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FLASH CREATIVE NONFICTION

Image is a color photograph of sketched body parts; title card for the new flash creative nonfiction essay, "Index of Body Parts," by Kim Magowan.

Index of Body Parts by Kim Magowan

January 10, 2024

  Elbow The so-called “funny bone,” the most sensitive bone in the body. A tap here feels excruciating. The hardest point of the body, according to the scary mass email my mother-in-law sends (subject heading: FOR WOMEN!). “If assaulted, attack…

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Image is a black-and-white photograph of someone standing behind a broken glass; title card for the new creative nonfiction microflash, "When Doves Cry," by Anne Panning.

“When Doves Cry” by Anne Panning

September 6, 2023

  Prince tipped extravagantly. He’d leave $100 bills tucked under the ketchup. He did not condescend, but would wiggle his little fanny all the way out the door. The limos gobbled him up and deposited him at Paisley Park. Lavender…

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Image shows a row of brick apartment buildings with rectangular windows against a white sky; title card for new flash essay, "For Rent," by Rosa Kwon Easton.

For Rent by Rosa Kwon Easton

August 9, 2023

  You fluff the white rice for lunch. Aroma of fermented soybean paste stew wafts in the air. Gazing out the open window, you tense. You slap the rice paddle on the counter and rush outside, charging headfirst across the…

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Image shows a yellow walking sign on a green guard rail in New York City; title card for the Character Sketch Challenge winner, "Gordon Bishop," by Naomi Bishop.

Gordon Bishop by Naomi Melati Bishop

August 2, 2023

  Gordon Bishop, fifty-six, is a one-eyed, one-legged, one-breasted single father. He is a native New Yorker who shares an antique-filled one-bedroom apartment in Hell’s Kitchen with his teenage daughter. Every night, Gordon sits at his desk wearing tighty-whities and…

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Image shows a white door on a green garage slashed with sunlight; title card for the 2022 CNFA editors' choice selection, "Tatuajes," by Rubén Degollado.

Tatuajes by Rubén Degollado

June 7, 2023

  Indiana, in our cold one-car garage, motes of dust falling sideways, the sunlight diffused by the snow covering the ground outside, and we watched Apá working the punching bag, his untaped fists flashing with each swing. Behind my brother…

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Image shows a modern office space, mostly white, with a tile floor and exposed ceiling; title card for the new flash essay, "We Had Something Beautiful," by Kathryn Silver-Hajo.

We Had Something Beautiful by Kathryn Silver-Hajo

May 10, 2023

  We were agents of change. We wrote about how hugging, laughter, and kissing can lengthen your life. Warned that toxins in commercial cosmetics seep surreptitiously through nails and pores. We advocated ditching pesticides and gardening with beneficial nematodes instead.…

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Image shows several busses lined up in a row against a blue-sky background; title card for the new prose poem, (up to now separately), by KC Trommer.

(up to now separately) by KC Trommer

April 5, 2023

  “Maintenance is a drag; it takes all the fucking time.” —Mierle Laderman Ukeles, MANIFESTO! MAINTENANCE ART 1969! Proposal for an Exhibition, “CARE” (1969)   MONDAY socks and shoes socks and shoes socks and shoes Taking all the fucking time,…

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Image shows multiple intersecting walkways in front of glass skyscrapers; title card for the new flash creative nonfiction essay, "Walkable City," by Miriam Gershow.

Walkable City by Miriam Gershow

March 8, 2023

  He was standing at the corner where we met every morning to walk to work because we were young and carless. I had gotten on a train and moved 2,000 miles for a walkable city. He had always lived…

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Image is a photograph that depicts a silhouette of a mountain and two palm trees in front of a stormy background; title card for the new flash creative nonfiction essay, "Home Like This," by Amanda Whitehurst.

Home Like This by Amanda Whitehurst

February 1, 2023

  Content Warning—self-harm and/or suicide attempt   When I visit from the states my cousin Marco becomes wind. In the car to the restaurant where our mothers wait he’s all curls dancing, all cheeks stretching, speeding so fast I’m sure…

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Image is a photograph of an armchair in front of curtains; title card for the new flash creative nonfiction, "How to Write About the Body," by Ceridwen Hall.

How to Write About the Body by Ceridwen Hall

January 11, 2023

  The trick is to write about the body without deploying the body, which has been strained by overuse and anyway tends to make objects or corpses of us: the animals in question. And, we are such animals; my sister…

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