Bartholomew Makes Wigs
Debra Daniel Writer’s Note: One day at my hair salon, my stylist was altering a wig to fit one of his clients. […]
Category: Editors Showcase
I Ain’t Got Those Red Dress Blues No More
Adele Evershed Writer’s Note: This piece was inspired by the poem ‘What Do Women Want’ by Kim Addonizio. I was in a […]
In The Shadow of a Bird
Shome Dasgupta Writer’s Note: I wrote this piece more so with the intentions of entering a stream of consciousness mentality. I like […]
Touchstone – A Cancer Diary, 2014
Susmita Bhattacharya (First published in The University of Winchester Writers’ Festival – The Best of 2016) Writer’s Note: I wrote this essay […]
Two CNF Pieces: ‘Letters From Loved Ones’ and ‘Grasshoppers’
Caroline Bock Writer’s Note: These works were jumpstarted in an asynchronous workshop ‘Less is More’ run by Sarah Freligh, a master teacher […]
Double-Glaze
Mary Byrne Writer’s Note: Travelling to Ireland from France could sometimes cause culture shock. This piece started with my father’s reaction to […]
The Weight of Feathers
Lindz McLeod Writer’s Note: Near my home, there’s a high tunnel where pigeons nest; whenever I pass through it, I wondered whether […]
Small Town
Mary Byrne Writer’s Note: Small Town came from observations when visiting my old home town irregularly over the years, noting the changes, […]
Delete water, insert rubbish
Mary Byrne Writer’s Note: Delete water was provoked by a very vivid memory of myself and a few student friends huddled over […]
Mr. Dupont and the Death of Romance
Mary Byrne Writer’s Note: I set out to write a flash about a quiet teenager who seems more mature than her parents’ […]
The Only Constant is Change
Mary Byrne Writer’s Note: This flash piece was inspired by a very real woman who used to sit at my tram stop, […]
Night on Preston’s Bald
J. Dianne Dotson Writer’s Note: This story bounds ahead of a real-life terrifying encounter on a mountaintop in East Tennessee many years […]
Slaughterhouse of Love
Max Hipp Writer’s Note: I’d been thinking about how isolating love feels when it goes wrong and how marriages crack along childhood […]
Annie Is Sleeping
Sherri Turner Annie will wake in the morning later than usual. She will have a hangover that she doesn’t remember getting. […]
The Color Brown
Shipra Agarwal Writer’s Note: It’s been seventy-five years since the British Raj ended, but its remnants live on in sections of Indian […]
The Writer Tries to Address Her Origins
Deborah Zafer Writer’s Note: I am fascinated by the lost Jewish East End in London. My grandparents (and those of many British […]
A Climmer’s Chance
Christine Collinson Writer’s Note: I was listening to a podcast on birds through history when I first came across ‘Climmers’ (or Climbers). […]
Two Poems: Memories and Satsuma
Susmita Bhattacharya Writer’s Note: In 2016, I started a Facebook Group with a few of my friends who, like me, had just […]
Love, Departed
Emily Devane Writer’s Note: This piece started with a voice, and a feeling: I am looking for the key to the drawer […]
Truth or Death
Lori Sambol Brody Writer’s Note: I set out to write a flash novella about a high school theater kid (Julia) navigating her […]
Five Poems From A Wellness Check
Bri Gonzalez Writer’s Note: My collection-in-progress, currently titled A Wellness Check, inspects how pop culture, like DC’s Batman, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, […]
What We Leave Behind
Stephanie King Writer’s Note: This is part of a series I call “Monologues,” a loose collection of those really voicey flash pieces […]
Three Poems: Once We Were Kids, Moving Fear of Staying, Growl
Sage Ravenwood Writer’s Note: On writing these poems, ‘Once We Were Kids’ is based on an actual childhood memory. I wanted to […]
A Fable of Two Halves
David Luntz Writer’s Note: Myths and fables have long interested me. So, I tried writing a quirky fable that shows how we […]
Seed of a Rainbow
David Luntz Writer’s Note: Seed of a Rainbow is the third flash in a series I’ve written about a fictional uncle (“Uncle Kev”). […]
Two Flash Fictions: After Dad Fell Down to Earth And Mom Deflated & As a kid, I thought Canada was the place you went when you died
Rosie Garland and Meg Pokrass Writers’ Note: Since 2020, we – that’s Meg Pokrass and Rosie Garland – have been collaborating on flash fictions […]
On Amoxicillin
Adrian Dallas Frandle Writer’s Note: The title of the piece “On Amoxicillin” invokes the dual sense of “on” as both a polemic […]
Two Prose Poems: It is May and I am still waiting & After picking you up from the house I grew up in
Lindsey Heatherly Writer’s Note: “It is May and I am still waiting,” was inspired by one of my walks. Most of my […]
The Psychic Plays Dress-Up
Chelsea Stickle Writer’s note: The psychic snuck up on me one day. She tapped me on the shoulder and introduced herself as […]
Foreign
Lisa Ferranti Editor’s note from Sudha Balagopal: I’ve enjoyed Lisa Ferranti’s fiction for the gentle intimacy her stories convey. In this tale, […]
Two Audio Poetry Performances: Toxic and You Are Music
Melinda Smith Editorial note from Janice Leagra: I don’t remember how I first connected to Melinda on Twitter, but I remember seeing […]
The Grapevine
Marcy Dilworth Editorial note from Sara Siddiqui: In her vivid and concise story, Marcy Dilworth describes the wisp of energy and enthusiasm […]
Do You Remember the Secret We Share?
