https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/to-deaden-the-nerve-by-christopher-notarnicola Marines sit on the ground with their feet in their hands, their bare knees against the wet morning grass to stretch their groins, to loosen their limbs, to gather themselves near the flight line behind company headquarters. They await the arrival of their instructor, the start of their next round of martial arts training. They wait to advance, to add to their takedowns and submissions, to harden their ... [READ MORE]
NOTEBOOK
The Get-Go
Sadie’s mother was tall and narrow, with a long braid down her back, black when Sadie was very little, then silvery, then silver, an instrument to measure time, an atomic clock. Her father had been tall, too, both he and the mother the tallest members of short families. In photographs and at reunions, they loomed. Everyone was happy when they had a short child: they’d decided to fit in after all. Sadie was small and plump and blonde, and when she was nine, her father died, and it was just the ... [READ MORE]
Even on Good Nights
1. On my morning walk along the service road, I see through the chain-linked fence a man on his knees. He’s smashing his fist, the flesh of which is a bloody mush, into the pebbly shoulder of the highway. The sound of it is like the slapping of a paper bag full of wet sticks into concrete. He’s not an old man, but not young either. There’s a bouquet of flowers on the ground beside him. He’s weeping and cursing. I call through the fence, “Hey man, please don’t do that. Please . . .” He stops, ... [READ MORE]
Contest Closed: The 2021 Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize
Please Note: The deadline for the 2021 Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize is has passed. We’re thrilled to announce that our judge for this year’s Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize will be the brilliant R.O. Kwon, author of the bestselling novel, The Incendiaries, and coeditor of the groundbreaking new story anthology, Kink, published by Simon & Schuster in February 2021. There's more exciting news! This year, we've partnered with the Tasajillo Residency, an idyllic writing residency that ... [READ MORE]
Register Now: 2021 Short Story Summer Camp
Join us this summer for a first-ever, limited-entry manuscript consultation and virtual craft series from the editors of American Short Fiction. Each registrant will receive detailed feedback on their submitted story and attend a series of three live virtual seminars focused on honing and refining their work with an editor's eye. Regular registration ($425) will close on June 15th. Note: Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. This is not a juried application ... [READ MORE]
The Vacant Field
I stood at the edge of a vacant field. Police who were not dressed as police were looking in the field for things that were dangerous. These were items left by a woman who was not dressed as a terrorist and who also was not one. She did wear a uniform. She was no longer there in the field. An officer picked up a wrench and threw it in my direction. I protested, “You threw that wrench right at me.” He didn’t respond. I repeated. “He threw that wrench right at me!” Nobody heard me. The ... [READ MORE]