• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

  • FICTION
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
    • OTHER FICTION
  • EVENTS
    • THE STARS AT NIGHT
    • STORY SESSIONS
    • MORE EVENTS
  • MFA for All
  • STORE
  • SUBMIT
    • REGULAR SUBMISSIONS
    • THE HALIFAX RANCH PRIZE
    • AMERICAN SHORT(ER) FICTION PRIZE
    • THE INSIDER PRIZE
  • NEWS
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Sign In
FICTION

WEB EXCLUSIVES

Rockaway

—December 15, 2021

Rockaway

Jack Kaulfus

In May, Amy called to say she was squatting in the caretaker’s quarters of the Rockaway Motel. She needed her car; she wanted to sell it. When I pulled her old Volvo wagon into the dusky parking lot, … [READ MORE] about Rockaway

The Chimp

—November 23, 2021

The Chimp

Terese Svoboda

 Down slid the chimp. Not quite like a fireman, more hand-over-hand because the pole inside the four-foot-wide acrylic cylinder running floor-to-ceiling in the middle of my apartment had branches. … [READ MORE] about The Chimp

Days of Craving

—October 26, 2021

Days of Craving

Elsa Court

American Short Fiction · Days of Craving by Elsa Court When I flew back to New Haven the day after the Texas wedding, my landlady’s house had acquired the smell of homecoming. She—my landlady—poked … [READ MORE] about Days of Craving

Child of God

—September 28, 2021

Child of God

Genevieve Abravanel

https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/child-of-god-by-genevieve-abravanel I was drunk. I mean, not usually. Not on a weekday. But that night, Bill had been out with Petra and then he’d texted … [READ MORE] about Child of God

I’ll Give You a Reason

—August 03, 2021

I’ll Give You a Reason

Annell López

I met Maria back in the fifth grade. She was this skinny girl whose mom would always pack her salami sandwiches for lunch. When I think of Maria today, I think of those slices of salami stuffed inside … [READ MORE] about I’ll Give You a Reason

Ricky

—July 03, 2021

Ricky

Whitney Collins

Carla felt sure she was the only rich girl to ever work the counter at Glazy’s Ham Depot. Carla hadn’t always been rich. Before Ed, she and her mom had once lived in a minivan for a year, so Carla … [READ MORE] about Ricky

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Issue 83
Issue 83
  • Manuel Gonzales
  • Nic Guo
  • Baba Ademoroti
  • Simon Han
  • Ammi Keller
  • Mathilde Merouani
  • Kyle Alderdice
Subscribe

News

The 2025 Halifax Prize Winners We are thrilled to announce the winners of this year's Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize, judged by Eric Puchner. We consider it our privilege to have spent time with so many terrific submissions—thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Congratulations to the winners!
Read the Winners of the 2025 Insider Prize Whose voices are these, I wonder each fall as submissions for the Insider Prize begin accumulating in my office. Four years on as director of Texas’s annual literary award for incarcerated writers, some of the names written across the bloated white and manila envelopes have grown familiar—essayists, short story writers, and the places they are relegated to calling “home”.  
Announcing the Winners of the 2025 American Short(er) Fiction Prize We are delighted to announce that Tony Tulathimutte has chosen the winners of our 2025 American Short(er) Fiction Contest. Thank you to our judge and to everyone who submitted—it is always inspiring to read your work. Congratulations to the winners!

Store

ASF Store

MFA for All Spring 2026: “Bodies in Space, Bodies in Place” with Katie Kitamura is still open. Register now!

×

Pardon our dust—our website is under construction, so things might look a bit wonky. Thank you for your patience!

×