SPRING HAS SPRUNG

... or almost. Our Spring issue will be hitting subscriber mailboxes and bookstore shelves next week. To tantalize you, we have selected two choice excerpts. One from the powerful Civil War story "The Peripatetic Coffin" by Ethan Rutherford (available here), the other from the darkly funny "Damage Control" by Amber Dermont, below:

Shauna Pearlman is fifteen, the lanky, unloved daughter of a pair of corporate lawyers. She and her family moved from Manhattan to Houston a few months ago to take advantage of the recent rash of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and indictments. In order to aid her daughter's transition, her mother determined that charm school would be the best place for Shauna to "gain some self-respect and find a decent boyfriend already." Seven weeks into the twelve-week Dining and Decorum Program, and Shauna is my least accomplished student. She lies during Getting to Know You and forgets to listen during Getting to Know Others. She fumbled with her corncob throughout the Difficult-To-Eat Food Tutorial and flunked the ABC's of Formal Dining when she clamped down on Peter Castle's crotch with a pair of biscuit tongs. Shauna is my special case, my Eliza Doolittle, my Kiss Me Kate, my shrew to tame.

You can purchase this issue in our web marketplace.

Posted by ASF on May 1, 2008

WE HAVE A CONTEST WINNER!

Judge Julie Orringer selected Anne Leigh Parrish as American Short Fiction's 2007 Short Story Contest winner. Parrish's story, "All the Roads That Lead from Home," has "terrific momentum" and "a lot at stake," Orringer said. 
 
Orringer complimented the story's pacing and the unlikely friendship that develops between two of the story's characters. 

Parrish's short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in The Virginia Quarterly Review, New Century Voices, and Clackamas Literary Review. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children, and has taught creative writing at the University of Washington Women's Center and at the Richard Hugo House.
 
"Dyads" by Jacob M. Appel, is our second-place winner. Orringer found the story "beautifully written."
 
First place winner Parrish will receive a prize of $1,000 and publication in our summer issue. Appel will receive $500 for second place.
 
Julie Orringer, who judged the contest, is the author of the fiction collection How to Breathe Underwater, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year. Her stories have appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, Ploughshares, Zoetrope: All-Story, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Best New American Voices, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. She teaches creative writing at the University of Michigan.

WINTER 2008 ISSUE HOT OFF THE PRESS

Our Winter 2008 issue will be arriving in subscribers' mailboxes in mid-February. We're very excited about the issue, which features work by Joyce Carol Oates, Dagoberto Gilb, Don Lee, Kate Braverman, and Michael Guista. An excerpt of Joyce Carol Oates's story "The Glazers" can be found here.

ASF AT AWP

January 30 through February 2, we'll be at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in New York. The book fair is open to the public on Saturday, February 2. Stop by our booth and say hello! We're booth B105 in Americas Hall II at the Hilton New York.

CONTEST JUDGING UNDERWAY

Thanks to all who entered! We have been busy reading the contest submissions--and we are awestruck by all the talent. Very shortly, we'll be sending on the finalists to judge Julie Orringer, who will select the first and second place winners.

NEW CONTEST OPEN

American Short Fiction is happy to announce our 2007 Short Story Contest is open! The contest runs through December 1. First prize is $1,000 with publication; second prize is $500. Julie Orringer, author of the award-winning collection How to Breathe Underwater, will judge. Winners will be announced March 31, 2008.

Get the complete details here, or download a PDF with the full rules. We look forward to your entries!

Please note: We welcome submissions from authors of all nationalities.

ASF HOSTS TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT ON NOVEMBER 3

American Short Fiction, the Texas Book Festival, and the Continental Club are hosting a gathering of the country's most exciting fiction and nonfiction writers on Saturday, November 3. Writers as diverse as "genius grant" winner and New Yorker contributor George Saunders, graphic biographer Andrew Helfer, memoirist Emily Rapp, and musician and novelist Wesley Stace.

American Short Fiction's special guest is Vendela Vida, author of the novels Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and And Now You Can Go as well as the nonfiction volume Girls on the Verge. Vida was published in our Winter 2007 issue.

Emcee for the night is humorist Owen Egerton, the author of the story collection How Best to Avoid Dying and the novel Marshall Hollenzer Is Driving. He is also the co-creator of "The Sinus Show" and was recently named Best Local Author by the Austin Chronicle.

The event is open and free to the public but seating is limited. The authors' books will be for sale and a full bar is available. More details here.
 
Date: November 3
Time: 8:00 - 10:30 p.m.
Location: The Continental Club Gallery (1313A S. Congress)

FALL 2007 ISSUE IN BOOKSTORES

Our Fall issue, featuring work from Chris Bachelder, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Maud Casey, James Scott, M.O. Walsh, and Naomi Williams, is on bookstore shelves now. Read the editor's introduction to the issue and get your copy today!

SHORT STORY CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED