Hunger: The Best of Brilliant Flash Fiction 2014-2019

by Dawn Lowe (Editor), Ed Higgins (Editor), Ingrid Anders (Contributor)

Hungry for flash fiction?

There are many different types of hunger – hunger for justice, for love, for whatever we can‘t have. The protagonist in most any plot wants something and must overcome obstacles in his or her way. The stories in this collection include the editors’ picks from the five-year archive of online literary journal Brilliant Flash Fiction, as well as a series of 300-word stories shortlisted in the FEED US Writing Contest, conducted June 1 – September 1, 2019. Flash at its finest.

What is flash fiction? A story told in 1,000 words or less. Flash fiction might not represent a complete story, but instead describes an unforgettable moment or situation, bordering on prose poetry. The best short fiction leaves the reader with a "flash" of inspiration, revelation, and/or strong emotional response.

Once you’ve sampled the flash contained in this book, you are welcome to explore Brilliant Flash Fiction online at brilliantflashfiction.com, where international writers submit their work for quarterly publication.

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Hákon Gunnarsson]

I just finished reading this book, and I have to say I like it, but I’m not going to rate it because I’ve got a story in it. My story is called “The Soul of a Busker”, and is, like all the other stories in this anthology, a flash fiction that first appeared in the online literary magazine Brilliant Flash Fiction.

The inspiration for it was a black and white street photo of a man playing the guitar. There was nothing out of the ordinary happening in the shot, the busker was closest to the camera, and there are people walking by further away. Still there was something about this image that sparked an idea that became this story. The story is what happens in the next few moments after the shot was taken. I can’t say much more without spoilers, sorry.

[Fernando Meisenhalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best collection of flash fiction I've read so far, better than those "best of the year" type collections; with stories from all around the world; a carefully edited compilation that brings together all kinds of material, from philosophical, existential, to mundane and comical, all distilled for the reader like in few other places. Most editors don't have the eye for this, a go for the big names, even if the material is frankly mediocre. Here, it don't matter who it is: if the story's good, YOU'RE IN! A delight to read, and, hey, if you don't like one of them, just skip it (they're only a page or so long), and go on to the next one. Almost all of them are a delight, or at least weird in a satisfying way. I have no idea why this compilation hasn't received more attention; perhaps because it's not backed by any literary click. But thank the gods for the internet; it's sure making this literary stuff much more democratic.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad collection of flash though perhaps on the more traditional side of the short story scale for me.

Quite a few strong pieces, though, and I am glad that it introduced me to Brilliant Flash Fiction.

[Glenn Bruce]

I'm in this, so I am prejudiced. But this is a terrific collection of Flash. Anyone who enjoys Flash will have a great time moving through these highly readable and interesting stories!