This week's featured story is "Organs" by Aimee Bender @aimee-bender.bsky.social www.smokelong.com/stories/orga...

"I still very much and thoroughly consider myself a fiction writer. But sometimes something of life presents itself directly for writing, and that was this." Our first featured author of Issue 89 is Aimee Bender @aimee-bender.bsky.social. Read her interview here: www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

"I still very much and thoroughly consider myself a fiction writer. But sometimes something of life presents itself directly for writing, and that was this." Our first featured author of Issue 89 is Aimee Bender @aimee-bender.bsky.social. Read her interview here: www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

So excited to have a story in the latest issue of @smokelong.bsky.social alongside so many talented writers. Give it a read!

Beautiful stories alert! ✨✨ My fav was @colettelh.bsky.social’s “How to Respond When Your Hairdresser Asks if You Have Any Children.” It’s a real stunner, see link to the issue ⬇️

Hello, friends! We're Monarch Queer Literary Awards, a project of @fifthwheelpress.bsky.social. Monarch is a new anthology recognizing the best new queer writing and art published by literary magazines and independent presses. 🦋 Submissions open September 1. Until then, get to know us: monarch.gay

When you sign up for Promptember (Nov 8-Dec 14), you can add on SmokeLong Fitness for two months for just $55. Promptember, though, is free. Yep. Free. Come write with us! These live write-in events are scheduled at various times to include this whole turning world. www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...

Feeling isolated? Craving community? It's sign-up time to begin SmokeLong Fitness in October. Our community workshop of around 200 passionate writers from around the world is an honest, supportive group of talented and adorable people. Come write with us. #notacult www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...

It's sign-up time for October! Workshop your flash, narrative poetry, or even your long-form project in the liveliest, most passionate community workshop around (since 2022). We have participants from all around this mixed-bag world. www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Yay!!

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview L.F. Khouri for this issue. His story "The Map That Leads Nowhere" is a breathtaking piece of flash, and every word of every answer in his interview felt like a masterclass. Go check it out!

"Los Angeles is pelted by torrential rains the same week my father is admitted to the hospital with too much fluid in his legs." Beautifully woven CNF by @aimee-bender.bsky.social in the new issue of @smokelong.bsky.social www.smokelong.com/stories/orga...

Announcing our nominations for the inaugural Monarch Queer Literary Awards! @monarch.gay @fifthwheelpress.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @seaheye.bsky.social, Sam Mainz, @jjpena.bsky.social, @allisonfieldbell.bsky.social, and C Ray Borck

Issue 89 with new CNF by Aimee Bender, our first featured author in our Master Series, is live! Work by established writers and those new to the form rubbing elbows in this issue. All rare gems by writers from around the globe. So proud of everyone in this issue. www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...

Humans, jump on this!! Write amazing, brilliant *tiny* things. 💚🐈‍⬛💚 (and then send them to us 🙃)

Amazing new issue of @smokelong.bsky.social! With new flash narratives by @aimee-bender.bsky.social, @jjlofflin.bsky.social, Nora Esme Wagner, Colette Love Hilliard, Sagar Nair, L.F. Khouri, Vaibhavi Kerkar, Christina Tudor, Mary Ann McGuigan, and AJ O’Reilly! www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...

Join SmokeLong for Promptember! This series of write-ins and open mics is free! Let's write! Donations will go to @sundresspub.bsky.social and their fellowships/residencies for trans, black and/or indigenous writers. www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...

⚡️Oh nothing, just a spanking new edition of the best flash fiction journal in the world packed with glorious stories and greetings from our illustrious leader WOOOOOO!!!!

Really proud of this one. 🥹❤️🎉

I’m thrilled to have my flash in this issue alongside so many brilliant writers.

My daughter Nora has a story in @smokelong.bsky.social! Read Nora's story, and also her interview (she calls me out for not writing as much as her). So proud of this girl! www.smokelong.com/stories/anim...

