• 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

Issue 72

Pioneers

by Maya Perez | February 23, 2022

Pioneers

ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Maya Perez, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: My initial idea for the story was two people with a shared history having a reunion and realizing that while they don’t know each other at all, they share an overwhelming … [Read more...] about Pioneers

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, Uncategorized, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: adults, Emerging Black Writers, High School, Issue 72, Love, Mars, Maya Perez, Pioneers, racism, Sex, the past

Spare the Rod

by Rickey Fayne | February 17, 2022

Spare the Rod

ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Rickey Fayne, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: I began the story that became “Spare the Rod” as an assignment for a workshop led by Maya Perez (whose amazing story also appears in Issue 72). When I sat down to … [Read more...] about Spare the Rod

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Black History Month 2022, boxing, death, fathers and sons, generational trauma, Ghosts, Issue 72, old men, online exclusive, Rickey Fayne, Spare the Rod, young men

A Shameful Citizen

by Selena Anderson | February 9, 2022

A Shameful Citizen

ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Selena Anderson, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: The inspiration for writing “A Shameful Citizen” came when I started noticing a few new patterns in my life. I was getting predictive text but with people. I’d go … [Read more...] about A Shameful Citizen

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: A Shameful Citizen, Black History Month 2022, Issue 72, Selena Anderson

Audition

by Denne Michele Norris | February 2, 2022

Audition

ASF is recognizing Black History Month by sharing, for the first time online, four stories from our Winter 2020 issue, which showcased emerging Black writers selected by guest editor and PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize winner Danielle Evans. Here is author Denne Michele Norris, reflecting on the experience of writing this story: I wrote "Audition" in a four week fury of inspiration during my first year living in New York City. It was a chaotic time, as first years in New York often … [Read more...] about Audition

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, WEB EXCLUSIVES Tagged With: Audition, Black History Month, cello, Denne Michele Norris, fathers and children, fathers and sons, Issue 72, Music, musicians, New York, Ohio, queer love, religion, Subway station, teenagers, The Juilliard School, young love

Issue 72 Editor’s Note

by Danielle Evans | November 24, 2020

Issue 72 Editor’s Note

I am thrilled to be putting this issue in your hands. It is, as ever, a collection of singular short stories that celebrate the form and highlight its range, but it is also a gift at the end of a turbulent year—work to get lost in, work to be found in, work that in its celebration of emerging writers, and Black emerging writers in particular, encourages us to imagine everything that is yet to come: all of the chances we’ll have to see more brilliant work by the writers included here, none of … [Read more...] about Issue 72 Editor’s Note

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Danielle Evans, editor's note, emerging Black writers issue, Issue 72, Winter 2020

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!✨

×