Short Story Today

Canadian author Dave Gregory writes fiction on a wide variety of topics. But with his stories based on experiences shared in the oral tradition by his father, he creates a palpable connection to a world gone by. His Port Colborne stories depict his dad's rough-and-tumble post-war childhood, preserving a precious part of his family's past, and honoring his father's memory with a lite...

No stranger to hard work, Indiana author Tommy Dean toiled in the corn fields of his youth, dreaming of basketball or baseball stardom. He's drawn to the ways that writing fiction allows him to become a kind of shapeshifter, creating worlds in which he gets to live multiple lives. The characters who populate his stories may live hard lives, but their faith in humanity keeps them connected to...

Tennessee author Amy Cipolla Barnes grew up in Great  Plains territory, where her grandparents owned and operated a farm. In her fiction and other writing, one feels a powerful and ever-present connection to the earth and the natural world. Sierra Lidén reads "Docked," "St. Lucy of El Paso," "Drowning on Main Street," and "The Art of Brutalism." Support the...

Michigan author Keith Hood can remember with clarity the day the riots of 1967 came right up to the front door of his childhood Detroit home. In his fiction and essays, he writes with a reverent yet unalloyed veracity about his hometown, where he witnessed dramatic changes taking place. We read his story "Utility," which was first published in Blue Mesa Review. https://keithhoodwriter.co...

Massachusetts author Chaya Bhuvaneswar is a practicing psychiatrist in the Boston area who joins a long tradition of doctors who have written poetry and fiction while pursuing a life in medicine. Her debut story collection White Dancing Elephants was the winner of the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize in 2017, and was selected for the list of  "35 Over 35" Debut Books in 2018. In...

Pennsylvania author Doug Brown's debut story collection My Bohemian Baptism and Then Some (Serif Press) is a testament to his determination to never give up on the dream of being a writer. Following a thirty-plus year hiatus where life had other plans for him, he's returned to the pursuit he's always loved. In this episode we read the title story from the collection. Support the sho...

COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES is the brainchild of authors Mark Wish and Elizabeth Coffey, whose combined years working in the publishing industry has given them a unique advantage. Now in its third year, the award-winning annual anthology has quickly risen to a position to rival the old guard. In this episode, we learn about their entrepreneurial journey, and get a sneak peek at Mark's newly-rele...

New Jersey author Alyson Mosquera Dutemple began her professional career working in film production. The pressures of working on-set soon had her turning her attention to writing screenplays - some of which she succeeded in having optioned. But it was her love of writing fiction - stories in particular - that eventually won out. We read four of her flash pieces: "Ploughman's Lunch,"...

South Carolina author Dustin M. Hoffman spent ten years as a house painter - which might have something to do with his fondness for characters from the working class. We discuss stories from his forthcoming collection Such a Good Man (University of Wisconsin Press), in which the plight of day laborers during the Great Recession is given center stage. We read "Smoke at the End of the World,&qu...

New Jersey author Bill Merklee was playing in rock bands when he began working for a newspaper that had a tuition-reimbursement program. It was his rediscovery of Kurt Vonnegut in his first years of college that motivated him to become a writer.  His flash fiction explores the challenges posed by faith and the sometimes difficult legacies that are passed down through the generations. We read &quot...

Philadelphia author Matthew Goldberg's fiction, as described on his website, "reimagines the mundane through the lens of the absurd." His speculative works ask deep questions about the ills of society and the ways in which we choose to confront or ignore them. We read his Uncharted's SciFi/Fantasy Award winner "Bees Wings."   https://www.mmgoldberg.com/ Support the sh...

Award-winning UK author Alice Jolly had 5 novels to her credit prior to publishing her first story collection - but she'd been writing stories the whole time. From Far Around They Saw Us Burn brings together an astonishing array of characters: eccentrics and  outcasts, young mothers and orphans - the vulnerable and the misunderstood struggling to be heard. Clara Francesca reads "All the...

