Interviews
Sara Hills On Her Recent Work and “Staying Weird”
Sara Hills is the author of The Evolution of Birds (Ad Hoc Fiction, 2021), winner of the 2022 Saboteur Award for best short story collection. Her stories have won or placed in the Quiet Man Dave flash nonfiction prize, the Retreat West quarterly prize, National Flash Fiction Day’s micro competition, Bath Flash Fiction Award, and The Welkin Prize. Sara is the judge for the 2023 New Flash Fiction Prize.
On The Wind, It Swirls, Writing Process, and Characters Talking to Each Other: An Interview with Dan Crawley
Valerie Fox speaks with Dan Crawley, author of The Wind, It Swirls, and Blur, about figurative language, seeking connections, and joyful challenges.
Interview with Nathan Leslie
Nathan Leslie talks with Valerie Fox about his latest book, Invisible Hand, and shares insights into his writing and editing.
Explaining Fractions to My Son at 7:30 on a Tuesday Evening by Briana Maley
I do not know what verb tense to use when I write about homework help, because it is happening both now and thirty-five years ago.
In Ostia, 1975 by Margaret MacInnis
In Ostia, 1975, you were not yet the explosive teen who became my explosive husband. You were thirteen in tight jeans and a turtleneck sweater.
Forensics of Anxiety by Alfred Fournier
Start anywhere…The day my father and infant daughter first met on his hospital bed birthday, both grinning, happy babies.
The Hook by Kayann Short
I catch the Skip at the last bus stop on the route, the one right next to the homeless shelter. Usually, I see folks riding from this stop for a few weeks before they move on.
Snow Globe by Yael Veitz
I am visiting my grandfather at the nursing home. All night, I must swallow my rage. I swallow my rage at the nurses who are rude to me, at the broken healthcare system. I swallow my rage at him.
A Living Ghost by Megan Colgan
Yellow jackets swarm out of an old tire. Stinging me and my brother on every exposed part of our small bodies. My mother hits them with some Raid.
The Flammable Fabric of a Flash by Melissa Ostrom
The earliest ones aren’t yours. You steal them from whoever raised you. Remnants rescued from the garbage: your mother’s perfume bottle, a lipstick worn flat, the paper-towel cardboard you use to trumpet your arrivals.
The Last Time by Kim Magowan
The last time I had sex with my husband was when I brought an African Violet to his new apartment. Right in the middle we heard the dings of incoming texts; then the doorbell rang.
Melodie Wants the Moon by Kelsey Ipsen
It’s not that Melodie is strange in some way, really she just wants in the same way that everyone wants something. She’s turned magical in her obsession.
We Wonder by Yasmina Din Madden
We wonder about the man across the street for a long time. The way he hacks at his bushes with an axe, without rhyme or reason, without any sort of plan.
Scar Tissue by Sabrina Hicks
The night we played twenty-one questions, you asked me to tell you something real about myself then laughed and said, even though you have no heart.
Negotiations by Beckie Dashiell
It is a ghost who whispers in my ear at night: it’s not natural to share a bed with the same man for so long.
Lambda by Mandira Pattnaik
The night before my parents moved to Delhi, Lambda reclined on his armchair, bony legs like long strokes joined at the knee.
Tonight What Faces by Rick Bailey
I’m looking in the mirror, wondering if I can be an honest best man. Outside the October air is balmy. In the distance I hear lawnmowers.
Aftertaste by Susmita Bhattacharya
I surf cookery videos on YouTube. Watch how potato chips are fried. Follow the step-by-step of making hot, puffed up chapattis. I feed my cravings with my eyes only.
Used Hearse by Sandie Friedman
She bought the hearse used from the Highlands Funeral Home, and the first time she drove it home to show Patrick, she felt invulnerable.
Negative Capability by Josh Russell
After her wife dies (cancer, brain, sudden), she watches lectures her wife recorded for her students, videos she’d never seen while Pam was alive.
Protrusions by Misty Urban
They’re called mandibular tori, and yes, since you’re asking, they do hurt, a little, often, not in a take-me-to-the-dentist-immediately way but in an ongoing, low-grade, what-can-you-do-but-learn-to-live-with-it kind of way.
Trip-trapping by Sara Hills
The autumn I turn ten, we leave my dad and the crusted expanse of Arizona desert, hard-packed sand dotted with dried grass and shriveled cacti, for the suburbs of Chicago.
