We are thrilled to announce that Amelia Gray will be judging this year’s American Short(er) Fiction Contest. The prize recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication, and the second-place winner will receive $250 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication. Previous winners of the Short(er) Fiction Prize have gone on to be anthologized in places such as The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
An Interview with Angela Flournoy
Angela Flournoy’s The Turner House follows one large Detroit family struggling to do right by one another while also figuring out what to do about the family home, which is on the brink of foreclosure. It’s a tender look the messiness of sibling relationships set against the backdrop of a slumping economy and the then-emerging housing crisis of 2008. Among other honors, the novel was a Summer 2015 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and was awarded the Center for Fiction ... [READ MORE]
Bourbon and Milk: Notebook to Nightcap
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@americanshortfiction.org. — It’s five a.m., and I’m thinking of how my writing life has changed as a dad. A lot. That’s the simple answer. But I can’t help also thinking about the broader ramifications of our ... [READ MORE]
Editorial Outtakes: Carmiel Banasky
Editorial Outtakes is a feature in which we publish excerpts from novels and story collections that you won’t find in the finished books because, prior to publication, these sections were cut. This installment of Editorial Outtakes features Carmiel Banasky, whose prologue to her debut novel The Suicide of Claire Bishop was cut from the manuscript at the proverbial last minute. Here's the disappeared prologue, followed by Banasky's commentary on the process of writing (and then cutting) this part ... [READ MORE]
ASF & Lit Crawl Present: Whose Line Is it Anyway?
American Short Fiction is excited to join Lit Crawl Austin to present our second installment of "Whose Line Is it Anyway?"— a hilarious and highbrow night of literature, guessing games, and other foolish fun. Join us at Wonderland Austin with brilliant and charming Texas Book Festival authors Elizabeth McCracken, Lauren Groff, Alexandra Kleeman, Benjamin Markovits, and Skip Horack, drink a draft cocktail, and watch these writers blindly guess which of them is the writer of the sentences we ... [READ MORE]
Online Fiction Interview: Liam Callanan Remembers Ihab Hassan
We were immediately enchanted by our October web exclusive, Ihab Hassan's “Three.” Sadly, Dr. Hassan passed away shortly after we accepted his work for publication. We would have loved the opportunity to speak with him about the pieces, but his colleague and friend, the author Liam Callanan, was kind enough to share some memories and insight. Suffice it to say, we would have loved to be the man's dinner companions. Erin McReynolds: We were so sorry to hear of Dr. Hassan's passing. How far ... [READ MORE]