We are thrilled to announce the winners for this year's American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Amber Sparks. Thank you to everyone who submitted. The winning stories will be published in the magazine’s fall issue. _____ First-Place Prize: "The Old Woman at the Edge of the Cliff" by Ariel Berry. Judge Amber Sparks writes, "This incredible, careful story read like an excavated fairy tale—brand new to us, but also somehow old as humans, and strange and sad as the wilder parts of the
NEWS
Best of the Net 2017!
We are thrilled to announce that two ASF stories—"Endangered" by Allegra Hyde and "A Bruise the Size and Shape of a Door Handle" by Daisy Johnson—have won Best of the Net 2017. Congratulations to all the winners! Allegra Hyde's "Endangered" 'The artists were kept in cages. This was for their own good. The world had gotten really ugly, really fast, and the artists, generally, did not have the skills to survive." (Read the entire story here.) Daisy Johnson's "A Bruise the Size and Shape of a
Announcing the Winners of the Insider Prize
Submissions to The Insider Prize—a writing contest for incarcerated writers in Texas, which we held for the first time this year—came to us in envelopes of many sizes. Most had been previously opened, with a red TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS stamp on the inside of the lip of the envelope that had been taped shut after an inspection. Some were composed on a typewriter. Others were handwritten. Like many literary journals, American Short Fiction accepts only electronic submissions. And while
The Stars at Night 2017
[Please note that this event has passed. Keep an eye on this space for information about The Stars at Night 2020, a virtual celebration of literary community!] Join us on the night of Thursday, November 2nd, for our second annual The Stars at Night, a beer-and-boots gala celebrating American Short Fiction, our Texas heritage, and our city's writers and those who champion them. Come for the live country music and dancing (courtesy of the great Weldon Henson and his band!), and stay for the
2017 American Short Fiction Prize Winners
We are delighted to announce that Lauren Groff has selected the winners of the 2017 American Short Fiction Prize. The first-place prize goes to Michaela Hansen for her story "The Devil in the Barn." Michaela Hansen is a Northwest native who likes to call Tacoma, Washington home, even though she doesn't always live there. She's a recent graduate of the Texas State University MFA program and her work has been published in McNeese Review, and is forthcoming from Fourth Genre. When she's not
ASF Goes Back to School: Our Second Annual Back Issue Giveaway
Last year, we shipped over 150 free back issues of American Short Fiction to colleges and universities including Rowan University, the University of Iowa, the University of Wisconsin, Towson University, Missouri State University, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. If you're a creative writing instructor who's teaching a workshop at a U.S. college or university this fall, we'd be happy to send you a box of back issues to use in your classroom. These could be a teaching tool, or a little