and intimate, no less for that, some reaching out through the personal for a wider, more universal perspective. What they share in common though, is one person, the writer, wishing to tell a story - grand, simple, complex or everyday - and by turn, wishing to engage you the reader. - Clem Cairns.
2000 Five O'Clock Shadow
I sometimes feel like issuing a health warning with the Fish Anthology these stories may seriously damage your outlook - The seventeen stories in this book come from all over the place, but they have in common their originality. Here is the view of writers who see the world in their unique way, and have the imagination, talent, and the courage to refine it into that most surprising of all art forms the short story. - Clem Cairns.
1999
From the Bering Strait
Every story in this book makes its own original way in the world. Knowing which are the telling moments, and showing them to us. Holding back when necessary. And as the narrator of the winning story casually remarks, Sometimes, it's the small things that really amaze me. - Clem Cairns.
1998
Scrap Magic
Read this collection. I hope you say to yourself like I did on many occasions, "That's deadly. How did they think of that? I wouldn't have thought of it." - Eamonn Sweeney
1997
Dog Days
The short story is one of the greatest, most challenging, most infuriating forms of literature. They look so easy! That's the thing about really good short stories, like the ones in this book, they don't read like they were written. They read like they simply grew on the page. - Joseph O'Connor
1996
The Stranger
The writers in this collection can write short stories . . .their quality is the only thing they have in common. - Roddy Doyle
1995 The Fish Garden
This is the first volume of short stories from Ireland's newest publishing
house. The aim of Fish 
is
to publish new writers, and we plan to have many years of exciting and
enjoyable anthologies of stories from writers from all over the world.
- Clem Cairns.
Other Publications from Fish Publishing
Altergeist
You only know who you can't trust. You can't trust the law, because there's none in New Ireland. You can't trust the Church, because they think they're the law. And you can't trust the State, because they think they're the Church And most of all, you can't trust your friends, because you can't remember who they were anymore.
Small
City Blues
A memoir of urban life, chronicled through its central character, Mackey. From momentary reflections to stories about his break with childhood and adolescence, the early introduction to the Big World, the discovery of romance and then love, the powerlessness of ordinary people, the weaknesses that end in disappointment and the strengths that help them seek redemption and belonging.
The
Woman Who Swallowed the Book of
Kells
Ian Wild's stories mix Monty Python with Hammer Horror, and the Beatles with Shakespeare, but his anarchic style and sense of humour remain very much his own in this collection of tall tales from another planet. Where else would you find vengeful organs, the inside story of Eleanor Rigby, mobile moustaches, and Vikings looting a Cork City branch of Abracababra?" - Eamonn Sweeney.
Short Stories to read online
Read online some of the winning entries from previous Fish Anthologies. These are examples of the calibre that win the Fish Short Story Prize. Short Stories to read online
Writing Short Stories
Our new Writing feature provides some suggestions on the art of story writing. The page is designed to provide writers with on-going, constructive information about how other authors achieved success with writing short fiction. For more information visit our Writing Short Stories page.
Online Book Shop
You can buy Fish Publishing's Anthologies of short stories on-line in our online book shop – The Fish Shop.
Online Entry
Our Fish-On-Line online entry system provides a convenient way to enter our contests on the web. Register as an online Fish author and you can enter current and forthcoming Writing Contests. Writers may also enter any of our competitions by post. See our Writing Contests page for full details
Writing Contests - Assistance
Fish Publishing offers an Editorial Consultancy and Critique Service. designed to provide writers thinking of entering writing competitions with constructive feedback on their work, whether it is a complete novel or just the beginnings. The Service is available to writers prior to entering the Fish writing competitions.