Publication of Xanadu marks the beginning of an original anthology series that will include brand-new stories by some of the finest writers in the world. This volume opens with "The Poacher" by Ursula K. Le Guin, a fairytale in the grand tradition. Xanadu also includes "It Comes Lightly Out of the Sea," a new poem by William Stafford, one of the best-known poets in America; "The Hound of Merlin" by Eleanor Arnason, who won both the Philip K. Dick Award and the Tiptree Award in 1992; "The Perfectly Round Bagel" by Robert Abel, who won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1989; "To Scale" by Nebula Award winner Nancy Kress; "Still Life with Woman and Apple" by Leslea Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies; "Unnalash" by Tanith Lee; "The Pale Thin God" by Hugo and Nebula award winner Mike Resnick; "Gravity" by Pat Schneider, poet and playwright; "Time Travel, The Artifact, and A Famous Historical Personage" by Minnesota Book Award-winner Will Shetterly; and a dozen other ventures into the realms of magic, including stories by Lisa Tuttle, Steven Brust, Anna Kirwan-Vogel, Gardner Dozois, and a new poem, "The Ring at Yarrow," by Jane Yolen herself. Contents: Xanadu and porlock, too / Jane Yolen—Dairy queen / Shira Daemon—The harmony / Paul Levinson—Residual Flight / Richard Rowand—Recent collections / Ruth Berman—Mollusk dreams / Nancy Etchemendy—Up the mountain / Sue Y. Wilson—Fortune tellers / Laurie A. Taylor—East of the sun and west of the moon / Claire P. Brown—Witch watch / Anna Kirwan-Vogel—The apple golem / Bruce H. Rogers—Clay / Linda Mannheim—Charon's wife / Julie Kinney—Nvumbi / Steve R. Tem—Tomorrow never knows / Mark A. Garland—Xanadu / Christine Crow—The man who loved the river / Jo Clayton—The night journey / Terri Windling—A report concerning the predator population in the northern part of the forest / Jeremy Beckett—The champion / Tanith Lee—Old woman who created life / Josepha Sherman—Nettie's garden / Elise Matthesen—King of crows / Midori Snyder—Swan/Princess / Jane Yolen—The lizard queen / Michelle Stone—Two poems / Brenda D. Crank—Jo's hair / Susan Palwick—The hunter and the stag / Astrid Julian—Mothballs / Marvin Bell—Armdale rotary horse / Malcolm Beckett—Word drift / Jeanette Ingold—The Asgard philharmonic plays Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture / Lawrence Schimel—Gil / Dan Perez—Gord and fnord go to the zoo / Charles Von Rospach—Calliope / Micole Sudberg—Your essential unsung hero / Nancy Kilpatrick.