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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Children

Bourbon and Milk: On Time

by Lacy M. Johnson | December 16, 2019

Bourbon and Milk: On Time

Bourbon and Milk dives into the perplexing spaces parenting sometimes pushes us, and explores the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. If you’re interested in joining the conversation, query Giuseppe Taurino at: giuseppe [at] americanshortfiction.org. — This past summer, for the first time in ten years, I didn’t work on a book. I'd been working on one difficult book or another since before I got pregnant with my son—he is nine now—and even the thought of beginning another difficult, … [Read more...] about Bourbon and Milk: On Time

Filed Under: BOURBON AND MILK, NOTEBOOK Tagged With: bourbon and milk, Children, climate change, climate crisis, Family, Glacier National Park, glaciers, global climate change, global warming, hiking, Lacy Johnson, parenting, Technology, the future, worry, writing

The Internal Conversation Is Constant: An Interview with Danielle Lazarin

by Peter Kispert | August 15, 2019

The Internal Conversation Is Constant: An Interview with Danielle Lazarin

Danielle Lazarin’s debut story collection Back Talk (Penguin Books, 2018) features women grappling with what they—often deliberately—leave unsaid and displays the intricacies of the desires and rages that live inside those silences. Hailed as “beautifully crafted” by the New York Times, Back Talk is a story collection that lingers long after a first read, not only for its beautiful prose and unforgettable characters but for its quiet, powerful tensions. Here, Lazarin discusses her title story, … [Read more...] about The Internal Conversation Is Constant: An Interview with Danielle Lazarin

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: assumptions, Children, craft, Danielle Lazarin, Fiction, Interview, Peter Kispert, process, Short Stories, women, writing

The Key Bearer’s Parents

by Siân Griffiths | January 3, 2017

The Key Bearer’s Parents

https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/sian-griffiths-the-key-bearers-parents We were good parents. We know people assume otherwise when they see our wide ties and honking red noses, but we were. We took that job seriously. We told our son that he could be anything he wanted to be, just like you’re supposed to. Yes, we could see his embarrassment when we showed up for Career Day, how he threw the basketball into the field as our tiny car pulled in so that his friends would look away. And … [Read more...] about The Key Bearer’s Parents

Filed Under: WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Children, parents, short fiction, The Key Bearer's Parents, Web Exclusive

Bourbon and Milk: Here Is the Essay, Now Where Is the Child?

by Matthew Salesses | August 11, 2015

Bourbon and Milk: Here Is the Essay, Now Where Is the Child?

Bourbon and Milk is an ongoing series that dives into the perplexing spaces parenting sometimes pushes us and explores the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. If you’re interested in joining the conversation or contributing a Bourbon and Milk post, query Giuseppe Taurino at giuseppe@americanshortfiction.org. “Where do you get so much energy?” I asked my daughter recently, the age-old parenting question. She was running around like on any other day while I sprawled supine on the … [Read more...] about Bourbon and Milk: Here Is the Essay, Now Where Is the Child?

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE Tagged With: bourbon and milk, Children, Matthew Salesses, parenting

Primary Sidebar

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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