Short Story Today

Award-winning NJ author Laury A. Egan's new collection is Contrary - an eclectic mix of twenty-one stories which also includes a two-act play. She's the author of seventeen books of fiction and four poetry volumes. We read her story "The Impaired Pair," which appears in Contrary. https://www.lauryaegan.com/Support the show

The literary journal Saw Palm was created in 2006 by John Henry Fleming, Phd and the MFA students of the Creative Writing Program at the University of South Florida. Saw Palm's mission is to go beyond the tourist brochures and capture the unique experience of Florida lives, landscapes, and tropes. The episode features a discussion about the making of Issue 19 with Dr. Fleming and student editors Elizabeth Pottinger and Andrea Figueroa-Irizarry, moderated by fellow editor Daniel Dykiel. We read a story from the issue: "Alligator Soup" by Brittany Hague. https://www.sawpalm.org/Support the show

Award-winning Toronto author Caitlin Galway speaks with us about her "mad scientist" approach to writing, which has produced some of the most startling and original fiction being written today. Her new collection is A Song for Wildcats, published by Dundurn Press.https://caitlingalway.wixsite.com/caitlin-l-galwaySupport the show

Canadian author Pratap Reddy was born in India, but has lived in Mississauga, Ontario since 2002. In his fiction, he pays homage to the courageous men and women who have braved hardships of every kind while seeking a new future in the West. His new collection is Remaindered People & Other Stories (Guernica Editions). From the collection, we read  "Storm in a Teacup."https://pratapreddy.com/index.htmlSupport the show

Award-winning NY author Sarah Freligh joins us to discuss her new collection OTHER EMERGENCIES (Univ of Arkansas Press), which is the 2025 Moon City Press Editors Choice Selection. Her oeuvre includes several poetry collections and a novella. We read "All That Water," which was first published in Stone Canoe.   https://sarahfreligh.com/Support the show

With her debut collection Frail Little Embers, UK author Fija Callaghan has created a literary offering that will enchant and delight readers. In this beguiling work, she's re-imagined myths and folk and fairy tales, offering inspiring examples of the resilience of the human spirit. We read, from the collection: "Life, Death, and Other Complications."https://fijacallaghan.com/Support the show

Indiana author T.D. Johnston is the founder and editor of Short Story America, a small press that publishes the Short Story America anthology series in addition to author story collections and novels. Friday Afternoon and Other Stories, his first collection, won the 2017 International Book Award Prize for Short Fiction. We read "The First Key" from that collection. https://tdjohnston.com/Support the show

We've brought back a newly-packaged edition of our 2022 Holiday episode, featuring stories selected from our contest submissions that year, as well as a few by authors who were guests on the podcast. We've added a story from 1917 that was discovered in the archives of Project Gutenberg, and was featured in Episode 4 of the first edition of Short Story Today. Featuring the voices of Jon DiSavino, Alison Fraser, Peter Garruba, Barret Leddy, and Suzanne Savoy. https://shortstorytoday.com/Support the show

This week we've created an audiobook anthology of short stories about thanksgiving - not the holiday, per se, but the things that Thanksgiving represents: family bonds, gratitude, and benevolence. There are nine stories by five authors: Mathieu Cailler, Melissa Ostrom, Andrea Rinard, John Sheirer, and Hart Vetter. Featuring the voices of Daniel Dykiel, Sierra Lidén, Meg Sewell, and Jon DiSavino.https://shortstorytoday.com/ Support the show

Toronto author Danila Botha's third story collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness (Guernica Editions), moves uniquely through time. She combines multigenerational stories that eloquently reflect on history with contemporary stories of the lives and loves of urban youth. Sierra Lidén reads "Don't Look Back," which was first published in Jewishfiction.net.https://www.danilabotha.com/Support the show

Mississippi author Eliot Parker's second collection of stories is something of a love letter to the hard-working people of Appalachia that he's come to appreciate in the many years he's lived in the territory. Table For Two (Colorful Crow Publishing) is a multi-genre collection of tales that focus on one-on-one conversations with heart and humor. We read "Giving," the final story in the book.https://www.eliotparker.com/ Support the show

Award-winning Massachusetts author Jeffrey Feingold will see his third short story collection published this fall. A FINE MADNESS - AND OTHER MAD STORIES (MFT Press) is a combination of literary realism and magical realism that crosses over, at times, into the surreal. What binds it all together, though, is the humor. We read "My Left Foot" from his first book, The Black Hole Pastrami.https://jeffreymfeingold.com/Support the show

New Orleans author Marguerite Sheffer is a Professor of Practice at Tulane University, where she teaches courses in design thinking and speculative fiction as tools for social change. Read her collection The Man in the Banana Trees (Univ of Iowa Press) to see how it's done. We read "The Observer's Cage," which was first published in The Offing. https://www.margueritesheffer.com/Support the show

Bay Area author Nina Schuler doesn't subscribe to the "write what you know" school of thought. For her, that would just be boring. In her fiction, she writes fearlessly about complex subjects like AI and the science of climate change, and makes us think about what roles we might take in an effort to make the world a better place. Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth, has called her collection IN THIS RAVISING WORLD "the book this moment needs." We read "Brethren and Sistren" from the collection. https://ninaschuyler.com/Support the show

