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...] about To Deaden the Nerve
American Short Fiction
2021 American Short(er) Fiction Prize
Please Note: The 2021 Short(er) Fiction Prize is now closed for submissions. *We're extending the deadline until February 15, 2021! Good Luck!* We are thrilled to announce that Susan Steinberg, author of three remarkable story collections—The End of Free Love, Hydroplane, and Spectacle—and Machine: A Novel (read a beautiful ASF-published excerpt, "Killers," here), will judge our 2021 American Short(er) Fiction Prize. The prize recognizes extraordinary short fiction under 1,000 words. The … [Read more...] about 2021 American Short(er) Fiction Prize
Web Exclusive Interview: Tyler Stoddard Smith
"I aspire to dread . . . " begins June's online short story, "Knausgaard in Space." And with these words, we knew author Tyler Stoddard Smith had nailed the Nordic icon and we were in for something very funny. And boy, did we need it. Here we talk Weird Al, the legendarily awkward meeting between Knausgaard and Jeffrey Eugenides, and the potential hilarity of having no escape. — Erin McReynolds: This story is hysterical; do you have a background in improv or writing parody or … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Tyler Stoddard Smith
Menu
We’ve already tried everything. We tell the waitress to bring rolls, wine. Meanwhile we’ll decide what we want to order. This is our favorite restaurant. It’s the only restaurant in town as far as we’re concerned. The atmosphere is exquisite—carpet with hunting scenes, dark wood. The mayor and his cronies sit nearby, tearing apart their steaks by candlelight and spilling juice on their ties. I wave. And there’s the guy Lynn always goes on about, the stiff cowboy type who can’t move his neck. The … [Read more...] about Menu
The Seagull
At the Gala to End Sexual Assault, which was to benefit a non-profit founded by an actress who starred in a TV show that sensationalized sexual assault, and which was held in a museum of dead animals who had been shot and killed by men who were by now themselves quite dead, I found myself feeling a little—how to say it—agitated. It wasn’t as if I had a problem with a thirty-thousand-dollar-a-table fundraiser that showcased women as objects while claiming that women were in fact not objects. … [Read more...] about The Seagull
Web Exclusive Interview: Daisy Johnson
April's Web Exclusive, "A Bruise the Size and Shape of a Door Handle," is a haunting story whose slow, creeping tension evokes the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson. And yet it is so thoroughly modern, an enlightened study of unhinged, potent adolescent-female sexuality. Its author, Daisy Johnson, is surely destined for great things, so we're thrilled to have her story and interview here. Erin McReynolds: The collection from which this story comes is called, FEN, referring … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Daisy Johnson