Pigs Die by Constance Malloy
I envied the pigs their voice. They weren’t silenced. Well, not before the electrocution or before the Hog Sticker with his 18-inch blade sliced the swine’s throats as they hung upside down.
En Aeropuertos by Pat Foran
I’m in a line, a line of lines, waiting to check in for my flight to Monterrey. The line isn’t moving.
Uncle by Anthony Varallo
Uncle says we are not to disturb him when he is in the basement. Because the basement is his place. His. Got it?
Last Day by Briana Maley
You wake up thinking not about dying, but about Trina DeMartini and the inside of her warm mouth and all the places you want her to put it, and maybe if you’re being honest a little bit about your Algebra teacher.
Interview with Ingrid Jendrzejewski
Once a writer has a good feel for the basics, I think one of the most difficult aspects of writing to master comes down to the question of what to include on the page and what to leave out.
Interview with Tara Isabel Zambrano
Steven John, Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Tara Isabel Zambrano about her three Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Anita Goveas
Steven John, Senior Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Anita Goveas about her two Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Thaisa Frank
Flash fiction master Thaisa Frank is interviewed by Pushcart Prize recipient Steve Adams as part of New Flash Fiction Review’s ongoing craft-of-flash interview series!
Interview with Rachel Smith
Steven John, Senior Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Rachel Smith about her two Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Meghan Phillips
Steven John, Senior Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Meghan Phillips about her two Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Melissa Goode
Steven John, Senior Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Melissa Goode about her Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Beth Gilstrap-Barnes
Steven John, Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Beth Gilstrap-Barnes about her two Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Fiona J. Mackintosh
Steven John, Fiction & Features Editor, interviews Fiona J. Mackintosh about her two Flash Fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke. Final selections by Dan Chaon. Published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Meg Pokrass, Founding Co-Editor of the Best Microfiction Anthology Series
Steven John interviews Meg Pokrass, Founding Co-Editor (with Gary Fincke) of the Best Microfiction series about the anthology
Interview with Leonora Desar
Steven John, Associate & Features Editor, interviews Leonora Desar about her flash fictions in Best Microfiction 2019, edited by Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke, judged by Dan Chaon, published by Pelekinesis
Interview with Robert Vaughan
Tommy Dean interviews Robert Vaughan about his micro fictions in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Jeff Landon
Meg Pokrass catches up with Jeff Landon about his work in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Lou Beach
Steven John, Associate & Features Editor, interviews Lou Beach about his micro fictions in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Amelia Gray
Steven John, Associate & Features Editor, interviews Amelia Gray about her flash fictions in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Pedro Ponce
Steven John, Associate & Features Editor, interviews Pedro Ponce about his flash fictions in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Theresa Wyatt
Steven John Interviews Theresa Wyatt about her story in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Meg Tuite
Sandra Arnold Interviews Meg Tuite about her story in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Kathleen McGookey
Sandra Arnold Interviews Kathleen McGookey about her work in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Molly Giles
Sandra Arnold interviews Molly Giles about her stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Len Kuntz
NFFR Associate Editor Steven John interviews Len Kuntz about his work in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018) and about the craft of writing microfiction
Interview with Paul Beckman
Tommy Dean interviews Paul Beckman about his work in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018) and about the craft of writing microfiction
Interview with Jim Heynen
Steven John interviews Jim Heynen about his stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing brilliant microfiction
Interview with Roberta Allen
Steven John interviews Roberta Allen about her stories in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview with Michelle Elvy
Claire Polders talks to Michelle Elvy about her forthcoming stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018), her work as an editor for Flash Frontier and Blue Five Notebook, and the relationship between fiction and reality in her writing.
Interview with Barry Basden
Steven John interviews Barry Basden about his stories in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview with Pamela Painter
Tommy Dean interviews Pamela Painter, whose story “Letting Go” was first published in New Flash Fiction Review, and reprinted in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018). Her second story in NEW MICRO is “Help” first published in Five Points.
