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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Brooklyn

What the Tide Returns

by Amina Gautier | December 29, 2021

What the Tide Returns

She counts the children as they come through the door—one, two, and three—to reassure herself that they are hers. She can’t say just how happy she is to see them; she’s missed them all summer long. She hardly recognizes them; they’re browner than ever before, and somehow warmer to the touch. She hugs them and her hands come away coated with fine grains of sand.  Both boys come back taller and sporting fresh haircuts. The girl is fuller around the hips and her hair is braided in a different … [Read more...] about What the Tide Returns

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Brooklyn, divorce, estrangement, Puerto Rican, Puerto Rico, short story, summer vacation

To Be in Love in Brooklyn: An interview with Emma Straub

by Anabel Graff | June 2, 2016

To Be in Love in Brooklyn: An interview with Emma Straub

Emma Straub’s latest novel, Modern Lovers, came out on Tuesday—just in time to top your summer reading lists. The book follows a group of college friends and ex-bandmates as they struggle to come to terms with their middle aged, adult lives in Brooklyn, navigating the difficulties of marriage, parenting, and illegal kombucha production. This book has everything we have come to expect from Straub: a richly imagined story of complex human relationships, layered with her characteristic wit, charm, … [Read more...] about To Be in Love in Brooklyn: An interview with Emma Straub

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE Tagged With: Anabel Graff, Brooklyn, Emma Straub, Interview, Modern Lovers, New York, Summer Reading

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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.
 

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