The Tortoise and the Hare. The Ants nod the Grasshopper. Both are examples of famous fables with the inclusion of animals and a moral. Can a fable be so clearly defined? Is the formula simply animals + a number 1,000 words x morals = flash fable? I believe what sets a...
The New Oxford Dictionary defines a fairy tale as a children’s story that includes magical beings and places. I was pleasantly surprised to find the words, “happily ever after,” omitted from the above definition. In my search for fairy tales, the stories I enjoyed...
We're proud to announce the 25 titles of our shortlist! The submissions we received were resonant, inventive, and so engaging that we've had a hard time narrowing down the list! From this list, judge Sian Griffiths will choose her final 3 winners and 5 honorable...
We're proud to announce the 53 titles of our longlist! The submissions we received were resonant, inventive, and so engaging that we've had a hard time narrowing down the list! From this list, 25 stories will make it to the shortlist for judge Sian Griffiths to choose...
These pieces have been chosen because the writer has done something special with sense of place. They’ve eliminated the need for a distinction between foreign and familiar. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen that place, been to that spot. You know this place...
I forget where I stumbled across your Twitter account (or when for that matter). But I do remember being struck immediately with how many emotions you were able to convey in such short word count, particularly within your Twitter stories. You have such a knack for...
Flash is known for its tricks, the way it sneaks into our subconscious as an ‘easy’ task. Often when I’m reading through our queue I’ll come across cover letters from submitters who are just getting back into writing and think that flash is a natural way to start...
Flash Myth #1: Smaller Is Easier Let’s debunk Myth #1. Housed in the Chicago Institute of Art are the Thorne Miniature Rooms, tiny replicas of actual historic rooms painstakingly crafted on a scale of one inch: one foot. You press your face up to each of the...
I’ve always thought of flash fiction as conversations where each exchange reveals or obscures, builds layers, introduces intimacy, teaches, grows curiosity. “The Bitter Kind” authors Tara Lynn Masih and James Claffey take that conversational flash level to a more...
What are your favorite things to write about? Those topics or items you can’t stop thinking about! Hmmm. Tough question. Animals, musicians, and skaters tend to show up pretty often. I suspect all three get at some kind of expression that’s external to words and...
We're proud to announce the 22 titles of our shortlist! The submissions we received were fresh, fierce, and so engaging that we've had a hard time narrowing down the list! From this list, judge Megan Giddings will choose her final 3 winners! Please don't identify your...
What are your favorite things to write about? Those topics or items you can’t stop thinking about! “Favorite” implies that I have a choice about the content of my fiction, and frankly, I don’t believe that I do. I read an interview with George Saunders where Saunders...