The Constellation Challenge

by ASF Editors | October 8, 2020

This November, American Short Fiction invites you on a journey to reach out to your chosen family and grow your constellation of influences. As part of a month-long postcard-writing challenge, we’ll share daily prompts from our honorees Jamaica Kincaid, C Pam Zhang, Selena Anderson, and Charlotte Gullick and invite you to send notes out into your universe and strengthen the invisible threads that connect us. The Constellation Challenge package includes a set of 28 limited-edition printed … [Read more...] about The Constellation Challenge

The Very Last Time I Set Out to Stargaze

by C Pam Zhang | October 16, 2020

I’m in Joshua Tree, California, the very last time I set out to stargaze. I’ve come for the month of July to this hallucinogenic desertscape inland of Los Angeles, where my goal is to disconnect from daily life. Oneness with the universe and all that. As a debut author, I’ve been spooked by too much attention, and so I look up and think about how good it is to disappear into these constellations, so far from human concerns. This is one of the last nights I see the stars in California. Two … [Read more...] about The Very Last Time I Set Out to Stargaze

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.