• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

  • ISSUES
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
  • FICTION
  • MFA for All
  • EVENTS
    • THE STARS AT NIGHT
    • STORY SESSIONS
    • MORE EVENTS
  • STORE
  • SUBMIT
    • REGULAR SUBMISSIONS
    • THE HALIFAX RANCH PRIZE
    • AMERICAN SHORT(ER) FICTION PRIZE
    • THE INSIDER PRIZE
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT
  • NEWS
  • SUBSCRIBE

Interview

Web Exclusive Interview: Amy Stuber

by Erin McReynolds | May 13, 2019

Web Exclusive Interview: Amy Stuber

Amy Stuber's flash fiction story "I'm on the Side of the Wildebeest" distills a familiar modern dilemma into a crystallized moment. On a road trip, a mother contemplates a very different childhood for her kids than the one she had—one in which technology, the constant deluge of information, and the threat to the planet create anxieties that are harder to escape. But despite these anxieties (or maybe because of them) we feel the sweet gratitude for a moment that is good, one we know will become a … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Amy Stuber

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, Web Exclusive Interview Tagged With: Amy Hempel, Anxiety, Erin McReynolds, Family, Interview, Joy Williams, Online Exclusive Interview, parenting, Web Exclusive Interview, writing

Web Exclusive Interview: Keenan Walsh

by Erin McReynolds | March 12, 2019

Web Exclusive Interview: Keenan Walsh

January's Web Exclusive, "Flood," describes a significant moment of change in a troubled family's life. It's notoriously hard to master a run-on sentence, but author Keenan Walsh does it here. In editing, we realized there was no way to break it up without losing its very necessary urgency, that the whole thing was an intricately woven tapestry that needed to stay intact. What's more, the form forces the modern, harried reader to slow down and take in shimmering details that they might otherwise … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Keenan Walsh

Filed Under: Web Exclusive Interview Tagged With: Flash Fiction, flood, Hajar Bali, Interview, Keenan Walsh, Online Exclusive Interview, Web Exclusive Interview, writing

How to Make a Life for Ourselves: An Interview with Kevin Wilson

by Rachel Howell | January 31, 2019

How to Make a Life for Ourselves: An Interview with Kevin Wilson

In Issue 67, Kevin Wilson’s "The Lost Baby” haunts readers with the sudden, small-town disappearance of a couple’s infant child. The story, which also appears in Wilson’s newest collection, Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine, is emblematic of Wilson’s superb and thrilling prose, his stories as compassionate as they are strange. Every one of his characters, from the grieving mothers to the flailing young men, are so deeply human, so reassuringly like us, we can’t help but root for them in spite of their … [Read more...] about How to Make a Life for Ourselves: An Interview with Kevin Wilson

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: Interview, Kevin Wilson, Rachel Howell, Short Stories, short story collection

Web Exclusive Interview: G.E. Stiteler

by Erin McReynolds | December 2, 2018

Web Exclusive Interview: G.E. Stiteler

"Sickness had reached our valley at last." In August's Web Exclusive flash fiction, "Father as Astronaut," a young woman mourns the loss of her father in an increasingly hostile world where everyone is fighting for survival. It's a story that's wildly imaginative, unsettling, and full of heart. We talked to G.E. Stiteler about this story, about a world in trouble, and what gives her peace.  Erin McReynolds: What led you to decide to set the narrator's loss in the midst of widespread … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: G.E. Stiteler

Filed Under: Web Exclusive Interview Tagged With: animals, apocalypse, Interview, loss, Online Exclusive Interview, Web Exclusive Interview, writing

Web Exclusive Interview: Corey Flintoff

by Erin McReynolds | October 3, 2018

Web Exclusive Interview: Corey Flintoff

Yes, that Corey Flintoff! When we came across the recently retired NPR reporter's flash fiction story, "Dream of the White Worm," we were of course intrigued. Then we discovered that with an honest, unassuming domestic scene, he'd managed to capture the disconnect between people who may love and care for each other deeply, but never fully understand the fears and challenges the others face. It was pretty cool to talk to someone whose voice we could hear in our heads... and to get to use the word … [Read more...] about Web Exclusive Interview: Corey Flintoff

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, Web Exclusive Interview Tagged With: corey flintoff, Interview, NPR, Online Exclusive Interview, Russia, Web Exclusive Interview

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

« Previous Page
Next Page »

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.
 

Sign up now for Send Us to Perfect Places with Kristen Arnett! Classes are $150 and registration closes May 4, 2025.

×

✨ The Stars at Night 2025: Celebrating Joy Williams, Emily Hunt Kivel, Carrie R. Moore, and Leila Green Little. Get your tickets today!✨

×