What a task it has been to choose only four narratives from such a brilliant year of publishing. One choice, however, was easy: the grand prize winner of The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction is always nominated for all the prizes.
We are thrilled for the authors and artist below, and we wish them all much success as they are considered for Best of the Net 2024.
Creative Nonfiction
House of My Soon-to-Be Ex by Claudia Monpere
Portrait of an Ape by Jiaqi Kang
Fiction
Emergency Contact by Marcus Tan
In the First Draft, The Baby Dies by Lindy Biller
Artwork
Art for Swan Lake by Jessica Perner
In September 2022 SmokeLong launched a workshop environment/community christened SmokeLong Fitness. This community workshop is happening right now on our dedicated workshop site. If you choose to join us, you will work in a small group of around 15-20 participants to give and receive feedback on flash narratives—one new writing task each week.