ZZ Packer

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The “Best American Short Stories” series may get all the attention, but “New Stories From the South” has published an impressive array of heavyweights since its inception, in 1986—including Rick Bass, Edward P. Jones, John Barth, and Russell Banks. ZZ Packer, a ferociously talented and focused short-story writer herself, curates this year’s selection, which includes fine pieces by Kevin Moffett and Charlie Smith. Her conversation tonight with the blogger Maud Newton is bound to be studded with impious pronouncements like this one, from her introduction: “White Southerners, we are told, ooze with hospitality and charm—that is, when they’re not tying up unsuspecting passersby, Deliverance-style, demanding their quarry squeal like a pig to the tune of ‘Dueling Banjos.’” — Tayt Harlin