An anthology is a set of stories, poems, songs, or other pieces, usually by different people, collected in one book. School literature books are often anthologies. Publishing uses the word in a very ordinary way. The old Greek idea was “a gathering of flowers” — each poem a flower, the book a bunch. Though actually, people stretch it. A TV “anthology series” means each episode is a new story, not one long plot, and that use is very common now. A music anthology can be songs by many artists, or a mix of one artist’s work. The classic picture, though, is many voices in one place, not just “a pile of writing.”