https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/kathryn-scanlan-the-hungry-valley Now he fed his horses too much rich corn sweetened with molasses: their middles were round and taut as barrels, and their hooves curled, and instead of nipping and tossing about like they had in the past, they loitered at the gate all day, calling out to him whenever he passed. His old dog he fed too much kibble and too many table scraps: its back was strangely broad and thin of hair like a threadbare piece of … [Read more...] about The Hungry Valley
Flash Fiction
Web Exclusive Interview: Kathryn Scanlan
Winter is a time for compression—shortened days, confinement indoors, a turning inward. But compression produces something nuclear-hot and energetic, and our February Web Exclusive, "The Hungry Valley," is a stellar example of this. Author Kathryn Scanlan helps us explore how this is achieved in writing. "The Hungry Valley" also appears in our Winter issue. Erin McReynolds: In addition to an MFA in writing, you have a BFA in painting, which isn't surprising, given how visually rich … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Kathryn Scanlan
Web Exclusive Interview: Kyle Langston
Our January Web Exclusive, “Winston” is one of those stories that gets under your skin and stays there. Its power is owed to precise, enduring images; the relatable longing of its characters; and beginning-to-end tension. Really, it gave us a lot of feelings—which we then discussed with author Kyle Langston. Erin McReynolds: One thing I love about “Winston” is that it uses a very primal voice and lens to tell a modern story: how we “become” when we are claimed by others. The protagonist … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Kyle Langston
Winston
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/asf-winston He killed a hare and removed its heels, yanked from the meat of each haunch the bone he did not know to be the tibia. He laid the leg bones parallel on the flattest nearby stone and split the wide end of both with one press of his Bowie. He set each in a convenient niche that was the absence of a second premolar, sucked loose marrow while he worked skinning the leporid and stringing it above a new fire, his lips pinned back by the … [Read more...] about Winston
The Night Bus
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/the-night-bus Of all the bus drivers on duty that night, it was Angus who was taken in for questioning. He guessed it was because of his ear: a burned puff, as pitted as a peach stone, with fleecy white scars that radiated down to his neck. It was the ear of a bogeyman, a man who would kidnap a young girl in a painter’s smock as she idled beneath the palmettos. He told them what he remembered: he’d driven the Fair Oaks route, midnight to six, a … [Read more...] about The Night Bus
Web Exclusive Interview: Leslie Parry
Our December Web Exclusive, “The Night Bus,” beautifully elucidates the moment two lives intersect—lives forever changed by random acts of violence. We talked with author Leslie Parry about anonymity, anxiety, and a very effective antidote for procrastination. Erin McReynolds: Congratulations on your first novel, Church of Marvels, being released earlier this year! Both that story and “Night Bus” center on characters who are the forgotten and unseen players in the larger drama of the city. … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Leslie Parry