Nishanth Injam was raised in Telangana, India, and now makes his home in the US, in the Chicago area. His debut story collection, The Best Possible Experience , is a NY Times Editor's Choice pick. Nishanth is interviewed by his friend and colleague Stanley Stocker (Ep. 42), who met Nishanth when they both received the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize in 2021. https://www.nishanthinjam.com/...

As an adolescent, Los Angeles author Mathieu Cailler accompanied his grandfather to LA comedy clubs - an experience that gave him the idea that writing jokes might be a worthy pursuit. Over time, those early efforts at comedy would lead him to write fiction and poetry. He now has seven books to his credit. We read his story "A Little off the Top," which first appeared in the 2017 Short S...

UK author Emma Brankin's debut story collection Attention Seekers  features stories inspired by her former career as an entertainment columnist, where she got to rub elbows with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande. That's not to say, however, that her fiction is superficial. She writes stories of a depth and complexity that belies her age. The author reads "I Am a Train...

California authors and fellow Stanford grads Leslie Kirk Campbell and Daniel A. Olivas reverse roles in this episode as interviewer and interviewee. They each get a chance to discuss their latest story collection: The Man With Eight Pairs of Legs (Sarabande Books) by Leslie Kirk Campbell and How to Date a Flying Mexican (University of Nevada Press) by Daniel A. Olivas.  Sierra Lidén reads the sele...

Massachusetts author John Fulton's fiction has the power to cast an unusual kind of spell upon the reader. You may find him deftly weaving elements of magical realism into the narrative - but there's always a deeply realized truth to be discovered each time. We read "Stitches," a story from his most recent collection The Flounder , which first appeared in Alaska Quarterly Revie...

Hawai'i author Jessie Ren Marshall's confidence as a writer was evident even as a child, as an early self-published book entitled How to Write a Book made clear. Her debut story collection Women! In! Peril! (Bloomsbury) is proof that she knew exactly what she was talking about. Her story "After I Become a Ghost" is read by Sarah High, and Jessie reads "Find Water Near Me.&...

Before Western New York author Melissa Ostrom fell in love with reading and long before she began writing stories, all she wanted to do was play.  And she's never let go of that joyful impulse to explore, which is the secret behind her highly original  fiction. We read her stories "Super-Absorbent Stella" (read by Clara Francesca), "The Postscript" (read by Jon DiSavino),...

Virginia author Julee Newberger's life was upended when she learned, at the age of forty, that she'd been adopted - information she received only after both her parents had died.  She's currently working on a unique memoir which will blend non-fiction with imagined events. Her story "Along the Sound" is read by Sierra Lidén.    https://juleenewberger.com/ Support the show

New Jersey author Stephen Cicirelli has a penchant for philosophy - and it shows up in his stories in surprising ways. But there's nothing academic about them. They vibrate with energy, often weaving sorrow with humor. We read his story "Quitting," about an experiment in free will that goes awry. Support the show

California author Grant Faulkner was born and raised in Oskaloosa, Iowa - an experience that helped shape his sensibilities as a writer of stories of heartland America. But it's the 100 word story that has, of late, become his obsession. And there is no limit to what he's been able to achieve in that arena. In this episode we read two flash stories: "The Passenger" and "Co...

New Hampshire author Erica Plouffe Lazure was born and raised in Massachusetts, but she has a particular fondness for the South - and for story-telling in the Southern tradition. In her award-winning collection Proof of Me - & Other Stories , she's created a fictitious town in North Carolina called Mewborn in order to tell the the stories of its inhabitants. In this episode, we read one o...

Italian author Eleonora Balsano (who now resides in Brussels) can speak and write in multiple languages - but she feels most at home writing in English. While it's not her mother tongue, it's a language she's come to believe affords her more freedom as a writer. Her interest in the experiences of writers who share this belief has compelled her create a podcast called "Chosen To...

Australian author Catherine McNamara has made the Veneto region in Italy her chosen home. But to get there, she first had to explore Paris, West Africa and Mogadishu, where she was an embassy secretary prior to the war in Somalia. The colorful backdrops for her stories reflect her love of the far-flung lands she has made her home. We read her story "The Bamboo Furnace," from her prize-wi...