Editorial Outtakes is a series in which we publish excerpts from recent books that you won’t find anywhere else because, prior the publication, these sections were cut. This installment of Editorial Outtakes features writer Mike Scalise, author of The Brand New Catastrophe, reflecting on some of the particularities of revealing character details in nonfiction. Given that we all grow up (and, presumably, learn a lot about ourselves and the world around us), how does a writer of memoir go about … [Read more...] about Editorial Outtakes: Mike Scalise
NOTEBOOK FEATURE
Contest Closed: American Short(er) Fiction Contest
The American Short(er) Fiction Contest is now closed. Thank you all for your submissions. This year we are honored to have Justin Torres as our guest judge. We will be announcing the winners on this site. General Guidelines – Submit your entry online between October 25, 2016 – February 1, 2017. The submission deadline has been extended to February 17th. The contest is now closed. – The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in a future issue of ASF. One … [Read more...] about Contest Closed: American Short(er) Fiction Contest
Things American: Treatment vs. Healing
1. The nurse woke me at four-thirty in the morning to take my blood. Someone else had taken it less than six hours before, in the emergency room, but pointing that out seemed disrespectful because he was a nurse with years of schooling behind him, and I was just another suicidal senior in high school. After he left with five vials of my blood, and I was sufficiently drowsy, I rested fitfully until it was time for the morning devotional at six. Wrapped in a beltless robe and wearing … [Read more...] about Things American: Treatment vs. Healing
Every Notebook, Photograph, and Letter: An Interview with Jan Ellison
Jan Ellison’s debut novel, A Small Indiscretion, came out in paperback this spring. The book takes readers across decades and continents—from Berkeley to London and back again—to show us what happens to a happily married mother of three when the mistakes and youthful transgressions of years past unexpectedly turn up to meddle with the present. As with her O. Henry Prize-winning story, "The Company of Men," Ellison demonstrates her ability to render without apology the not-so-nice sides of her … [Read more...] about Every Notebook, Photograph, and Letter: An Interview with Jan Ellison
Seeing Backward: An Interview with Whitney Terrell
In the novels The Huntsman and The King of Kings County, Whitney Terrell tackled politically charged problems like housing segregation and institutional racism. Both novels are set in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo., the near epicenter of the United States, where these issues have erupted on a national stage. Terrell’s third novel, The Good Lieutenant, features a protagonist from the same landscape, Emma Fowler, who attempts to escape it and the burden of family by becoming an officer in the … [Read more...] about Seeing Backward: An Interview with Whitney Terrell
ASF Short Fiction Contest Now Closed
*** 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