CRAFT

Exploring the art of prose. Short & flash fiction, creative nonfiction, craft essays, interviews, & more. CRAFT Short Fiction Prize deadline: November 15, 2026.

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

CRAFT wants your best short fiction!

Guest Judge Jess Row will choose three winning stories. The first-place winner will receive a $2,500 award and online publication. We seek short fiction only: 1,000 to 5,000 words in length.

Learn more: https://t.co/T6K9U4QOt6

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #interview:

"A devoted fan of the lyric essay...I’ve been looking forward to The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing the Lyric Essay for what feels like a long time. It does not disappoint."

—@heartichoke, @hkczerwiec, and @doylejacq

https://t.co/XWiBVxkw3d

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #creativenonfiction:

"What I mean to say is that I have insomnia.

What I mean to say is that you had epilepsy.

What I mean to say is that we were abused. "

—@kintsukroi

https://t.co/S3Brgu8AVK

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #fiction:

"All around you, shadows crouch and waver: of lives passed, lives present, lives yet to come."

—@kgnewberry

https://t.co/XMisAE4eKx

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #flashfiction:

"When you’re fourteen, your cousin Breno begins collecting garbage."

—S.C. Pires

https://t.co/Zu1WPrwJH4

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #flashcreativenonfiction:

"If there is no box for me, who am I? If I’ve lost two out of four citizenships, who am I?"

—@vesnajaksiclowe

https://t.co/HCCMVo9SBH

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #fiction:

"While Titania and Bottom canoodled...while Oberon and Puck hatched their trickery, backstage Rocky introduced me to all the secret hiding places you could find in a theater."

—Lydia Weaver

https://t.co/WSplEoQ8IM

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #creativenonfiction:

"My sister became a ghost no one spoke of."

—@ amber.wong.129

https://t.co/wOb4QTXcG9

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #conversationbetweenfriends:

"As a memoirist, I had to accept that my version of the story is only one among many versions of a larger truth."

—Renee Gilmore and Kelly Foster Lundquist in conversation

https://t.co/UVI4NpqLh7

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #fiction:

"I wanted her to set me loose."

—@horneddaughter

https://t.co/EN6DwVCJ58

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #hybridinterview:

"Plot is a mechanism for releasing information. It’s discovery on a slow drip."

—Diane Josefowicz in conversation with Shara Kronmal

https://t.co/As7ghibRKR

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #essay:

"Readers want to be curious, to marvel at the story, the characters, relationships, events, and incidents."

—@ m.bethzimmer

https://t.co/tyxeE8B0JP

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #flashfiction:

"My happy place was the library in our house. It had two thousand, six hundred and fourteen books, the last time I counted, which was yesterday."

—CJ Julisch

https://t.co/rd8XgN2VLS

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

Our 2026 Flash Prose Prize is open until September 13!

—3 winners: $1K, publication, and a bundle of Rose Metal Press Field Guides
—Guest judged by Amy Hempel
—Editors' choice selections too

Learn more: https://t.co/M2pHjOMOml

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #creativenonfiction:

"In terms of financial gain, my first bank robbery is a success. By all other measures, it’s a failure."

—@justalittleapocalypse

https://t.co/JUl2pFqRM9

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #creativenonfiction:

"Unit B44 was filled with Christmas decorations, there since 2009; my mother spent $15,600 to hide ornaments from my father."

—@rtigernyc

https://t.co/ug98AvNER7

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #interview:

"Poetry taught me like the weight of the world teaches coal—poetry taught me extreme compression can result in diamonds."

—@bethannfennelly in conversation with @abby.manzella"

https://t.co/7bqgGdsqJQ

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #interview:

"From the very beginning, I wanted Alica to drive the narrative. There could be no story beyond what she was capable of…"

—J.M. Sidorova in conversation with @mlensheffer

https://t.co/wRN0ne8xCn

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #interview:

"Typically I’ll start with a basic vision. I’ll start writing a vignette, and as it develops I want to keep it short because I know I’m going to edit it down and make it even shorter."

—Christopher Bowen with Shehrazade Zafar-Arif

https://t.co/JrHg9WgkRI

[CRAFT @CraftLiterary]

New #interview:

"I’m interested in writing intensity and obsession. I like writing limerence—so many characters in Weird Babies are in strange, limerent relationships with people who aren’t good for them."

—Jaclyn Desforges with @rowenaleongsinger

https://t.co/LEoFsPFI2g