As we continue our year-end giving campaign, we want to take this opportunity to look back with gratitude for all that our readers, authors, staff, and supporters have helped American Short Fiction accomplish. So far this year, we've published 21 writers in our gorgeously designed literary journals and online exclusives, paying our writers competitive rates for their work and promoting them at events in Austin and around the country. We've published dozens of author interviews, reviews, and ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Web Exclusive Interview: G.E. Stiteler
"Sickness had reached our valley at last." In August's Web Exclusive flash fiction, "Father as Astronaut," a young woman mourns the loss of her father in an increasingly hostile world where everyone is fighting for survival. It's a story that's wildly imaginative, unsettling, and full of heart. We talked to G.E. Stiteler about this story, about a world in trouble, and what gives her peace. Erin McReynolds: What led you to decide to set the narrator's loss in the midst of widespread ... [READ MORE]
Editorial Outtake: If You Leave Me
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 an original chapter from Crystal Hana Kim's debut novel If You Leave Me. A moving story of love during wartime, the novel's poses difficult questions about whether it's better to choose security over love and safety over freedom. Here, Kim shares her thoughts—and an example of a ... [READ MORE]
Editorial Outtakes: The Floating World
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 a deleted scene from novelist C. Morgan Babst's debut The Floating World. Published in 2017 and out this month in paperback, Babst's acclaimed story of life in New Orleans following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina has been hailed as a poetic and tragic family tale with the ... [READ MORE]
The Stars at Night 2018: A Celebration of Writing and Community
[Please note: this event has passed. Keep your eyes on our website for information about the Stars at Night 2020!] Join us on Thursday, October 11th, for The Stars at Night 2018, a bright Texas evening of songwriting, honky-tonk, and literary splendor. Come for the live country music and readings, and stay for the open bar, delicious food, silent auction, and the historic charm of Mercury Hall, complete with beautiful gardens and rambling live oaks on a bright starry lawn. The evening will ... [READ MORE]
Web Exclusive Interview: Corey Flintoff
Yes, that Corey Flintoff! When we came across the recently retired NPR reporter's flash fiction story, "Dream of the White Worm," we were of course intrigued. Then we discovered that with an honest, unassuming domestic scene, he'd managed to capture the disconnect between people who may love and care for each other deeply, but never fully understand the fears and challenges the others face. It was pretty cool to talk to someone whose voice we could hear in our heads... and to get to use the word ... [READ MORE]