Elin Hawkinson

ISSUE 68

by ASF Editors | November 23, 2020

Rebecca Makkai, “Webster’s Last Stand” “Aubrey tried looking up edible cacti online, only to discover that ‘edible’ had been added to the list of restricted search terms, God only knew why. The computer still let her type the word, but then that blasted red-screen error message popped up, the eagle in one corner, the flag in the other, Bigly’s motto stretched across the bottom, and she read the message aloud to Scott, as if he hadn’t seen it before: An excess of false information exists … [Read more...] about ISSUE 68

The 2018 American Short(er) Fiction Prize Winners

by ASF Editors | May 15, 2018

We are thrilled to announce the winners for this year's American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Amber Sparks. Thank you to everyone who submitted. The winning stories will be published in the magazine’s fall issue. _____ First-Place Prize: "The Old Woman at the Edge of the Cliff" by Ariel Berry. Judge Amber Sparks writes, "This incredible, careful story read like an excavated fairy tale—brand new to us, but also somehow old as humans, and strange and sad as the wilder parts of the … [Read more...] about The 2018 American Short(er) Fiction Prize Winners

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.