Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Others | 1972 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 2 | Intersect | 1974 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 3 | Various Miracles | 1985 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 4 | The Orange Fish | 1989 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 5 | Coming to Canada | 1992 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 6 | Dressing Up for the Carnival | 2000 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 7 | Thirteen Hands And Other Plays | 2002 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 8 | The Collected Stories of Carol Shields | 2004 | Carol Shields | Buy |
| 9 | The Collected Poetry of Carol Shields | 2021 | Carol Shields | Buy |
Carol Shields worked in short forms throughout her career alongside her novels. Her earliest publications were poetry collections: Others came out in 1972 and Intersect in 1974, both small-press volumes that established her voice and her interest in the textures of daily experience. She returned to verse later in her career, and the posthumous Collected Poetry (2021) gathered that work for a wider audience.
Her short story collections show the same qualities that made her novels distinctive: precise observation, dry humour, and a willingness to let an ordinary moment carry a great deal of weight. Various Miracles (1985) and The Orange Fish (1989) both received strong critical attention. Dressing Up for the Carnival (2000) was her final story collection published in her lifetime. The Collected Stories (2004), assembled after her death in 2003, draws from all three collections and remains the best single introduction to her fiction in short form.