Interview with Curtis Smith
Curtis Smith is interviewed by Meg Pokrass as part of NFFR’s New Micro Interviews Series. Curtis Smith’s “The Quarry” and “The Storm” have been published in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Nancy Stohlman
Meg Pokrass interviews Nancy Stohlman about her stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and her new forthcoming flash fiction collection, MADAM VELVET’S CABARET OF ODDITIES. This interview is part of New Flash Fiction Review’s ongoing New Micro Interviews series
Interview with Kyle Hemmings
Meg Pokrass interviews Kyle Hemmings about his stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview with Lynn Mundell
Meg Pokrass interviews Lynn Mundell about her work in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the art of writing microfiction.
Interview with Christopher Merkner
Meg Pokrass Interviews Christopher Merkner about his work in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing micro fiction.
Interview with Sherrie Flick
Meg Pokrass talks to Sherrie Flick about her forthcoming work in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018), her forthcoming collection from Autumn House Press, THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS (Autumn House Press, 2018) and her work as Series Editor for BEST SMALL FICTIONS, 2018.
Interview with Robert Scotellaro
Tommy Dean asks author Robert Scotellaro, co-editor (along with James Thomas) of NEW MICRO – EXCEPTIONALLY SHORT FICTION, to talk about the creation of NEW MICRO and to discuss what qualities successful microfiction pieces share.
Interview with Michael Martone
Tommy Dean Interviews Michael Martone on his fiction in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Tara Laskowski
Tommy Dean interviews Tara Laskowski about her stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018).
Interview with Kathy Fish
Tommy Dean interviews Kathy Fish about her stories in New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Damian Dressick
Tommy Dean interviews Damian Dressick about his work in the forthcoming in forthcoming Norton Anthology NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with Grant Faulkner
Tommy Dean Interviews Grant Faulkner about his stories in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and about the craft of writing miniature.
Interview with Melissa Fraterrigo
Tommy Dean interviews Melissa Fraterrigo about her writing life and about her micro story, “Mama’s Boy,” forthcoming in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018)
Interview with James Thomas
Meg Pokrass interviews James Thomas, co-editor of New Micro (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018) about the forthcoming anthology, and about his history with publishing Norton anthologies of very short fiction.
Charmaine Wilkerson Interview
Author Charmaine Wilkerson, who won both the Sabateur Novella Award and Bath Flash Fiction’s Novella-in-Flash Award for “How to Make a Window Snake”, a novella-in-flash, is interviewed by Meg Pokrass
Interview with Tania Hershman
Tommy Dean asks Tania Hershman to discuss her story in NEW MICRO, and to talk about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview with Lynn Mundell and Grant Faulkner
An interview in which New Flash Fiction Review’s Meg Pokrass asks 100 Word Story’s illustrious editors Lynn Mundell and Grant Faulkner to talk about the creation of their thrilling new anthology: Nothing Short of 100, a collection of the best 100-word stories from 100 Word Story magazine.
Interview with Sarah Freligh
Meg Pokrass asks Sarah Freligh to discuss her stories in NEW MICRO and to talk about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview with Matt Sailor
Tommy Dean asks Matt Sailor to discuss his story “Sea Air” forthcoming in NEW MICRO — EXCEPTIONALLY SHORT FICTION (W.W. Norton & Co., 2018) and to talk about the craft of writing microfiction.
Interview With Tiff Holland
“It’s hot work, being beautiful, but they are willing to make the concessions, to pay cash so their wives cannot track their other lives.”—excerpt from “Hot Work” by Tiff Holland, appearing in NEW MICRO (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018)
Interview with Roy Kesey
Meg Pokrass asks Roy Kesey to discuss his thoughts on creating microfiction. Roy Kesey’s “Learning to Count in a Small Town” and “Calisthenics” are forthcoming in New Micro – Exceptionally Short Fiction (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018).
Interview with Stuart Dybek
Tommy Dean asks Stuart Dybek to discuss the unique properties and variations particular to short form writing. Stuart Dybek’s story “Initiation” is forthcoming in New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction (W.W. Norton & Co, 2018) and was originally published in New Flash Fiction Review’s Issue #4, guest edited by Robert Shapard.
Interview with Tommy Dean
We’re thrilled to have you with us at NFFR Tommy as Director of Interviews! Will you tell us about what you’ll be focusing on with your interview series?
Interview with Meg Pokrass
Meg Pokrass, New Flash Fiction Review’s Founding Editor and Norton anthology contributor is interviewed here by Tommy Dean. New Micro: Exceptionally Short Stories, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton & Co. in 2018.