Submissions to The Insider Prize—a writing contest for incarcerated writers in Texas, which we held for the first time this year—came to us in envelopes of many sizes. Most had been previously opened, with a red TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS stamp on the inside of the lip of the envelope that had been taped shut after an inspection. Some were composed on a typewriter. Others were handwritten. Like many literary journals, American Short Fiction accepts only electronic submissions. And while … [Read more...] about Announcing the Winners of the Insider Prize
Maurice Chammah
Pride Is Every Month: A Short Reading List from Our Editors
In 2016, there's something almost anachronistic about creating a list of your favorite LGBTQ books. What kinds of books might qualify for such a list? Must the author identify as gay, bi, lesbian, trans, asexual, or agender to be included? In putting together such a list, don't you run the risk of unintentionally ghettoizing "LGBTQ books" and further marginalizing authors? These are questions our editors and staff asked ourselves as we set out to celebrate Pride Month by building a list of book … [Read more...] about Pride Is Every Month: A Short Reading List from Our Editors
Things American: Nic Pizzolatto’s Women Before True Detective
In honor of all of the breathless praise accompanying the release of HBO’s new crime noir series True Detective, The Atlantic is urging readers to revisit two short stories by Nicolas Pizzolatto, the show’s creator. The stories appeared in the magazine ten years ago, when Pizzolatto was an MFA student at the University of Arkansas, and they explore themes that would later mark the HBO series. Chief among those is gender and the relationship between men and women. Pizzolatto is a radically … [Read more...] about Things American: Nic Pizzolatto’s Women Before True Detective