We are thrilled to announce the winners for this year's American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson. Thank you to everyone who submitted—it is always uplifting to read your work. Congratulations to the winners! _____ First-Place Prize: "A High School Production of Titus Andronicus" by Greg Schutz Judge Brandon Hobson writes, "'A High School Production of Titus Andronicus' is an extraordinary exploration of family and grief. Written in spare, rich … [Read more...] about The 2022 American Short(er) Fiction Prize Winners
Playing the Ghost
I quit Texas after Lorelei troubled my waters. Ten, fifteen years ago. I drove to New Orleans, then Biloxi and Kansas City, wherever there was nine-ball action. If I found a motor court laid out like a horseshoe, I’d rent a room for a week. A month if the pool hall had Gold Crown tables, longer yet if I met a friendly waitress. I’d been hustling in Knoxville for a year before Jesse Vodinh kicked in my door at the Sunset Motel and accused me of throwing games. Jesse was a stake horse with a … [Read more...] about Playing the Ghost
On Balconies
Everybody loved Berlin except for me and Emory. From my rented bed I could hear the others laughing in the streets. I’d pass the empty bottles on the curbs, lined up like tiny cities for the homeless to collect. Where New York had rooftops; Berlin had balconies, and everywhere I went I was sad and dumb and twenty-two—an age that pretends to matter when it doesn’t. — Emory and I didn’t like each other, but we didn’t have anyone else. We moved to Berlin on the same day in September, and a mutual … [Read more...] about On Balconies
Matt’s
Day after the school shooting in Florida, my son’s elementary practices lockdown. When I pick his five-year-old self up in the parking lot crowded with parents I don’t breathe. I’ve been drinking, is why, so I hold my body in my mouth. “Noel and his partner are in town, we’re meeting for dinner at Matt’s,” I say to my boy, loading him in the car. Strapping him down. “We're good at traveling together,” my brother tells me at the restaurant. He takes a bite from his Juicy Lucy. “We're … [Read more...] about Matt’s
The 2021 Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize Winners
We are delighted to announce that our brilliant judge, R.O. Kwon, has selected the winners of this year's The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize. We consider it our privilege to have spent time with so many terrific submissions—thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work! Winner: Caroline Schmidt for “Particular Luck” Of Schmidt's story, Kwon writes, "I was especially moved by the physicality of grief in “Particular Luck,” its knowledge of how we are tied, in joy as in sorrow, to … [Read more...] about The 2021 Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize Winners
American Short(er) Fiction Prize 2022
We are thrilled to announce that Brandon Hobson—author of Where the Dead Sit Talking, a National Book Award Finalist, and the 2021 novel The Removed, hailed by the NPR as "deeply resonant and profound"— will judge our 2022 American Short(er) Fiction Prize. The prize recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication. Previous winners of the Short(er) Fiction Prize have gone on to be anthologized in places such as The … [Read more...] about American Short(er) Fiction Prize 2022