The second in a brand-new series of annual anthologies, The Best British Short Stories 2012 reprints the cream of short fiction, by British writers, first published in 2011. These stories first appeared in magazines from Ambit to Granta, in anthologies across various genres from publishers big and small, and in authors' own short story collections. They were broadcast on radio and delivered by mobile phone app. They appeared online at Metazen and Paraxis.
- Emma Jane Unsworth – I Arrive First
- Robert Shearman – The Dark Space in the House in the House in the Garden at the Centre of the World
- Stuart Evers – What’s in Swindon?
- HP Tinker – Alice in Time & Space and Various Major Cities
- Jaki McCarrick – The Visit
- Dan Powell – Half-mown Lawn
- Julian Gough – ‘I’m the Guy Who Wrote The Wild Bunch’
- Joel Lane – Those Who Remember
- Stella Duffy – To Brixton Beach
- Socrates Adams – Wide and Deep
- Jo Lloyd – Tarnished Sorry Open
- Jonathan Trigell – Aperitifs With Mr Hemingway
- Neil Campbell – Sun on Prospect Street
- Ramsey Campbell – The Room Beyond
- Will Self – iAnna
- Alison MacLeod – The Heart of Denis Noble
- Jon McGregor – We Wave and Call
- Jeanette Winterson – All I Know About Gertrude Stein
- Michael Marshall Smith – Sad, Dark Thing
- AK Benedict – The Last Library