Bourbon and Milk is an ongoing series that dives into the perplexing spaces parenting sometimes pushes us, and explores the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. If you’re interested in joining the conversation or contributing a Bourbon and Milk post, query Giuseppe Taurino at: giuseppe [at] americanshortfiction.org. — The world, like the Tower of Babel… [is] made out of stories, and it [is] always on the verge of collapse. That [is] proverbial.” ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Web Exclusive Interview: Erin McGraw
In November's web exclusive, "America," a white teenager in Ohio finds herself awakening in the body of the Puerto Rican "Marisol" from A West Side Story. The story is beguiling at first because of its voice and given the comic richness inherent in the world of high school theater. But then layer upon layer quickly opens up, revealing truths about identity via the innocence and volatility of adolescence. We chatted briefly with author Erin McGraw about appropriation, empathy, and identity in ... [READ MORE]
Things American: In the Air, Election Night 2016
My ears won’t pop, and the bites on my right arm itch, my arm and neck—red flares I can’t ascribe to any particular predator, just marks of Texas. I get a second tiny bottle of whiskey. My taller-than-me daughter sleeps against my shoulder, too old these days, too grown up. We are over the Rockies, Denver to Helena, a tiny plane half full. I get the second whiskey because the flight attendant asks if I want another before she closes out her till. No flight attendant has ever asked me this. I ... [READ MORE]
Things American: Thoughts on Last Night
It felt sad and strange today to be sitting at the helm of a magazine called American Short Fiction. That first word on our masthead, our understanding of what that word means, pulled and pinched and pummeled as it has been over the last few months by our leaders and our pundits and by the new president-elect most of all, took a violent final beating last night, and it was hard, this morning, not to hear a bitter, bruised irony in its syllables. “We’re taking our country back,” cheered an eager ... [READ MORE]
Announcing our American Short Fiction Contest Winners!
We are delighted to announce that Victor LaValle has chosen the winners of our 2016 American Short Fiction Contest. The first-place prize goes to Amanda Emil Anderson, for her story “The Goodnow Guide.” Look out for the story in an upcoming issue of American Short Fiction! Amanda Emil Anderson is a writer from Vermont. Her fiction has appeared in Sonora Review. She has an MFA from Emerson College and is the recipient of a Vermont Studio Center fellowship. The second-place prize goes ... [READ MORE]
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]