Bystanders by Tara Laskowski
Reviewed by Eileen Merriman

This month I’ve had the pleasure to read Bystanders, a compelling collection of short stories by writer, columnist, and editor of SmokeLong Quarterly, Tara Laskowski.

Bystanders is an apt title. A bystander, by definition, is a person who is present at an event or incident but does not take part. This is the theme running through the stories in this collection, whether it be a woman who becomes obsessively sympathetic to the driver involved in a hit-and-run; a new mother whose baby monitor shows her a chilling truth; a house-hunting couple whose relationship has recently been tested by an affair; or an investigative reporter whose alias likes to ‘ruin other people’s careers.’
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Interview with Tara Laskowski
Writer and Editor at SmokeLong Quarterly

Tara Laskowski

Tara Laskowski‘s short story collection Bystanders was hailed by Jennifer Egan as “a bold, riveting mash-up of Hitchcockian suspense and campfire-tale chills.” She is also the author of Modern Manners For Your Inner Demons, tales of dark etiquette. Her fiction has been published in the Norton anthology Flash Fiction International, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Mid-American Review, and numerous other journals, magazines, and anthologies. Since 2010, she has been the editor of the online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly.

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All About Flash – Over to You

BathFlash You may have noticed we recently posted a great review by Al Kratz and a really interesting interview by Nick Black.

They’ve both proved very popular, and as a result we are beginning a series of articles focussing entirely on flash fiction – and hopefully you will help us out. We will be interviewing writers and editors and reviewing books, and we would love if you too could contribute to the series.

Reviews of flash-fiction collections, chapbooks, novellas or even single stories are very welcome. Or you might have a favourite flash fiction author you would like to interview, an idea for an article about flash genres or other aspects of the form.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact us to discuss your contribution further.

Thank you.

Seek Adventure:
An Interview with Bud Smith

Bud Smith

Bud Smith has written the novels Tollbooth (2013) and F250 (2015), published and edited the Kathy Fish/Robert Vaughan flash collection Rift (2015), and had his own stories widely published by the likes of SmokeLong, Hobart, Wigleaf, the Newer York, Drunk Monkeys, Funhouse and many more. His latest book is the novella I’m From Electric Peak (2016.) His website is www.budsmithwrites.com

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New International Judges for Bath Flash Fiction Award

It’s just under five weeks until this round of the Bath Flash Fiction Award ends on June 12th. Writer, editor, manuscript assessor and director of National Flash Fiction Day, New Zealand, Michelle Elvy, who is based in New Zealand but has been sailing the coast of East Africa this year, will judge a fifty-strong long list. A feature of our contest is the quick turnaround and we expect results to be out by the end of June.

Kathy-Fish We are delighted to welcome renowned flash fiction writers and tutors, Robert Vaughan and Kathy Fish who are based in the United States, as our judges for the next two rounds of the Award. Robert will judge the round that begins at the end of June Robert-Vaughan and ends in mid October, this year. Kathy will judge the following award that is likely to begin at the end of October and finish in February, 2017.

Kathy and Robert’s collaborative book of flash fictions. Rift is reviewed here by Al Kratz who won second prize in the last round of the competition judged by UK based flash fiction writer and poet Tania Hershman.

Do buy their book. It’s wonderful and very instructive. More exciting news about our judges for the final two contests in 2017 coming soon.

Collaboration:
A review of Rift by Kathy Fish & Robert Vaughan

rift In Rift, stories by Kathy Fish and Robert Vaughan, published in 2015 by Unknown Press, lovers of flash fiction have a new Must Read, a new entry to the list of flash fiction classics that show the power and depth possible in stories compressed into a page or two.

Even the one-word, four-letter title conveys more than the sum of its parts. As a noun, rift means a break in something. A crack. A split. A flaw. A breach. A fracture. A cavity. An opening. A serious division in friendly relations.

The book Rift contains four escalating sections: Fault, Tremor, Breach, and Cataclysm. Each section has around eighteen stories that alternate between writers.

The table of contents is the only place Read in Full

Ad Hoc Fiction Makes Saboteur Longlist

Thank you to every one who voted for Ad Hoc Fiction, our free weekly micro challenge in the Saboteur Awards 2016.

We are very happy to announce that we made the longlist, and with over 1700 nominations we think that’s a brilliant result. Particularly since Ad Hoc has only been going for just over a year.

More Ad Hoc Fiction developments are in the pipeline. This week’s news gives us further impetus to keep creating new opportunities for writers.

Ad Hoc Fiction
Fifty-Two Weeks of Flash

In case you don’t know Ad Hoc Fiction – it’s our free and easy-to-enter weekly micro competition for pieces of up to 150 words. Longlisted stories are published on the website in an ebook and the winners are chosen by public vote. We’re also open to submissions of illustrations for the winning stories.

Nick Black from the UK who has since won the competition again, was our first Ad Hoc Fiction winner on 22^nd April, 2015 with his micro, Positive and Negative. This Wednesday, 20^th April, 2016, we’ve published the fifty second winner Telegraph by Sharon Telfer.
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Interview with Peter Blair
Bath Flash Commended

Flash 8.2 cover

Peter’s flash fiction Shadowtrain, commended by Tania Hershman in our February Award, began as a gentle parody of a colleague’s wonderful prose poems then went off on its own journey. In this interview he tells us more about the development of the story and what he likes about reading and writing flash fiction. With his colleague Ashley Chantler, Peter founded and edits Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, a biannual literary journal for stories and reviews of up to 360 words now in its sixteenth edition. He enjoys the incredible variety of subjects, settings and styles that a limited word count makes possible.

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Interview with
Clodagh O’Brien
Bath Flash Prize Winner

clodagh

Clodagh embarked on reading all the unread novels on her shelves in order to inspire her to write flash fiction. We think reading one form of fiction to prompt ideas to write in another is a great idea. Her third prize winning story, Billy is a wonderfully creative response to the novel ‘An Ocean in Iowa’ by Peter Hedges. In this interview Clodagh also tells us about her love of flash fiction, her favourite writers and where she best likes to write.

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