New Jersey author Janis Hubschman was a marathon runner, so she understands the true meaning of endurance. The women in her debut story collection Take Me With You Next Time (Betty Books) are athletes and outdoorswomen who find themselves on terrain that challenges not only their bodies, but their hearts and minds, too. We read "Please See Me," which was first published in Chautauqua Journal.https://www.janishubschman.com/about.htmlSupport the show

Author Tara Isabel Zambrano is an electrical engineer by day, where she relies on her left brain in designing semiconductors. She balances that by ensuring that her right brain gets time to do some playing - particularly in the form of writing fiction. Of her new collection Ruined a Little When We Are Born (Dzanc Books), Laura Picklesimer, author of Kill For Love writes: "Enchanting and heartbreaking, Zambrano's prose pulses with intensity, magic, and insight."https://taraisabelzambrano.wordpress.com/Support the show

Georgia author Viggy Parr Hampton discovered that the best way to find the satisfyingly scary horror stories she craved was to write them herself. She's just published her second novel, Much Too Vulgar, which has been described by Ronald Malfi, bestselling author of Small Town Horror as “A brash, unapologetic, and often funny novel with a delightful nasty streak." We read the story "The Waiting Mortuary," which was published in The Cafe. https://viggyhampton.com/Support the show

Kansas author Amy Stuber's debut collection Sad Grownups  probes the interior worlds of disillusioned, disconnected, and dislocated adults as they search for meaning in their lives. "Stuber's characters fumble through adulthood, they endure the confusing mysteries of growing up, they try to connect and instead create disasters. Sad Grownups marks the arrival of an erudite, controlled, and generous voice from the heart of America.” —Richard Mirabella, author of Brother & Sister Enter the Forest https://www.amystuber.com/Support the show

Canadian author Kirti Bhadresa was born in Red Deer, Alberta to Indian parents who had travelled far and wide before settling there. In her debut collection An Astonishment of Stars, she honors the lives of women - sisters, wives and mothers - who are caught between two worlds. ECW Press has graciously permitted us to share an excerpt from "In a Name" taken form the audiobook edition of An Astonishment of Stars, read by Roveena Gnanabakthan. https://beingkirti.com/an-astonishment-of-starsSupport the show

In the fourteen years author Meg Pokrass has been writing flash, she has established herself as a key figure in the world of flash fiction. First Law of Holes, her newly-released volume of new and collected stories, represents the astonishing wealth of creativity generated during those years. Meg reads six of the stories from her collection. https://megpokrass.com/ Support the show

The flash stories in Canadian author Hollay Ghadery's debut collection Widow Fantasies are like portrait miniatures, capturing essential moments in the lives of each character with laser-like focus and clarity. We read three stories from the book: "Tarot of St. Petersburg," Audience as Patio Furniture," and "Tennis Whites."https://www.hollayghadery.ca/ https://hollay-ghadery.squarespace.com/Support the Show.

There's a lot on Canadian author Kathryn Mockler's mind when it comes to what sorts of things the future might hold. In her hybrid collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press), she channels her anxiety about the planet into bold, original, and surprisingly humorous works that take aim at the indifference surrounding us in these perilous times. We read four stories from the section of the book titled My Dream House. https://www.kathrynmockler.com/Support the Show.

UK author Claire Carroll is the daughter of a zoologist, which is no surprise given the ways in which her reverence for the natural world figures largely in her fiction. She brings a daring imagination and a dark humor to the stories in her debut collection The Unreliable Nature Writer (Scratch Books), which examine the fragile relationship between humankind and the natural world.For this episode, the story "My Two Sons" is read by the author.Support the Show.

In his linked story collection Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts, Washington DC author Nick Rees Gardner has created a fictional landscape inspired by his hometown of Mansfield, Ohio - which he has affectionately dubbed "Westinghouse." But it's not a rose-tinted homage. Nick's personal experience of the opioid crisis that grew out of the economic hard times which have effected places like Mansfield make this collection a unique and important work of literature. We read "Psychedelicious," which was first published in Cutleaf. https://nickreesgardner.com/Support the Show.

In his collection Stumbling Through Adulthood, Massachusetts author John Sheirer pays homage to folks like the ones he got to know while growing up in rural Pennsylvania. He creates indelible portraits of the unsung heroes of small town America - simple folk who time and again prove that "simple" is simply a matter of opinion. We read "Security," which was first published in Wordpeace.http://www.johnsheirer.com/Support the Show.

Kolby Granville, Founder and Editor of After Dinner Conversation: Philosophy and Ethics Short Story Magazine shares his thoughts and ideas about publishing a periodical, using fiction to explore ethical principals and philosophical concepts, and elevating popular culture. We read a story from the magazine: "Father Dale's Drive-thru Exorcisms" by Viggy Parr Hampton.   https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com/Support the Show.

Author Timothy Laurence Marsh's coastal Southern California home town set the stage for his entering college on a tennis scholarship, where he began pursuing a career in law enforcement. But an elective course in creative writing put him on a very different path. We discuss his forthcoming story collection My Mother Fires Guns, and read "The Perfect Paris Day," which was published in The MacGuffin.Support the Show.