Jaya Wagle Editor’s Note from Sudha Balagopal: This CNF by Jaya Wagle drew me in from the very first sentence. This story […]
How To Tame a Sea Parrot
Rachael Smart (words) and David Smith (photos) Editor’s note from Janice Leagra: This is a very special and exciting feature for me […]
Lorna
Johannah Simon Editorial note from Myna Chang: This story pulses with desolation and skewed hope, from the powerful narrative voice to the […]
The Devil You Know (TW: Abuse)
Ariel M. Goldenthal Editorial note from Sara Siddiqui: In very few words, Ariel shows us the day-to-day, minute-to-minute struggle of an almost-twelve-year-old […]
I Want to Write About the Moon
Shiksha Dheda Editor’s Note from Sudha Balagopal: The moon and longing create the perfect mood in this poem by Shiksha Dheda. Images, […]
Journeys
Leanne Ncube Editor’s Note from Ian O’Brien: This evocative poem is from emerging writer, Leanne Ncube. I first heard this performed at […]
Two Poems: The Kindest Way and Heat
Jonny Rodgers Editor’s note from Ian O’Brien: I am so proud to be able to share these poems with Janus readers. The […]
Two Micros: A Heart That Does Not Beat and You Will Never Need to Walk Again
Yunya Yang Editor’s Note from Sudha Balagopal: Yunya Yang delivers her signature punches in these two micros. There are descriptions of other […]
If You Were the Last Man on Earth
Dara Thomas Higgins Editor’s Note from Janice Leagra: I’m drawn to Dara’s writing, in part, for its sly, deadpan wit and strong […]
Sommelier 2020
Stephen Smythe Editor’s Note from Ian O’Brien: I recently heard this poem recited at a live event and was immediately struck, as […]
Three Poems: Three Months Old Today, Coloring with My Daughter…, and Foundation
Brian Wallace Baker Editor’s Note from Ian O’Brien: I first discovered Brian’s poetry through a prose poem he had published in the […]
You Can’t Always Get What You Don’t Even Want
Cheryl Markosky Editor’s Note from Jan Kaneen: I came across the first version of this flash in a Retreat West workshop that […]
Insolubles
Ali McGrane Editor’s Note from Jan Kaneen: I’ve been an admirer of Ali’s writing for ages. I love her use of lyrical […]
Alien in the Garden
Gillian Walker Editor’s Note from Sudha Balagopal: Gillian Walker’s stories are layered and dense, the pace of her words allowing for a […]
Photography by Rudri Patel
Rudri Patel Editor’s Note by Sudha Balagopal: Rudri Patel is both a writer and a photographer. Nature tells us stories, and in […]
Bee Costume
Dan Sanders Editor’s Note from Janice Leagra: I’m drawn to Dan’s stories because they are intelligent and entertaining, told from a singular […]
Violently Bashful
Melanie Tomkins Editor’s Note from Ian O’Brien: I heard this poem performed at the Coalition open-mic event, which Mel is co-founder of. […]
A Percussion of Bones
Victoria Buitron Editor’s Note from Janice Leagra: I asked Victoria if she had any pieces to submit because I am drawn to […]
