410Z Spring 2026 Literary Roundtable

410Z  Literary Roundtable
Eight Sessions
Instructors: Yasha Arant, Pat Bangs
Thursdays, 2:15—3:40, Mar. 26—May 14
This is an ongoing short story discussion class in which we will begin a new anthology, The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story, edited by John Freeman. Published by Penguin Press, 2021 (HB), 2022 (Paper). The book is available to order online from a variety of sources. It is also available on Kindle and audio. The anthology includes 50 stories and is a selection of the best and most representative contemporary American short fiction from 1970 to 2020, including such authors as Ursula K. LeGuin, Toni Cade Bambara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, and Ted Chiang.
Yasha Haas Arant is a long-time OLLI Mason member and has been participating in the Literary Roundtable for about three years. She holds a fine arts degree from Notre Dame College in Ohio and retired from Lockheed Martin after 29 years. She currently participates in three book clubs and has had a life-long love of literature.
Pat Bangs is a long-time member of OLLI Mason and serves as a co-chair of the Literature, Language and Theater program planning committee. She has attended the Literary Roundtable for a decade and holds an MFA in fiction from George Mason University. She loves the short story format.