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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Venita Blackburn

Scars

Venita Blackburn
Scars

The pitcher just struck out Esperanza Duarte. Right then redemption was up to me. I have the biggest legs of all the Lady Mantises. Daddy used to always say people here like it when you can do something special but not too special. Our town isn’t really small. We don’t have rolling hay fields or anything like that. It’s not big either, though. Teenagers like me and T don’t have much going on; of course there is more to do than go shopping and get pregnant. There’s softball. I tried to give … [Read more...] about Scars

MFA for All Fall 2026: New classes with Laura van den Berg, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Mat Johnson! Register now.

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Join us for Story Sessions on 9/10 at Huston-Tillotson University: featuring Tayari Jones in conversation with ZZ Packer. RSVP now to save your spot!

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