Well this certainly suggests a working definition of the critical fiction :
“Is and is not; this is a common Wolfe modality, here referring to the way all these stories are both imitations and commentaries on the originals, or else they are new creations that simply interact on the side with some other literature. Either way, they constitute Wolfe’s most substantial literary criticism by a long shot; you could say he does his literary criticism almost exclusively by writing more stories.”
From “A Story” by Kim Stanley Robinson, first published as an introduction to The Very Best of Gene Wolfe. The full introduction can be read here : http://www.nyrsf.com/2013/09/a-story-kim-stanley-robinson.html
Your correspondent acknowledges that the name Gene Wolfe is missing from the Reading List. I look forward to reading the stories in this collection and will report on my findings.