Toronto author Eufemia Fantetti is the child of Italian immigrants who emigrated to Canada in the sixties. In her story collection A Recipe for Disaster & Other Unlikely Tales of Love (Mother Tongue), she responds to the ways in which cultural beliefs and traditions effect the lives of generations struggling to adapt in their new and strikingly different worlds. https://www.eufemiafantetti.com/home-eufemia-fantettiSupport the Show.

In Toronto author Aaron Kreuter's linked story collection Rubble Children, he's provided a stirring and provocative portrait of a Jewish community in Toronto struggling with the difficult choices they must face as their core beliefs are called into question. Palestinian-Canadian author Saeed Teebi, author of Her First Palestinian, is the guest interviewer for this episode. We read "The Krasners" from Rubble Children. https://aaronkreuter.com/ Support the Show.

Award-winning Ontario children's book author Nicola Winstanley has recently published a collection of fiction - this time for grownups. Smoke (Buckrider Books) is a linked story collection. It follows the path of a resilient woman from her rocky New Zealand childhood to her life as a professional living in Ontario, Canada. Nathan Whitlock, author of Lump, has called it "meticulously crafted and emotionally walloping." We read "Feeling in the Flesh," a psychological horror story from the collection. https://www.nicolawinstanley.com/Support the Show.

While we prepare for Season 3, we thought it might be fun to bring you some first-rate stories that probably haven't seen the light of day in ages. We're going to refer to these episodes as our "Found Fiction" episodes. These gems have been unearthed from the electronic vaults of Project Gutenberg - one of our favorite literary resources. They're stories written by writers who were popular in their day but who sadly, over time, have fallen into obscurity. Support the Show.

Nigerian author Wole Talabi excels at math (he's an engineer), so he creates what he calls a "fiction-equation" when beginning a story. But don't be misled by the technical sound of it. There's a deep reverence for humanity in his stories, which expertly capture the beauty and wonder of science and technology. His new collection is Convergence Problems (DAW Books) which a Booklist starred review calls “…a triumph of short fiction.” https://wtalabi.wordpress.com/Support the show

New York author Nicole Haroutunian knows how to keep an audience engaged - whether, as a museum educator, it's the groups she helps find a deeper connection with art - or readers of her fiction. Her newly-released novel-in-stories Choose This Now  has been hailed by Lydia Kiesling, author of Mobility and The Golden State as " a sparkling, intimate look at women's lives." Sierre Lidén reads "Three Times I Breathed Other People's Breath and No One Worried About Death," which was published in Tupelo Quarterly. https://nicoleharoutunian.com/Support the show

Chicago author Ananda Lima was born in Brasilia, Brazil, and made her way to Illinois via Australia and New York while working in the field of linguistics. She is a translator, a fiction writer,  and an award-winning poet. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called her debut collection Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil "a terrific fiction debut."Support the show

Missouri author Jess Bowers began her lifelong love affair with horses while still a child in her hometown of York, Pennsylvania - but she wasn't born to ranchers or farmers. Her dad was a sports journalist and a poet who fostered the love of literature in their home, which became the foundation on which she would build her writing career. We read "Granddad Swam" from her debut collection Horse Show, which was first published in Oyez Review.  https://jessbowers.org/Support the show

This emerging Canadian author writes under the pseudonym of Trent Lewin. "It was specifically picked so that I could elude the reality in which I'd lived for so many years, the reality that always had boundaries on it, and limits as to what I could do. I didn't want my writing in a box." He has a PhD. But it's not in Creative Writing. It's in Environmental Engineering. He does important work there. But in the field of writing, he's begun to make another kind of mark on the world. We read his story "The Longest Day." https://trentlewin.com/Support the show

Vancouver, Canada author Andrea Bishop has been awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to complete her first collection of short stories. The work-in-progress features stories of fearless women - hikers, hockey-players, moms,  and mom-athletes - all striving to create harmony in an often brutal world. We read her story "Ice Created Layer Upon Layer," which was published in Grain Magazine.   https://andreabishop.ca/Support the show

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 literary legacy. We read "Last Jump Off the Lift Bridge." https://courtlandavenue.wordpress.com/Support the show

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 the world in profound ways. We read "Naming the Darkness" from the collection Hollows. https://tommydeanwriter.com/Support the show

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 show

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.com/Support the show

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 this episode, Chaya reads an excerpt from her story "Wormhole," which was published in the Southern Humanities Review.    https://www.chayabhuvaneswar.com/Support the show

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 show

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-released crime noir novel, Necessary Deeds (Regal House Publishing). https://www.coolestamericanstories.com/Support the show

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," "Prix Fixe," "Pugilists," and "Checking on the Devil." https://www.alysondutemple.com/Support the show

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," which was first published in DIAGRAM. https://dustinmhoffman.com/Support the show

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 "Portugal," "Papi in the House," "Empty Nest," and "At the Movies."Support the show

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 show

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 Places That I Have Not Seen."Support the show

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/aboutSupport the show

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 Story America anthology. https://mathieucailler.com/Support the show