precious little fictions in 500 words (or less).

News & Events

12/27/10

Through a new partnership with Art Throb, the local arts and culture online magazine north of Boston, we’re sharing some of our picks from Quick Fiction’s back issues with the area arts community… and you too.

07/31/10

Lovers of the short form take note! As a proud sponsor of the Salem Literary FestivalQuick Fiction is hosting a series of events called The Flash Track, including writing workshops, a killer reading, and even monologue performances! Visit salemlitfest.com to learn more about all of the programming and register for these and other great events.


Saturday, September 18


9:30 – 11:30 am
Ghost Stories: Conjuring Phantom Narrative in Short-Short Fiction
Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA 01970
Instructor: Kenneth Calhoun
$25

It’s more than a vignette, less than a tale. It has all the anatomical parts of a full story, but hardly any of it in writing. Rather, the short-short story has phantom elements that haunt the page, then the reader, extending the world of the story beyond the actual text in every direction.  If properly drawn into being, each story is alive with ghosts. This workshop will explore the phantom narrative aspect of micro-fiction, as well as strategies to author its presence without putting it on the page. Fee includes a copy of Quick Fiction.

Register


12:00 – 2:00 pm
The Prose Poem: An Introduction
Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA 01970
Instructor: Jefferson Navicky
$25
The prose poem is capable of incredible poetic feats, able to make leaps of logic in ways few forms can, and yet it is grounded in the world of syntax and the methodical art of crafting sentences. This combination makes the prose poem a slippery form. The workshop will not attempt to grasp its slippery soul, nor attempt to make it any less slippery; instead we will embrace its grease and attempt to use it to our advantage. We will read a variety of prose poems while dedicating the majority of the class to the process of generating new work through a series of varied writing prompts. Fee includes a copy of Quick Fiction.

Register


3:00 – 4:00 pm
Salem Theatre Company Presents Quick Fiction
Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA
Tickets: $10

Salem Theatre Company will be performing the stories of magazine Quick Fiction as dramatic monologues! No pre-registration required; tickets will also be available at the door. Ticket price includes a copy of the magazine.

Purchase Tickets


5:00 – 7:00 pm
Quick Fiction’s Utter Amazement
Gulu-Gulu Cafe, 247 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970
FREE

Meet us at Gulu Gulu for a phenomenal line-up of readers whose work has appeared in the literary journal Quick Fiction, including Steve Almond, Brian Evenson, Kim Chinquee, Myfanwy Collins, Michael Thurston, and William Walsh. We don’t even know what to expect, other than a whole lot of utter amazement.


Sunday, September 19


10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Flash Fiction Crank
Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA 01970
Instructor: Chip Cheek
$25

Throw off the shackles of habit and explore new terrain without committing to a full-length story or novel. In this three-hour seminar, we’ll crank out as many new stories as we can, using writing prompts designed to unleash your imaginative brilliance. At the end of the class, you’ll walk away with an assortment of diamonds in the rough. We’ll also discuss a handful of published stories and places where you can submit your work. Be ready to write until it hurts! Fee includes a copy of Quick Fiction.

Register


3:00 – 4:00 pm
Salem Theatre Company Presents Quick Fiction
Salem Theatre Company, 90 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA
Tickets: $10

Salem Theatre Company will be performing the stories of magazine Quick Fiction as dramatic monologues! No pre-registration required; tickets will also be available at the door. Ticket price includes a copy of the magazine.

Purchase Tickets


04/22/10

Help out Haiti with Twitter fiction.

04/13/10

Join us Wednesday, April 21 at Enormous Room for a Literary Death Match! Christen Enos will represent Quick Fiction and head off against Edmond Caldwell, Jay Wexler, and Karyn Polewaczyk. The night’s judges will include Reva Williams, Rob Crean, and Pagan Kennedy. Get more info and order tickets here.

03/01/10

Blake Butler’s Scorch Atlas has been named 1 of 5 finalists for The Believer Book Award. Go, Blake! Read it before everyone else in the world does.

01/13/10

Michael Czyzniejewski, who has a new book out, has been getting some great press recently (and by proxy so have we). Read an  interview at Fiction Writers Review.

12/15/09

Aaron Burch‘s chapbook.

