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Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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American Short Fiction

The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: Now Open

by ASF Editors | April 15, 2025

The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: Now Open

We’re so pleased to announce that our judge for this year’s Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize will be Eric Puchner, author of the 2025 New York Times bestselling novel Dream State as well as the novel Model Home, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and two story collections. Puchner lives in Baltimore, where he is the director of the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to publication and a $2,500 prize, we are excited to partner again with the Tasajillo Residency, an … [Read more...] about The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize: Now Open

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: American Short Fiction, burdine johnson foundation, dream state, Eric Puchner, Fiction, fiction contest, halifax ranch fiction prize, short story, short story contest, writing contest

To Deaden the Nerve

by Christopher Notarnicola | May 28, 2021

To Deaden the Nerve

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

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: American Short Fiction, Flash Fiction, marines, military, Online Fiction, short fiction, Web Exclusive

2021 American Short(er) Fiction Prize

by The Editors | November 23, 2020

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

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: American Short Fiction, American Short(er) Fiction Prize, Contest, Flash Fiction, Susan Steinberg

Web Exclusive Interview: Tyler Stoddard Smith

by Erin McReynolds | September 3, 2018

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

Filed Under: Web Exclusive Interview Tagged With: American Short Fiction, Interview, karl ove knausgaard, Online Exclusive Interview, Tyler Stoddard Smith, Web Exclusive Interview, writing

Menu

by Peter Grimes | January 12, 2018

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

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: American Short Fiction, dining, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, restaurants, short fiction, Stories, Web Exclusive, Web Exclusives

The Seagull

by Kyle McCarthy | August 31, 2017

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

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: American Short Fiction, chekhov, feminism, Flash Fiction, Online Fiction, short fiction, Web Exclusive

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Issue 81

Guest-edited by Fernando A. Flores, featuring new stories by Yvette DeChavez, Julián Delgado Lopera, Carribean Fragoza, Alejandro Heredia, Carmen Maria Machado, Ruben Reyes Jr., and Gerardo Sámano Córdova.

You can preview the issue here.

NEWS

Read the winners of the 2024 Insider Prize

Read the winners of the 2024 Insider Prize

By ASF Editors

“Memories are a nuisance,” Peter wrote to one of our writers after reading his short story, “but nonetheless they seem to make us who we are, as this story confirms.” This year’s submissions told many stories burdened with memory, but just as many stared bravely into the face of hope, satirized the state of politics, speculated on the future of the world, or else built entirely new worlds to inhabit. In short, the stories written on the inside reflected the stories we wrote this year on the outside. Stories of human toil and dreams and everything in between.
 

Issue 81 is out now: guest-edited by Fernando A. Flores, with stories by Julián Delgado Lopera, Carmen Maria Machado, Ruben Reyes Jr., and more. Order yours today!

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