Huge congrats to the authors whose ASF stories were recognized as notables, or distinguished reads, in the most recent Best American Short Stories and Best American Non Required Reading anthologies. From Vol. 15, Issue 54 Laura van den Berg's "Lessons," which is included in her newest collection, The Isle of Youth, out November 5th (in both BASS and BANRR). Robert Boswell's "American Epiphany" (in BANRR). Robert's newest novel, Tumbledown, was published by Graywolf in … [Read more...] about Notably
Things American: Egyptian Revolution Reading
While the current crisis in Egypt makes the front pages of our papers on an almost-daily basis, the country's complex, hopeful, and conflicted revolutionary history has also been written in its fiction. This week at ASF, we're featuring two essays that explore the political climate and events that shaped region - through the filter of literature. There was something slightly unsatisfying about the classes on the politics and history of the Middle East that I took as an undergraduate. … [Read more...] about Things American: Egyptian Revolution Reading
Things American: Sonallah Ibrahim’s Fiction of Politics and Emptiness
While the current crisis in Egypt makes the front pages of our papers on an almost-daily basis, the country’s complex, hopeful, and conflicted revolutionary history has also been written in its fiction. This week at ASF, we’re featuring two essays that explore the political climate and events that shaped region – through the filter of literature. The Egyptian writer Sonallah Ibrahim has been getting much attention in the U.S. these days. In March, his 1966 novel, That Smell, was published in … [Read more...] about Things American: Sonallah Ibrahim’s Fiction of Politics and Emptiness
Things American: NFL Preview
Welcome to American Short Fiction's NFL Preview. To mark the beginning of the 16-week season, we've asked writers and editors from around the country to comment on the their teams, through the filter of fiction. Follow the links to see who gets the Barry Hannah treatment and which team is more like Joan Didion's later works than her earliest. As you peruse, you'll see we have multiple approaches to the same teams, with a few surprises in store—if you happen to stumble upon Oakland Raiders … [Read more...] about Things American: NFL Preview
ASF Alumni: Jean Thompson
Since Jean Thompson was first published in American Short Fiction in the Winter 1993 issue, her short story collection Who Do You Love was nominated for The National Book Award, and her novel, Wide Blue Yonder, was named a New York Times Notable Book and Chicago Tribune Best Fiction selection. Her newest novel, The Humanity Project (Blue Rider Press, March 2013) beautifully tackles the grand and complicated notion of humanity, while excavating a glimmer of hope in our foreclosed and sometimes … [Read more...] about ASF Alumni: Jean Thompson
What We’re Reading
At the close of each month, we ask members of our ASF staff to share books that have recently graduated from their to-be-read piles, along with a GIF that relates to their experience of the book, in whatever way. This morning, we learned the sad news that Seamus Heaney had passed away. So we took North off our shelves and stepped into the embrace of his words. … [Read more...] about What We’re Reading