11/30/09

The Dirty Water Reading Series presents its annual “Dysfunctional Family Holiday” reading at Grub Street HQ on Saturday, December 12, featuring holiday-themed mad-libs and short readings by Jane Berentson, DJ Dolack, Bill Donoghue, and William Walsh. As with other installments of the Dirty Water Reading Series, the event promises to be more than your typical reading. There will be audience-participation mad-libs, raffle prizes, free food, spiked eggnog and other drinks, and even some holiday-themed fiction and poetry by the authors!

11/29/09

Just nominated for 2009 Pushcarts: Kirsten Rue’s Spelling, Salvatore Pane’s Fences Fly By, Dylan Nice’s Their Health, and Randall Brown’s It Doesn’t.

03/29/09

The Dirty Water Reading Series presents Cowgirls & Couplets: A Reading Rodeo! Sunday, March 29, 7:00 pm at Grub Street in Boston. Quick Fiction has roped in Blake Butler for this one.

03/28/09

Quick Fiction’s Afternoon Delight! Saturday, March 28, 5:00 pm at Front Street Coffeehouse in Salem. Featuring delightfully quick readings by Butler, Enos, Foley, Calhoun, Bangera.

03/17/09

Quick Fiction was featured in Daily Beast Lit Mag Round-up.

01/01/09

AWP! Through the incredible support of Emerson College, Quick Fiction will be in Chicago at Bookfair Table 432. Just think of counting backward from four and you’ll be thinking of us. And we hope you will [think of counting backward] and come and say hi!

09/19/08

The Dirty Water Reading Series presents Beer Steins and Frauleins at Grub Street (160 Boylston St, Boston) on Sunday, September 21 at 7 pm. featuring mad-libs of famous German writers and short readings by Rauan Klassnik, Aimee Pokwatka, Francine Rubin, and Amy L. Clark. And of course, German beer!

08/25/08

We were ranked #4 in New England by The Boston Globe!

07/14/08

For the ease of your social networking Facebook.

07/01/08

The Dire Literary Series is hosting Amy L. Clark on July 11 at Out of the Blue for a BBQ at 6, music at 7, and readings at 8. Hope to see you there!

05/31/08

Quick Fiction and NOÖ Journal are hosting a Book B Que on June 23 at Brookline Booksmith. Myfanwy Collins will represent the journal. Food at 6:30. Readings begin at 7.

03/11/08

The Dirty Water Reading Series presents Get Lucky at Grub Street HQ on March 16 at 7 pm. featuring mad-libs of famous Irish writers and short readings by Sommer Browning, Steve Himmer, Felicia C. Sullivan, and Quick Fiction’s Nina MacLaughlin.

02/14/08

An interview with Quick Fiction's editor in chief on Wigleaf.

01/27/08

Quick Fiction + Chip Cheek will be at AWP (table 281 compliments of Redivider, who we can’t thank enough). Stop by and say hi!

10/06/07

10/23 Opium’s Literary Death Match at The Kitching. Including Pedro Ponce representing Quick Fiction. $7 entry fee gets you a free copy of Opium5: Bad Company.7 p.m., 512 W. 19th St. (@10th Ave.).

09/16/07

The Dirty Water Reading Series presents Keggers and Cliffnotes at Grub Street HQ on September 23 at 7 pm. Brian Foley will read for Quick Fiction.

05/21/07

Issue 11 Release Party. Saturday, May 26 @ 7:00 p.m. Author readings by Jake Ruiter, Mary Beth Caschetta, and Andrew Michael Roberts. Music by Jeremy McKeen of Ulysses. Beer, wine, and goodies! Feed Your Head Books, 272 Essex Salem MA (directions).

05/20/07

Spring Fever at Grub St (160 Bolyston St., Boston) @ 7pm. Readings by Peter Jay Shippy, Sarah Sweeney, Megan Bedford, and Elisa Gabbert.

03/12/07

3/12 Big Party to Celebrate Small Press Month! Great Scott in Allston. Starts @ 6

03/10/07

3/10 Quick Fiction Reading at Feed Your Head Books 2:00

02/27/07

2/27-3/3 Meet Quick Fiction at the AWP bookfair!