In the context of the collection, the bold move pays off, due in part to a distinct change in atmosphere from other works, including the opening story, 'Pressure Okay' by Jennifer Down, in which a father tries to reconnect with his adult daughter – and himself – after a family loss. Bright flashes of inspired imagery abound; in 'Just Love the Boys' by Melissa Howard, a mother pictures a team of judges holding up gymnastics-style scores for her every parenting move, while 'Headful of Bees' by Chris Womersley captures a vaguely carnal, dream-like encounter between a teenager and his neighbour.

It is this bold curatorship that demonstrates what has been consistently true of the anthology since its inception in 2003: editors Louise Swinn and Zoe Dattner are shrewd arbiters of the dense, fibrous space inhabited by the short story. And if short fiction takes its inspiration from the minutiae of human experience, logging, exploring, and redeeming these banalities into a textured relief map of the universal, then The Sleepers Almanac X, the final instalment of the series, offers a bold example of what the form can do.