Edward J. (Edward Joseph) O'Brien

Born in Ireland in 1890, Edward J. O'Brien became an important literary critic, editor, and anthologist whose work centered on the short story. He built his reputation in the United States, where he argued that short fiction deserved serious attention as an art form rather than being treated as minor magazine writing.

His lasting claim to fame is the long-running Best Short Stories series, which began with stories from 1915 and continued under his guidance until a posthumous 1941 volume. Through those yearly selections and his criticism, he helped introduce readers to new writers, track changes in magazine fiction, and define standards for the modern short story.

O'Brien died in 1941. Although he is less widely known now than many of the authors he promoted, his influence was substantial: for decades, his judgment helped shape the American short-story canon and the conversation around it.