"The Zoo and the World," Rob Roensch's story in the Spring 2014 issue of American Short Fiction, is narrated by a man who has come to rely on his own exceptional competence, but finds himself suddenly out of his element. A rare animal trader, he has learned to value life as both a momentary, beautiful apparition, to be viewed with reverence, and a currency, to be handled practically. Alone, without leave, with his own son, he finds that neither approach helps him weigh the life now in his hands. ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Online Fiction Interview: Alison McCabe
Alison McCabe's "Heirloom" deftly trades in contrasts. Over the course of a few hundred words, the diction evolves from the colloquial to the lyrical, and the strangest of details—a cat toy mistaken for a rodent, a son-in-law's name long forgotten—are also the story's most humorous. We recently emailed McCabe to ask about her work, about how she approaches the drafting process, and about how she manages to move so dramatically in time and in tone in such a short work. Nate Brown: “Heirloom” ... [READ MORE]
Deadline Extended: ASF Short Story Contest
We are excited to announce that the ASF Short Story Contest opened for submissions on February 26th. This year we are honored to have Amy Hempel as our guest judge. We have extended the contest's entry deadline to June 15th. (Note: Original deadline was June 1st.) General Guidelines - Submit your entry online between February 26, 2014 – June 15, 2014. - The first-place winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in our Fall issue. One runner-up will receive $500 and all entries ... [READ MORE]
Bourbon and Milk: Undismissible Unicorns
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 at giuseppe@americanshortfiction.org. We’d just finished dinner and Z was sitting on my lap. At the opposite end of the table, P was sipping a well-deserved glass of wine. “Is today Tuesday, Daddy?” Z ... [READ MORE]
Online Fiction Interview: Kim Addonizio
Earlier this month, we brought you Kim Addonizio's "The Other Woman," a piece that depicts three people in a tight, tense orbit. Addonizio is a poet, essayist, and fiction writer, and we were curious to ask her about working across so many different forms, and about what leads her to write in one over another. Over the course of our back-and-forth, a few things became clear: the assumptions we bring to fiction—even pieces we think we've read carefully and several times—don't always match the ... [READ MORE]
Things American: Control Magic
“The mind: a great weapon and an even greater weakness.” – Jace Beleren I. “Illusions of Grandeur” It’s 7 A.M. on a Saturday in October 2012. I'm twenty-eight-years-old and yelling “Idiot,” “Fucking terrible,” and “What were you thinking?” into my steering wheel. I’m driving home from Time Warp Comics, where I’ve just lost a Magic tournament. And not just lost, but lost lost: eighteenth out of twenty-five at the midnight release for the newest set, Return to Ravnica. My opponents? Mostly ... [READ MORE]