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American Short Fiction

Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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Joyce Carol Oates

ISSUE 63 – Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue

by ASF Editors | November 23, 2020

ISSUE 63 – Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue

Bret Anthony Johnston, “Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses” “His daughter’s first horse came from a traveling carnival where children rode him in miserable clockwise circles. He was swaybacked with a patchy coat and split hooves, but Tammy fell for him on the spot, and Atlee made a cash deal with the carnie. A lifetime ago, just outside Robstown, Texas. Atlee managed the stables west of town; Laurel, his wife, taught lessons there. He hadn’t brought the trailer—buying a pony hadn’t … [Read more...] about ISSUE 63 – Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 25th Anniversary, Alexander Chee, Andrea Barrett, Back Issue, Bret Anthony Johnston, Danielle Evans, Emily Kiernan, Erin Somers, Fall 2016, Issue 63, Jennifer duBois, Joyce Carol Oates, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue, Twenty-Five Years of American Short Fiction

ISSUE 67

by ASF Editors | November 23, 2020

ISSUE 67

Mark Mayer, “The Clown” “Cruelty and pain were easy quantities, but murder used to express something in him. Take the kings of Greece and Persia who entertained guests with hollow bronze bulls that seemed to bay when wheeled over a fire, when in fact it was condemned queens screaming from inside. It was cruel, it was painful—but it was so kingly too. The court clapping and marveling, pretending they didn’t know, while the king spat seeds from his grapes. The Aztecs murdered like Aztecs, the … [Read more...] about ISSUE 67

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Back Issue, Fernando A. Flores, Holiday Reinhorn, Issue 67, Joyce Carol Oates, Kevin Wilson, Mark Mayer, Michaela Hansen, Summer 2018

ISSUE 70

by ASF Editors | November 23, 2020

ISSUE 70

Annesha Mitha, “No One Wants to Be Here Forever” “When Mrithika first came home, she expected, selfishly, that she would be taken care of. She didn’t account for the tumors found on the ultrasound screen, curled up with the dog’s wet organs. She didn’t understand how much care a small body like the dog’s could absorb. But now, the dog is fed pills stashed in Vienna sausages three times a day. She’s held until she falls asleep, and her messes are cleaned up with bleach that warps the … [Read more...] about ISSUE 70

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Amy Sauber, Annesha Mitha, Back Issue, Issue 70, Joyce Carol Oates, Lisa Taddeo, Mary South, Ted Thompson, Winter 2020

The 2019 Insider Prize, Fiction Honoree: “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

by Emily Chammah | August 1, 2019

The 2019 Insider Prize, Fiction Honoree: “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates has a long history with prisons—she’s sprinkled them throughout her stories, tweeted about their poor conditions, and edited a collection of stories by incarcerated men and women. At least one of her novels is banned in some facilities. So she was the perfect judge for American Short Fiction’s 2019 Insider Prize, our contest for incarcerated writers. In the fiction category, she selected “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, calling it “intense, lyrical, nostalgic — a kind of prose … [Read more...] about The 2019 Insider Prize, Fiction Honoree: “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: Deb Olin Unferth, F.R. Martinez, Fiction, incarcerated writers, Insider Prize, Insider Prize 2019, Joyce Carol Oates, prison, Prisoners, short fiction

The 2019 Insider Prize, Memoir Honoree: “Bucknaked Gurney Unit” by Kevin Murphy, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

by Emily Chammah | August 1, 2019

The 2019 Insider Prize, Memoir Honoree: “Bucknaked Gurney Unit” by Kevin Murphy, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates has a long history with prisons—she’s sprinkled them throughout her stories, tweeted about their poor conditions, and edited a collection of stories by incarcerated men and women. At least one of her novels is banned in some facilities. So she was the perfect judge for American Short Fiction’s 2019 Insider Prize, our contest for incarcerated writers. In the memoir category, she selected “Bucknaked Gurney Unit,” by Kevin Murphy, writing that his “memoir of humiliation and the … [Read more...] about The 2019 Insider Prize, Memoir Honoree: “Bucknaked Gurney Unit” by Kevin Murphy, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: Deb Olin Unferth, Emily Chammah, incarcerated writers, Insider Prize, Joyce Carol Oates, Maurice Chammah, Memoir, prison, Texas

Summer Film Club: Joyce Carol Oates

by Alyssa Ramirez | August 19, 2011

Summer Film Club: Joyce Carol Oates

In this weekly series, Intern Alyssa, your fearless reader, will review popular short stories and their film adaptations. We’ll explore what works in each medium and what doesn't  and how exactly the allure of literature can translate to film. Alyssa has no formal training in film, unless subscribing to Netflix and following Roger Ebert on Twitter count as formal training. She would also like to issue one big standing Spoiler Alert now. In 1966, twenty-three-year-old Charles Schmid was … [Read more...] about Summer Film Club: Joyce Carol Oates

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK Tagged With: Joyce Carol Oates, Laura Dern, Smooth Stalk, Summer Film Club

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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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