I'm delighted that my first ever novella-in-flash Beautiful for You about the life of Princess Diana has been highly commended in the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award! Many thanks to judge Jude Higgins, and congratulations to all the other winners.
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2026/02/judg...
Aspirin by Nin Andrews The day I ate two bottles of St. Joseph's baby aspirin, my mother was out of town. My father had fallen asleep, watching football in the den. I climbed up on the sink in my par-ents' bathroom where the mirrors reflected back and forth, back and forth. I could see myself again and again to infinity. There were so many of me present, I called out Hello! to every one. No one answered. But when I ate the orange-flavored tablets, so did they. Orange, my favorite color. I ate slowly, singing and waving to the other girls. It was almost a party with so many of us present. I wanted to meet them all, break open the glass and set them free. When my father discovered me holding the empty aspirin bottles, he didn't scream or spank. Instead he picked me up and carried me outside to his dark Buick. He drove with me in his arms, leaning me back against his chest. It was the way he held me against him, his prickly chin pressing against my head that I remember best. I wanted to be held like that forever. Sometimes, looking at a photograph of my father, I still taste the bitter-sweet orange of children's aspirin. Then I think of the other girls, so many others I might have been, if he'd held them too.
"Aspirin"
Nin Andrews
#poetry #prosepoem
Submissions will be opening soon, 1 March. Free to submit (paid options for expedited response, feedback, extra submission). Free preview of current issue on our website. Submissions guidelines apply.
Prose, max 6k words
Poetry/Songs, max 3 pieces/pages
Art/Photos, max 5
Scripts, max 20 pages
Our site was down due to much-needed maintenance and a server upgrade. Apologies if you tried to visit us and could not get to the site. We are up and running. Thank you for your patience.
We are still on a submissions hiatus, but that could change soon. Check back here or on our site for updates.
“It seemed to me that if I didn’t write, I would disappear.” —Frederick Seidel
I'm thrilled that Ghost Parachute has selected "Freeze" for inclusion in an upcoming anthology! I was just thinking about this story, and wishing it didn't feel so timely still.
CHARLES RAFFERTY The Problem with Early Warnings People don't like to leave a party unless the house is actually on fire. Even then, if the flames are far enough away to be pretty, they'll finish their drink, take one more pass at the hors d'oeuvres. How things happen has always been unclear. Hurricanes begin in a place where no one lives. Agents of the government start to wear masks. Fascism is a word my neighbors won't use yet. They are following the law, they say, and the sirens are coming for someone else.
"The Problem with Early Warnings"
Charles Rafferty
#poetry
Thrilled have a 500-word story up today at The Cincinnati Review @cincinnatireview.bsky.social . This story started as an idea for an ending that I texted myself and carried around on a phone for years. Finishing was just a matter of finding a beginning:
www.cincinnatireview.com/micros/heart/
Twit tweet tawooo. Early bird tickets open for Madrid salon in September! 🦅🐓🦤🐦🪶 @saloneurope.bsky.social
Responsibility It is the responsibility of society to let the poet be a poet It is the responsibility of the poet to be a woman It is the responsibility of the poet to stand on street corners giving out poems and beautifully written leaflets also leaflets they can hardly bear to look at because of the screaming rhetoric It is the responsibility of the poet to be lazy to hang out and prophesy It is the responsibility of the poet not to pay war taxes It is the responsibility of the poet to go in and out of ivory towers and two-room apartments on Avenue C and buckwheat fields and army camps It is the responsibility of the male poet to be a woman It is the responsibility of the female poet to be a woman It is the poet’s responsibility to speak truth to power as the Quakers say It is the poet’s responsibility to learn the truth from the powerless It is the responsibility of the poet to say many times: there is no freedom without justice and this means economic justice and love justice It is the responsibility of the poet to sing this in all the original and traditional tunes of singing and telling poems It is the responsibility of the poet to listen to gossip and pass it on in the way storytellers decant the story of life There is no freedom without fear and bravery there is no freedom unless earth and air and water continue and children also continue It is the responsibility of the poet to be a woman to keep an eye on this world and cry out like Cassandra, but be listened to this time
"Responsibility"
Grace Paley
#poetry
Registration is open for my WINTER 2026 online poetry workshop! Join a great group of poets as we inspire one another this winter! See my website christophercitro DOT com for more info & to register. #Poetry #Writing #WritersLife #WritingCommunity
“A crucial verb for writers is revise. Which means, of course, to re-see.” —Allan Gurganus
Delighted that my story 'Hullabaloo!' won Irish Country Magazine's short story competition. It's available in newsagents and supermarkets nationwide from today throughout December.
