Laura van den Berg has published three short stories in American Short Fiction. In November, her second collection of stories, the scintillating The Isle of Youth, will be released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The book has elicited raves in advance of its publication. Kirkus Review calls The Isle of Youth “mesmerizing.” Publishers Weekly says, “If ever there was a writer going places, it’s Laura van den Berg.” The Isle of Youth explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception: a ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
Scary Stories 101
Here at American Short Fiction, we're split down the middle regarding our feelings for Halloween. Some of us want to get into costume, but just as many want to go into hiding. Thankfully, one thing we can all agree on is that we enjoy a good horror story. Below, in alphabetical order, are our staff's picks for our favorite stories that scare us, haunt us, or make us feel exceedingly uncomfortable. And with that in mind: enjoy! 1. "The Rememberer"-- Aimee Bender 2. "The Beginnings of ... [READ MORE]
Bourbon and Milk: Bedtime Existential
Bourbon and Milk features lessons, observations, and conversations by and with writers living out there in one of the most perplexing outposts of the human condition – parenthood. In this monthly series, Contributing Editor Giuseppe Taurino will dive into the dark spaces where parenting sometimes pushes us, and explore 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 ... [READ MORE]
Notably
Huge congrats to the authors whose ASF stories were recognized as notables, or distinguished reads, in the most recent Best American Short Stories and Best American Non Required Reading anthologies. From Vol. 15, Issue 54 Laura van den Berg's "Lessons," which is included in her newest collection, The Isle of Youth, out November 5th (in both BASS and BANRR). Robert Boswell's "American Epiphany" (in BANRR). Robert's newest novel, Tumbledown, was published by Graywolf in ... [READ MORE]
Things American: Egyptian Revolution Reading
While the current crisis in Egypt makes the front pages of our papers on an almost-daily basis, the country's complex, hopeful, and conflicted revolutionary history has also been written in its fiction. This week at ASF, we're featuring two essays that explore the political climate and events that shaped region - through the filter of literature. There was something slightly unsatisfying about the classes on the politics and history of the Middle East that I took as an undergraduate. ... [READ MORE]
Things American: Sonallah Ibrahim’s Fiction of Politics and Emptiness
While the current crisis in Egypt makes the front pages of our papers on an almost-daily basis, the country’s complex, hopeful, and conflicted revolutionary history has also been written in its fiction. This week at ASF, we’re featuring two essays that explore the political climate and events that shaped region – through the filter of literature. The Egyptian writer Sonallah Ibrahim has been getting much attention in the U.S. these days. In March, his 1966 novel, That Smell, was published in ... [READ MORE]