Author: Chelsea

I’m proud to say that a story originally published in my journal Lost Balloon will appear in the Best Microfiction anthology this year. Huge congrats to the talented Anita Goveas. Her winning story, “Let’s Sing All the Swear Words We Know” is a must-read.

I have been getting some good news lately after several months of rejection and quiet.

First, Flash Fiction Online recently accepted my story “A Thousand Butterflies” to appear as a reprint this year. This piece was originally published in last year’s print edition of Passages North, and I’m stoked that it will receive a second life online. I also have an interview with author Angie Kim coming up later this spring in The Rumpus. (Kim’s debut novel Miracle Creek is due to be published in April.) Finally, I’ve been asked to be a panelist at WriteFest in Houston early in the summer. Looking forward to visiting Houston for the first time, and to presenting to the writers there.

I still have a few stories on submission that I’m hoping will be published this year, but so far, 2019 is looking pretty good. I will update with links as things become more concrete.

I’ve known this for a little while now, but was waiting for the official announcement before posting… I was named a runner up in the Gertrude Press fiction chapbook contest for my manuscript GRAB THE SHARPEST BLADE!

I’ve decided to shelve this manuscript, which is sad because it made the finalist list in three different contests. After a full year of submissions, it didn’t make sense to continue sending it out. I’m hoping, however, that one day these stories will appear in a full-length collection instead.

I just returned from a two-week residency at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia. I had my own small cabin where I was able to think, read, and write, and it was absolutely invaluable. I also had the opportunity to meet and commune with some incredible writers and artists. I’m so grateful for the time and space. You can view photos from my time there on my Instagram account.

As the editor of a literary magazine, one of my favorite tasks is to nominate published pieces for awards. I announced the nominations for Best Small Fictions and the Pushcart Prize anthology this weekend, and I’m so incredibly proud of these writers and their work. Links to their pieces, along with the nominees for Best of the Net and Best Microfiction, are all available on the magazine’s awards page.

I’m incredibly honored to be a finalist in this year’s chapbook contest through Gazing Grain Press. GG is a feminist press staffed by alumni of the George Mason University writing program. You can learn more about their mission here, and you can read the contest announcement here.

Leah Angstman chose my story “Hotbox” for this week’s Indie Lit Round-Up. The other pieces are by folks like Kristen Arnett and Tanaya Winder. I’m so proud to be featured in The Coil and to be included with these great writers!

This was a great week for me. I found out a few days ago that I’ve been granted a two-week writing residency at The Hambidge Center. I’m so incredibly grateful and excited that I’ll be given this quiet, concentrated time to create art. My fellowship is still several months away, but I’m sure I’ll be posting more about it afterward.

I’ll be participating in a flash fiction retreat this summer, run by Nancy Stohlman and Kathy Fish. I had a great conversation with Stohlman, and it’s featured this week on the retreat’s blog. Check it out!

I was lucky enough to snag an interview with Rebecca Makkai about her forthcoming novel, The Great Believers, which is due out June 19th. This is my first appearance in The Rumpus, and I’m incredibly grateful to Makkai for talking with me and to editors Ian MacAllen and Elon Green for placing the piece.

From the introduction: “Rebecca Makkai’s third novel, The Great Believers, travels between 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris, following a group of friends impacted by the AIDS crisis. The main characters, Yale and Fiona, confront the disease and its impact on their friends and family, as they struggle to make the best of their own lives. With its themes of reconciliation and redemption, and its focus on subjects such as activism and access to healthcare, the book feels spookily relevant in the age of Trump…”

You can read the full interview here.