The new issue of American Short Fiction contains a wonderful story by Kevin Wilson about, as Bret Anthony Johnston puts it, "that moment in your teens when everything seems both possible and doomed." In a few casual, funny, accessible scenes, Wilson conjures this delicate moment in all its brimming, about-to-spill-over fullness, all its wonder and vividness and heart. Here, in a podcast produced by our assistant editor Andrew Bales, is Kevin Wilson reading a few pages of the "The Horror We ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Inside the Issue: Anis Mojgani illustrates Joyce Carol Oates’ “The Disappearing”
In "The Disappearing," Joyce Carol Oates examines the way time can unravel both our relationships and our selves. The story chronicles the fading of a marriage from the wife's perspective, but we are left uncertain as to whether it is her husband or she herself who is gradually disappearing. We asked poet and artist Anis Mojgani to illustrate the story for us. Here, alongside some excerpts from "The Disappearing," is his beautiful and moving response. "Alone with her husband in ... [READ MORE]
Online Fiction: Interview with Monica McFawn
This month we're excited to bring you Monica McFawn's captivating “Ornament and Crime,” the story of a family surviving the tyranny of a father's taste for minimalism. It's a sharp-witted tale that manages to bend something as lofty as aesthetics into strange, tender moments. Monica lives in Michigan, where she teaches writing at Grand Valley State University. Her stories have appeared in places like The Georgia Review, Missouri Review, Web Conjunctions, and Gargoyle. Her collection ... [READ MORE]
Inside the Issue: The Roots of “Are You My Mother?”
"Are You My Mother?"--the clever gem that concludes our new issue, by Short(er)-Fiction-prize runner-up Sabrina Orah Mark--has what we might think of as a famous grandmother. A great many of us were raised on P.D. Eastman's classic children's book of the same title. Eastman's book, first published in 1960, is a widely adored story about the search for love and belonging. Mark's story takes this allegory and drags it into the lonely, fragmented, rootless, go-it-alone context of modern adult ... [READ MORE]
Inside the Issue: “Annie Radcliffe, You Are Loved” Playlist
One of our favorite short stories in the world right now happens to be Barrett Swanson's "Annie Radcliffe, You Are Loved," published in our newest issue of American Short Fiction. Narrated from the perspective of three characters who are strangers to each other--a drug-addled PhD student in Applied Semiotics, a God-fearing boy watching his atheist father die of cancer, and a chubby high schooler who, in an attempt to win back an ex who dumped him via Facebook, further embarrasses himself by ... [READ MORE]
We’re Back!
ASF is back with a new issue brimming with exquisite fiction. Behind Elizabeth Chiles' gorgeous cover photo you'll find wonderful stories, including: Joyce Carol Oates' "The Disappearing" Kevin Wilson's "The Horror We Made" Rachel Swearingen's "The Night Between Us" Barrett Swanson's "Annie Radcliffe, You Are Loved" Kellie Wells' "A Unified Theory of Human Behavior" and the stories that won our Short(er) Fiction Contest: Ryan MacDonald's "The Observable ... [READ MORE]