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Publishing exquisite fiction since 1991.

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reading

My Constellation of 8: A Conversation With Roger Reeves

by The Editors | August 10, 2020

My Constellation of 8: A Conversation With Roger Reeves

Please note that this event has already occurred, but the good news is that you can watch a recording of the event on Crowdcast here, in its entirety. Watch a Recording of the Event Here This fall, American Short Fiction will host three virtual events featuring some of today’s most exciting and celebrated writers. Unlike other virtual events, which importantly seek to promote and share a writer’s own work, we’re inviting Roger Reeves on August 25th, Esmé Weijun Wang on September 15th, … [Read more...] about My Constellation of 8: A Conversation With Roger Reeves

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: events, Lit City, literature, my constellation of 8, poetry, reading, Recommendations, Roger Reeves

Say Hello to Amanda Faraone, Our New Development & Communications Director

by Nate Brown | February 4, 2020

Say Hello to Amanda Faraone, Our New Development & Communications Director

Our little team here at American Short Fiction has just grown by one: this month we're welcoming the wonderful Amanda Faraone on board as our new development and communications director. As a fiction writer, literary programmer, and seasoned communications and development professional, Faraone brings valuable experience to the table, and we're so grateful and excited to have her on our team. I recently emailed Faraone a few questions so that you, too, can get to know her. — Nate Brown: First, … [Read more...] about Say Hello to Amanda Faraone, Our New Development & Communications Director

Filed Under: NEWS, NOTEBOOK Tagged With: Amanda Faraone, Human Resources, literature, reading, staffing, welcome aboard, writing

In 2020, Recommit to Reading Literary Magazines

by ASF Editors | January 14, 2020

In 2020, Recommit to Reading Literary Magazines

With the new year comes our best-ever subscription bundle. From now until February 1st, you can get a one-year subscription to American Short Fiction, The Believer, and BOMB for only $80. That's a 27% discount off the regular price! This bundle makes a great gift as well, so if you've got a literature and art-loving friend or two, get this deal while the getting's good. Click here to Subscribe Today. Founded in 1991 and based in Austin, Texas, American Short Fiction is a two-time finalist for … [Read more...] about In 2020, Recommit to Reading Literary Magazines

Filed Under: NEWS, NOTEBOOK Tagged With: BOMB, reading, Recommit to reading, subscription, subscription bundle, The Believer

Putting Emotion into Language: A Conversation with Polly Rosenwaike

by Nicole Beckley | May 28, 2019

Putting Emotion into Language: A Conversation with Polly Rosenwaike

In her artfully constructed debut collection, Look How Happy I’m Making You, Polly Rosenwaike presents stories about motherhood, pregnancy, and the range of emotions that surround becoming—or not becoming—a parent. Rosenwaike expertly explores anticipation and excitement, loss and longing in twelve stories, which Kirkus calls “An exquisite collection that is candid, compassionate, and emotionally complex.” Here, Rosenwaike talks about her technique for capturing emotion on the page, writing what … [Read more...] about Putting Emotion into Language: A Conversation with Polly Rosenwaike

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE Tagged With: A.M. Homes, Amy Hempel, Austin Bat Cave, Edward P. Jones, Eric Puchner, Hannah Zaheer, Interview, Jai Chakrabarti, Kay Ryan, Lindsey Drager, Michigan Quarterly Review, Nicole Beckley, Polly Rosenwaike, reading, Rebecca Townley, Short Stories, titles, writing

Against Arguments: An Interview with Esmé Weijun Wang

by Jennifer duBois | April 18, 2019

Against Arguments: An Interview with Esmé Weijun Wang

Esmé Weijun Wang is the author of the novel The Border of Paradise and the best-selling essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias, published in January. Called “riveting” by NPR and “mind-expanding” by the New York Times Book Review, The Collected Schizophrenias offers an intimate and rigorously nuanced exploration of the myriad meanings of schizophrenia—cultural, sociomedical, and personal. In this interview, we talk structure, subjectivity, and liminality. — Jennifer duBois: Can you talk … [Read more...] about Against Arguments: An Interview with Esmé Weijun Wang

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE, Uncategorized Tagged With: Esmé Weijun Wang, essays, Fiction, Jennifer duBois, mental health, mental illness, Novels, reading, The Collected Schizophrenias, writing

A Person Who Looks: An Interview with Lacy M. Johnson

by Kathryn Savage | February 20, 2019

A Person Who Looks: An Interview with Lacy M. Johnson

Houston-based Lacy M. Johnson’s recent essay collection, The Reckonings, grapples with vital questions: the concept of evil, police killings, the BP oil spill, and the complexity of speaking truth to power. Finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in the category criticism, Johnson’s essays move between the personal and the political with deftness and precision. This interview was conducted via email where we talked about Johnson’s curatorial project, the Houston Flood Museum, … [Read more...] about A Person Who Looks: An Interview with Lacy M. Johnson

Filed Under: NOTEBOOK, NOTEBOOK FEATURE Tagged With: Angela Pelster, Black Lives Matter, BP, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Claudia Rankine, conservation, culture, Ella Shohat, empowerment, environmentalism, essays, etymology, Gulf Coast, Joseph Beuys, Kathryn Savage, Lacy M. Johnson, Love, Lydia Yuknavitch, meaning, metoo, Nonfiction, oil, panopticon, reading, Saidiya V. Hartman, society, systemic racism, terror, violence, women, writing

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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.
 

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