ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Selena Anderson, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: The inspiration for writing “A Shameful Citizen” came when I started noticing a few new patterns in my life. I was getting predictive text but with people. I’d go … [Read more...] about A Shameful Citizen
Audition
ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Denne Michele Norris, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: I wrote "Audition" in a four week fury of inspiration during my first year living in New York City. It was a chaotic time, as first years in New York often … [Read more...] about Audition
Introducing the American Short Fiction Workshop
This year, we are delighted to launch the inaugural American Short Fiction Workshop. From Thursday, May 26 to Monday, May 30, we will welcome twenty-four writers to Austin to study with short-story masters Karen Russell and Dantiel W. Moniz over the course of four energizing, enlightening days. Participants will attend daily fiction workshops, one-on-one meetings with distinguished faculty, and craft lectures by faculty, special guests, and ASF editors. We’ll provide space to generate new … [Read more...] about Introducing the American Short Fiction Workshop
Issue 74
Featuring new stories by Sanjay Agnihotri, Mala Gaonkar, hurmat kazmi, Taisia Kitaiskaia, Morgan Thomas, and Kirstin Valdez Quade. Kirstin Valdez Quade, “After Hours at the Acacia Park Pool” Laura’s breasts notwithstanding, the summer seemed to be shaping up perfectly. But then, toward the end of June, Mr. Swanson from next door ran away with an eighteen-year-old girl who worked at the Breezy Freeze. “Of course I knew about her,” Laura overheard Mrs. Swanson telling her mother … [Read more...] about Issue 74
ASF’s Favorite Reads of 2021
Love them or hate them, year-end wrap-ups and best-of lists can help us make sense of our moment in history, and what moment in history has demanded that we search for clarity, meaning, and comfort like 2021? So, instead of offering a list of ASF staffers' favorite books published this year, we asked our editors about the books they read this year that sustained, inspired, moved, or changed them, regardless of when the book was published. What follows, then, is a hodgepodge of literary gems, … [Read more...] about ASF’s Favorite Reads of 2021
Announcing the 2021 Winners of The Insider Prize, Selected by Mitchell S. Jackson
A few weeks ago, we typed the name “Eva Shelton” into the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, looking for an address so that we could send her some exciting news: she’d won The Insider Prize for fiction. Sponsored by American Short Fiction and now in its fourth year, the prize highlights work by incarcerated writers in Texas, whether they live in state or federal prisons, local jails, or immigration detention centers. This time around the guest judge was Mitchell S. Jackson—who … [Read more...] about Announcing the 2021 Winners of The Insider Prize, Selected by Mitchell S. Jackson