I. To Begin, a Note about Pleasure A few years ago, the late James Salter was honored at the annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Festival with a prize in Fitzgerald’s name. During his keynote address at the award ceremony, Salter said something that was stupefying in its simplicity: reading, he said, was among the very greatest pleasures in his life. Perhaps that’s not a surprising sentiment for a writer so notably interested in pleasure, especially the pleasures of food, drink, travel, language, and … [Read more...] about Dinosaurs, the Alphabet, and Ten Things to Consider Prior to Submitting a Story for Publication
Short Stories
14 Writers You Love & Their Favorite Short Stories
Spring is here, and so are the promises of the season: the famous flowers are in bloom, the strawberries are ripe for picking, the earth's axis has started to tilt toward the sun, and—with its lackadaisical charm and balmy swagger—spring fever has set its sight on all of us. Oh, did we mention the kittens? But perhaps the best thing about the season is the arrival of May—Short Story Month—which is, as you might expect, American Short Fiction's favorite month of all. To celebrate we invited … [Read more...] about 14 Writers You Love & Their Favorite Short Stories
The Art of Staring: An Interview with Jamel Brinkley
In his much-anticipated debut collection A Lucky Man, Jamel Brinkley lays bare the full and complex interiority of black men and boys kicking against all manner of inexorable truths, while living an inch from ruin in Brooklyn and the Bronx. With stunning clarity and generosity of detail, each of the nine stories leaves its own lasting impression, while the book as a whole coalesces into a devastating tapestry of confused masculinity, familial responsibility, and the intractable power of … [Read more...] about The Art of Staring: An Interview with Jamel Brinkley
ASF Contributors Johnston & Henderson Longlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times EFG Short Fiction Award
On the heels of a wonderful AWP conference in Washington, DC, we returned home only to find that recent ASF contributors Bret Anthony Johnston (ASF 63, Fall 2016) and Smith Henderson (ASF 62, Summer 2016) have been included on the longlist for the 2017 Sunday Times EFG Short Fiction Award. Johnston's story, "Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses" appeared as the issue opener in our special 25th Birthday edition. Henderson's "The Trouble" was the final story in our most recent summer issue. … [Read more...] about ASF Contributors Johnston & Henderson Longlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times EFG Short Fiction Award