Best Microfiction 2020

by Meg Pokrass (Editor), Gary Fincke (Editor), Michael Martone (Editor)

Fiction. The Best Microfiction anthology series provides recognition for outstanding literary stories of 400 words or fewer. Co-edited by award-winning microfiction writer/editor Meg Pokrass, and Flannery O'Connor Prize-winning author Gary Fincke, and acclaimed author/editor Michael Martone serving as final judge.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2015

About the author

MEG POKRASS is the author of "Bird Envy" (bestseller at the Harvard Bookstore, April, 2014) "Here, Where We Live" a novella-in-flash (Rose Metal Press, 2014) and "Damn Sure Right (Press 53, 2011) about which Frederick Barthelme said "Meg Pokrass writes like a brain looking for a body. Wonderful, dark, unforgiving."

Her stories appear in over 200 literary journals and continue to be widely anthologized, most recently in "Flash Fiction International" (W.W.Norton, 2015).

Pokrass' publications include Green Mountains Review, McSweeney's, Green Mountains Review, The Rumpus, PANK, Smokelong Quarterly, Mississippi Review, MidAmerican Review, NANO Fiction, 100-Word Story, The Literarian, storySouth, Failbetter, Gigantic. Meg's humor pieces, co-written with author Bobbie Ann Mason, have recently been showcased in TNB Original Fiction.

She is a multiple Pushcart nominee and her stories have been showcased for Dzanc Books’ Short Story Month and nominated for Best of the Web, Best of the Net, and Wigleaf’s Top 50 [Very] Short Fictions. Meg currently serves as an associate editor for Frederick Barthelme’s New World Writing.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

under 300 word stories and most excellent, felt like a series of blows to the head, and then some let you reflect more and go back to... maybe I had punches on my mind because I had the COVID jab (one of the advantages of being 65+) and read some of this in a reaction fever in bed (only a day)... I'm impressed on the whole though some frankly baffled... will keep it around for a while and read again and again

[Ken Poyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am biased, having a piece in the anthology. A good introduction to this type of fiction. Stories are generally around 250 words. Most tend to the surreal, though some are more slice of life. Due to the length, they tend to start fast and end with a bang.

[Anne Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sips of stories that read like poems. As soon as you dive in, the tale is over, slipped away from you, leaving you with something to mull over (or immediately dip into the next).

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honoured to have a piece in here and be featured with some of the world’s best micro fiction writers. Each story is a unique gem, & the whole collection & follow up articles on the form, a masterclass in the art of micro fiction writing. This is a genre that deserves to thrive.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I must admit that I have a story in this volume. I know how tacky it is for authors to give their own books a 5 star rating... but since my own contribution is such a tiny piece of this whole, I am going to go ahead with it.

I am an absolute lover of micro fiction (and its twin, prose poetry) so this series is right in my wheelhouse anyway but wow, the editors did such an amazing job selecting/curating these stories and creating a volume that really celebrates and displays what this subgenre is all about.

My list of favorites is long: Epiphany Ferrell, Sarah Green, Patrick Thomas Henry, Joshua Jones, Kathryn Kulpa, Kari Nguyen, Leila Ortiz, Michelle Ross, Shelbey Winningham, and Tara Isabel Zambrano wrote probably my top tier stories (at least in this pass - I am sure I will have other favorites in a later reading...).

There is a broad range of voice and style here but these all punch far above the weight of their word count and you should absolutely check out this anthology. Not just because I have a story in it.

[Louella Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

I great selection of flash from a variety of journals/magazines and writers. Don’t miss it.

[Richard Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding collection of flash pieces with a splashing of great craft essays.

[Jenn Handspiker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this... like chocolate snuck in the kitchen when no one is looking!!