SmokeLong Quarterly

Thank you to everyone who has sent work to The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction, or as we affectionately call it The Smokey. Our team of 14 judges from seven countries around this troubled world of ours have been discussing your work for weeks. Our judges, committed flash writers/readers/editors all around, gave your work the care it deserves.

For those of you new to SmokeLong, our process is anonymous. Our judges have no idea who you are. If they recognize an author’s work, they have to recuse themselves. We hope this is the best way to find and celebrate new, exciting voices.

The stories on the list below impressed our judges in so many ways. Please help us celebrate these stories, but please do so without identifying the author. Anonymous judging is ongoing. We have not chosen the winners yet. This year is so difficult (Go, flash community!). The stories are so good.

The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction – The Shortlist

Afterglow by Tiffany Harris
Aunty Dolly Won’t Die by Renesha Dhanraj
Between Chamisa and Rengyō by Mizuki Yamagen
Bridges We Can’t Uncross by Mizuki Yamagen
Even the Blade by River Franklin
I Learned Too Late Not to Save Things by Amina Gautier
Little Coffins by Elisabeth Gonzalez
Man Spelt Backwards by Chi Pham
Mars is not as dry as they told us by Mizuki Yamagen
Mother Said I Was Air by Dawn Miller
Ms. Pac-Man in the Maze by Sarah Chin
National Bird by Jesse Ackles
Non-Existent by Sabina Khan-Ibarra
Pickle Juice by Kelly Pedro
Sand Fleas by Alix Cabral
Savior by Seth Gleckman
Silent Disco on the Blue Line, 07/07/23 by Chad Ohm
Silver People by Daniel McDermott
Special Occasion Italian Restaurant by Valerie Fox
The God-Line by Chanel Sutherland
The Solid Fullness of Empty by Debra Daniel
(They Long To Be) Close to You by Binh Do
When My Father Loses the Sight of Himself by Debra Daniel
Wild Gazelle by Glenn Orgias
Zombie Duck by Sara Hills