"These stories are not merely flashes in the pan; there's pay dirt here!" ―DeWitt Henry, editor of Ploughshares

An anthology of bite-sized tales represents the work of some of today's best fiction writers and includes Rick Moody's definition of an armoire, Lydia Davis's sojourn into the world of cats, and Dave Eggers's exploration of narrow escapes. Original.

A dazzling new anthology of the very best very short fiction from around the world. What is a flash fiction called in other countries? In Latin America it is a micro, in Denmark kortprosa, in Bulgaria mikro razkaz. These short shorts, usually no more than 750 words, range from linear narratives to the more unusual: stories based on mathematical forms, a paragraph-length novel, a scientific report on volcanic fireflies that proliferate in nightclubs. Flash has always—and everywhere—been a form of experiment, of possibility. A new entry in the lauded Flash and Sudden Fiction anthologies, this collection includes 86 of the most beautiful, provocative, and moving narratives by authors from six continents, including best-selling writer Etgar Keret, Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah, Korean screenwriter Kim Young-ha, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz, and Argentinian “Queen of the Microstory” Ana María Shua, among many others. These brilliantly chosen stories challenge readers to widen their vision and celebrate both the local and the universal.

Ten years ago, Jerome Stern, director of the writing program at Florida State, initiated the World's Best Short Short Story Contest. Stories were to be about 250 words long; first prize was a check and a crate of oranges. Two to three thousand stories began to show up annually in Tallahassee, and National Public Radio regularly broadcast the winner. But, more important, the Micro form turned out to be contagious; stories of this "lack of length" now dot the literary magazines. The time seemed right, then, for this anthology, presenting a decade of contest winners and selected finalists. In addition, Stern commissioned Micros, persuading a roster of writers to accept the challenge of completing a story in one page. Jesse Lee Kercheval has a new spin on the sinking of the Titanic; Virgil Suarez sets his sights on the notorious Singapore caning; George Garrett conjures up a wondrous screen treatment pitch; and Antonya Nelson invites us into an eerie landscape. Verve and nerve and astonishing variety are here, with some wild denouements. How short can a Micro be, you wonder. Look up Amy Hempel's contribution, and you'll see.

Writing flash fiction is a fun, easy way to break into print and quickly establish yourself as a professional author. This book shows you everything you need to write great stories under 1,000 words, as well as how and where to get them published. It concludes with tips for re-publishing those stories all together as a book.

Forty very short stories that reimagine the genre of crime writing from some of today’s most imaginative and thrilling writers “An intriguing take on crime/noir writing, this collection of 40 very short stories by leading and emerging literary voices—Amelia Gray, Brian Evenson, Elizabeth Hand, Carmen Maria Machado, Benjamin Percy, Laura van den Berg and more—investigates crimes both real and imagined. Despite their diminutive size, these tales promise to pack a punch.” —Chicago Tribune, 1 of 25 Hot Books for Summer Tiny Crimes gathers leading and emerging literary voices to tell tales of villainy and intrigue in only a few hundred words. From the most hard–boiled of noirs to the coziest of mysteries, with diminutive double crosses, miniature murders, and crimes both real and imagined, Tiny Crimes rounds up all the usual suspects, and some unusual suspects, too. With illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook and flash fiction by Carmen Maria Machado, Benjamin Percy, Amelia Gray, Adam Sternbergh, Yuri Herrera, Julia Elliott, Elizabeth Hand, Brian Evenson, Charles Yu, Laura van den Berg, and more, Tiny Crimes scours the underbelly of modern life to expose the criminal, the illegal, and the depraved.

Presents over seventy short stories five pages long or less by such American authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, Langston Hughes, and Raymond Carver, and includes authors' commentary on the genre.

Collects more than one hundred short stories, each with no more than twenty-five words.

Presents a collection of short stories about significant moments which marked a turning point in the lives of young protagonists by such authors as Anne Mazer, Alan Stewart Carl, Dave Eggers, and Peter Bacho.

Tall Tales & Short Stories showcases 50 excellent flash fiction stories that take you on a multi-genre voyage of discovery across space, time and place. Despite their brevity, these tiny tales get right to the heart of what makes us human. They'll tug at your heart strings, horrify, amuse and make you think, the words lingering in your mind long after you finish reading. A collection of talented authors, known names and new, from across the planet have penned compelling stories of birth, love and lust, heartache and revenge, death and the afterlife. Throw in aliens and angels, alcoholic bulls and alternative histories, hauntings and huntings, oh and a cowbot! What's not to love about this anthology? This inaugural flash fiction compilation from Escaped Ink Press features Amber M. Simpson, Amy L. Bethke, Andrew Paul Grell, Avra Margariti, Carolyn Barnard, Charlotte O'Farrell, Copper Rose, David Perlmutter, Derek McMillan, Desiree R. Kannel, G. Allen Wilbanks, GB Burgess, Geraldine McCarthy, HC Hsu, J. Bradley, James Russell, Jared Cappel, Jay Adair, Joel R Hunt, John Sheirer, Joseph Olamide Babalola, Kelly A. Harmon, Kelly Matsuura, Laura Elisa Vizcaíno (translated by Toshiya Kamei), Lucia Orellana Damacela, Mark Jacobson, Mark Kodama, Mary K. Ryan, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Natasha Cabot, Norbert Góra, P.A. O'Neil, P.C. Vandall, Paul Beckman, Philip CK, Ray Daley, Richard Grahn, Robert Kibble, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Russell Smeaton, Seamus Ludendorff, Shashi Kadapa, Shawn M. Klimek, Simon Lee-Price, Stephen V. Ramey, Steven Gowin, Swara Shukla, Vonnie Winslow Crist and Zak Jane Keir.