The Best Australian Stories , Kim Scott selects the year's most outstanding short fiction. 'A story can lure us into gaps and spaces that feel sacred in their silence. 'These stories conjure disparate moods, from delight to melancholy. A family Christmas lays bare a relationship grown cold. A father pursues the art of the birdcall in an effort to speak his son's language. A cat becomes a conduit for a neighbour's true feelings while Brisbane floods. Striking new voices blend seamlessly with those of celebrated storytellers to form a collection that will leave an indelible impression long after the last word is read.

Static / Cate Kennedy
The knife / Laurie Speed
Lebanon / Favel Parrett
Birdcall: 33°21'N 43°47'E / Liam Davison
The traveller / Ryan O'Neill
Eating oysters / Marion Halligan
J'aime Rose / Tegan Bennett Daylight
Frank O'Hara's animals / Tara Cartland
The cartography of foxes / Theresa Layton
Keilor cranium / Wayne Macauley
China / Tony Birch
Old friends / Andy Kissane
Kindling / Kalinda Ashton
Snow on the mountains / Chris Somerville
Staff dining / Bruce Pascoe
Hunting animals / Ruby J. Murray
Solstice / James Bradley
Lungfish / Madeleine Griffeth
Wrecking ball / Lucy Trelor
Mortal sins / Sinead Roarty
The other side of the river / Georgie Blain
The forgeries / Robyn Mundy
The cat / Ashley Hay
The eagle / John Kinsella
The eulogy / Eric Yoshiaki Dando