*** Thank you to everyone who entered this year's short fiction contest, judged by Victor LaValle. *** — The America Short Fiction Contest is now closed for submissions. This year we are honored to have Victor LaValle as our guest judge. Please stay tuned for this year's winners. General Guidelines - Submit your entry online between March 30, 2016 – June 1, 2016 June 15, 2016. - The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in our spring issue. One … [Read more...] about ASF Short Fiction Contest Now Closed
Announcing Our American Short Fiction Contest Winners!
We are so pleased to announce that Elizabeth McCracken has chosen the winners of our 2015 American Short Fiction Contest. The first place prize goes to Leona Theis, for her story "How Sylvie Failed to Become a Better Person Through Yoga." McCracken writes, "This unsettling story about a 1970s summer sneaks up on the reader: at first it seems as aimless as its main character, but in the end it is a curiously moving story about self-knowledge and moral quandaries; it's also darkly funny, and … [Read more...] about Announcing Our American Short Fiction Contest Winners!
Excerpt: Honey from the Lion, by Matthew Neill Null
Tomorrow, to our delight, Lookout Books will publish Honey from the Lion, the debut novel of Matthew Neill Null. The novel travels the same West Virginian logging terrain as "The Slow Lean of Time," the stunner of a story we published in our Spring 2014 issue (if you would like to read that story, you can pick up a copy in our store; choose Issue 57 from among the back issues). Like "The Slow Lean of Time," Honey from the Lion employs a sweeping omniscient narration almost Victorian in its … [Read more...] about Excerpt: Honey from the Lion, by Matthew Neill Null
New: Audio of Authors Reading Their Online Fiction
Big news, friends. Since January, we've been working on a little project: from here on out, you'll be able to find audio content for our online exclusives embedded with the text of the stories and over on our Soundcloud page. … [Read more...] about New: Audio of Authors Reading Their Online Fiction
Now closed: the American Short Fiction Contest
The deadline to submit to our American Short Fiction Contest was JULY 1. The contest is now closed—our thanks to all who submitted! We look forward to announcing the winners, chosen by judge Elizabeth McCracken, soon. We are excited to announce that the ASF Short Story Contest opened for submissions on March 15. This year we are honored to have the fabulous author (and latest winner of the Story Prize) Elizabeth McCracken as our guest judge. General Guidelines - Submit your entry … [Read more...] about Now closed: the American Short Fiction Contest
Best Words of 2014
Tick-tock, and another year rolls off the clock. We asked our staff here at American Short Fiction what they were reading in 2014. Words, words, words, they said, and proceeded to specify. Here, in no particular order, are some of our favorite lines of literature from the past year, with a few rediscovered oldies thrown in for good measure. The Germans have a saying they like to share around this time of year: Guten Rutsch, they say, which means, good slide, as in slip easily into the new … [Read more...] about Best Words of 2014