News
2021 New Flash Fiction Prize Results!
Thanks so much to this year's judge, Tara Isabel Zambrano! The results are in and we're looking forward to bringing you the contest issue soon including all the stories from the shortlist. Congratulations everyone! Thank you to everyone who entered this year. Your...
2021 New Flash Fiction Prize Shortlist
Thank you to everyone who entered the New Flash Fiction Prize this year. The following 10 stories have been chosen by the editors and sent on to this year's judge, Tara Isabel Zambrano. A Taste of SaltThat Black NothingBoxCreation MythOlla's DaughterGrandma's Shrunken...
Issue 24
Featuring work by Jude Higgins, Lisa K Buchanan, A.E. Weisgerber, Sage Tyrtle, Ron Burch, Cheryl Markosky, Kim Magowan, Jill Witty, Katie Burgess, Gabrielle Barnby, Angela Readman, Megan Colgan, and Melissa Olstrom.
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.
Special Issue: Welcome to the Mega Meganthology!
Twenty-four thank you notes. Twenty-four tributes. Twenty-four works inspired by Meg Pokrass.
Dear Leo #12
Keanuland! A disorganized column about staying organized by Leonora Desar Warning! This is not a sexy column. If you are looking for zaniness, genius writing prompts, or personal confession you will not find it here (much). I only wrote this because my deadline is...
Issue 23
Featuring flash by Kim Magowan, Yasmina Din Madden, Kelsey Ipsen, Sabrina Hicks, Beckie Deshiell, Sandie Friedman, Mandira Pattnaik, Rick Bailey, and Susmita Bhattachar.
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.
Dear Leo #11
French Fry MFA And getting on your “dark and twisty—” by Leonora Desar Dear Leo, I am a failure. A charlatan. I call myself a writer, but I spend most of my time on Twitter, drafting tweets (and this is on a good day). I had some success a few years ago, but now I am...
Special Issue: Winter’s Tales
Featuring new flash by Meg Pokrass, Misty Urban, Audra Kerr Brown, Jason A. Zwiker, Karen Jones, Emily Devane, Al Kratz, Mary Thompson, and Leonora Desar.
Dear Leo #10
When I Was a Teenaged Witch and other stories practical advice by Leonora Desar Preface to a crafty blog entry Dear Leo, Nobody loves me. I mean, people love me, like my boyfriend and my cat, but they’re kind of under obligation. The folks that count—the...