Canadian vs American speculative fiction

Tar Vol did a recent review of The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & SF, Vol. 2, even though that anthology came out two years ago and contained the best stories from 2023 by Canadian authors.

Aside from the reviewer's kind comments on my story in the antho (see below), what really caught my eye was the following bit (emphasis in the text is mine):

"As an American reviewer, I don’t tend to have many country-specific awards at the front of my mind, but this anthology has every single English-language finalist for the 2024 Aurora Award for best Canadian SF&F Short Fiction, and I’d take it in an absolute walk over the theoretically-worldwide Hugo shortlist for Short Story from the same year."

That was a pleasant surprise, to hear an American reviewer say they prefer the stories in this antho over the Hugo finalists that year. 

And I will immodestly mention what they had to say about my entry in the anthology:  

"And one thing I knew going into the anthology is that the quality at the top was not going to be a problem. If I Should Fall Behind by Douglas Smith was one of the best stories I read all year, and it absolutely holds up, even on multiple rereads. The narrative voice catches the eye and generates easy immersion, and the story itself is poignant and heart-wrenching. 

"One thing I often find missing in reprint anthologies is the story that’s worth the price of admission—with so much fiction being available elsewhere, why spend the money on this book in particular? But with “If I Should Fall Behind,” Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction, Volume Two passes that test with flying colors. ... it’s tremendous."

Very cool. Besides this anthology, "If I Should Fall Behind" also appears in my latest collection, Borderlanz: Tales From the Edges, as the closing story.