Only gone and bagged 3rd in this brilliant comp 🙌🫡😚. 2nd and 1st were obvious wowers, naturellement. And I think it’s something akin to squishy having your story read by pros. Classy people, you @failingwriters.bsky.social
If there's anyone in your life (or maybe you!) who enjoys odd, uncategorizable, playful writing, I have some copies of my new book, 'It's Time', and a few of my other books - hybrid, poetry, short stories - in my online shop that I'd be happy to sign & post worldwide! taniahershman.com/shop/
A haiku that reads: Does anyone mind if I claw out my own heart and set it on fire?
#LN2025poems #haiku #poetry #happyhappyjoyjoy
Announcing my LATE FALL 2025 online poetry workshop! Registration just opened.
"In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry" meets on Zoom Weds 6-8 PM Eastern Time.
It starts Dec 3 & runs for 6 classes (skipping Dec 24 and 31).
See my website christophercitro DOT com for more info & to register.
Friends, Janus Literary is currently down & will be down for the next week or two as we do some site maintenance & revamping. We'll post a notification here & on other social media sites when everything is back up. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Very happy indeed to have a short story commissioned by the BBC! Broadcast 3.45pm July 11th, on Radio 4 and Sunday 13th at 11.45pm
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Tonight!! Fancy giving your writing muscle a workout? Three fast & fun writing exercises in 60 mins on Zoom, open to anyone writing in any form, or no form at all, come & play! If you can't join live, everyone gets the recording link. Book here, pay-what-you-can: www.tickettailor.com/events/tania...
subs are open for tha 1st of the month !
we're making a change -- flash & micros will be open 24/7 for the summer. thanks !
xraylitmag.com/submissions/
Still time to join my Writing Muscle Workout Zoom Workshop Tues Jun 3rd 7-8pm UK time: 3 writing exercises in 60 mins to give you permission to play in whatever shape you choose (fiction, poem, non-fiction, hybrid, other)! Book here, concessions & free places: www.tickettailor.com/events/tania...
In fifteen minutes write down everything you can name that will not last. Go. Keep the pen moving. Credit: Natalie Goldberg
Credit:
Writing Down the Bones Deck
Natalie Goldberg
#SundayWriting #writing #freewriting
Who’s up for a body-horror love story? If you act fast, you can read it before my husband does.
Many thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social & @havehashad.com for giving this cringey cnf a good home.
Thinking about voice, who wants a sneak preview of my voices workshop which I'm running in September? (Sound on for music, my horrendous voice 😬)
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/courses-work...
Writers of BlueSky, last chance to join us at 6pm UK time tonight and give your writing muscle a fun workout! A few free and pay-what-you-can places still available and if you can't make it live, you'll get the recording afterwards: www.tickettailor.com/events/tania...?
A photograph of a beautiful house with a thatched roof and light coming from the windows, with a garden in front and an open garden gate. The text says: "Writing course: Shorts. The beauty of brevity. With Tania Hershman, HOlly Corfield Carr, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa. August 18-August 23, Totleigh Barton, Devon" and the Arvon foundation logo in the bottom right corner.
Tutoring an @arvonfoundation.bsky.social residential writing course is one of my FAVOURITE things, and I adore short everythings: fiction, poetry, non-fic, hybrids. Come get excited with me, Holly Corfield Carr & @safiyakamaria.bsky.social in Aug, concessions available! www.arvon.org/writing-cour...