That's right, submissions for the 2025 Literary Awards Program with @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social will be closing TONIGHT at 11:59 pm EDT! Entry Fee = $30. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. We are seeking fiction and creative nonfiction of every genre. buff.ly/AMZ2510 @susanschulman.bsky.social

Love this story by @jjlofflin.bsky.social in the new issue of @smokelong.bsky.social! This is brilliant: www.smokelong.com/stories/on-o...

Issue 89 with new CNF by Aimee Bender, our first featured author in our Master Series, is live! Work by established writers and those new to the form rubbing elbows in this issue. All rare gems by writers from around the globe. So proud of everyone in this issue. www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...

Yay!!!!!

Yay!!!

What an issue! I just read every story—all so good.

How to Write a Poetry Book Review - Workshop Registration SoFloPoJo Reviews Editor, Christina Linsin, takes you through how and why you should review poetry books Zoom workshop Thursday 10/2/2025 at 7 PM www.soflopojo.submittable.com/submit

We're opening subs for the 2025 New Flash Fiction Prize on 15 Sept! Read what judge Graham Faulkner wants: "Capturing the decisive moment with arresting detail. Writing to the questions, not the answers. The ability to create a mood, an intimacy, a connection." newflashfiction.com/get-ready-fo...

"When she was young, her brother got rabies and took a bite out of her wrist. He stayed with us for Christmas last year. He showed up with a giant baguette and she slammed the door in his face and left him on the porch." ➰ quite something from Sydney writer Sagar Nair in @smokelong.bsky.social

For those of you just waking up in the UK, sitting down to lunch in Goa, or enjoying your afternoon in Sydney, you'll be the first to read Issue 89 of SmokeLong Quarterly! www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...

PSA! We're reading for the March issue now. Our September issue goes live on Monday.

Yay!!!

Yay!!!!

Cover Reveal! September 15th! Issue 89 of SmokeLong Quarterly! Ten killer flash by ten amazing writers. And we're thrilled to feature new CNF by Aimee Bender, our first featured author in the SmokeLong Master Series. Cover art by Mario Loprete.

Yay!!!!

Yay!!!!

Yay!!!!!

The Monarch Queer Literary Awards are now open for nominations until November 30, 2025! Visit our website (monarch.gay) to learn more about us and how editors can nominate work. 🦋

Wafa-e-Fatima Kazmi's story "A Silent Cage" was published in @smokelong.bsky.social Issue 87 in March of 2025. www.smokelong.com/stories/a-si...

"A brilliant and compelling debut, Ravishing shines a light on the dark enticements of the beauty industry and how it capitalizes on our desire to be someone we are not." Eshani Surya, a former editor at SmokeLong, is celebrating her debut novel. You can pre-order! groveatlantic.com/book/ravishi...

Yay!!!!!

If you haven’t read The Lives Of the Dead by Irelands next great writer @fionamckay.bsky.social , read this review of it in @smokelong.bsky.social and get yourself a copy!⬇️⬇️⬇️

I've never sent out so many third-tier rejections (close to publication). So many killer flash in the queue these days. Keep sending your work. Our free submissions window is open until the end of the month!

"The rain here in the Sangre de Cristos doesn’t smell like the rain back home in Japan. There, it was rice fields sighing open after winter’s dry hold. Here, it is the green mineral breath of the earth." What a story by @mizukiyamagen.bsky.social - 1st Prize in the @smokelong.bsky.social award 👏👏

"The Art in the Detail: Specificity in Flash" with Emily Devane on September 27th at 1pm ET. Join us! If you've submitted work to SmokeLong lately, you'll have a voucher to get a discount on this in the shop. www.smokelong.com/product/the-...

"I grew up listening to a mismatch of voices: Australian, Kiwi, Scottish, American, country, and surfie." Glenn Orgias is our featured author this week. Read his interview that accompanies his story "Wild Gazelle," a finalist for The Smokey. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

Read Emily’s review, then go grab a copy of @fionamckay.bsky.social’s novella-in-flash! ✨