All about flash fiction

I think I may have written a blogpost with this title before but anyway it's still all about flash fiction because next Wednesday, may 16th, is the first ever National Flash Fiction Day! Brainchild of Calum Kerr, he has proven himself not just to be a person of endless creative ideas but also supremely organised and efficient in executing them and inspiring others. NFFD has gathered momentum worldwide, not just in its home country here in the UK.

So, what does it mean? Well, firstly, there is a National Flash Fiction Day anthology of brand new flash fiction, Jawbreakers, which includes stories by these lovely folk - and me!

Ali Smith, Jen Campbell, Dan Powell, Vanessa Gebbie , Amy Mackelden Laura Wilkinson David Gaffney  Brindley Hallam Dennis Rupan Malakin Tania Hershman Nathan Good  Rin Simpson Sarah Hilary Sara Crowley  Jenn Ashworth Bob Jacobs  Ian Rankin Benjamin Judge Mark Sheerin  Nigel McLoughlin Natalie Bowers Alex Thornber Valerie O'Riordan Carrie Etter L.A. Craig Calum Kerr Kylie Grant  Sal Page Jonathan Pinnock Susan F. Giles Martha Williams  Sarah-Clare Conlon  Eli Goldstone David R. Morgan Alison Wells SJI Holliday Nicholas Murray Eunice Yeates Nick Garrard Jay Barnett Kirsty Logan Kevlin Henney David Gilbert  Simon Thirsk  Sue Walker-Stokes Erinna Mettler Emma J.Lannie Jessica Patient  Brian George Trevor Byrne  Sally Zigmond Angela Readman Dan Carpenter Clare O'Brien  Alun Williams Jenny Adamthwaite Tim Stevenson Jason Bagshaw

You can pre-or your copy here, or pop to the official launch of NFFD next Wed in Southampton...

There is also a flash fiction anthology from here, Flash fiction south-west, which I am thrilled to also be included in, along with Sarah Hilary, Pauline Masurel, Martha Williams, Rin Simpson, Debs Rickard, Kevlin Henney and many others ...and the anthology is actually named after my flash, Kissing Frankenstein and Other Stories....

There are events up and down the country - and I'd like to invite you to the event I'm involved in, a flash fiction slam in Oxford organised by the inimitable Dan Holloway of eight cuts at the fabulous Albion beatnik bookstore. Kick off is at 6.30pm, free entry if you bring something to read! Come and entertain us with your flash fiction, or come to be entertained! I'll be reading something from my new book (did I mention I have a new book? :) ) and participating in the general merriment.

As if Calum wasn't busy enough - he's even launching a journal for NFFD entitled Flash Flood and wherever you are in the world, he wants your submissions of flash stories of 500 words or less! Find out more here. 

On the topic of flash, if you're wondering what it is and how to write it, come to Cork in September and join me for four days of flash writing workshops during the wonderful Cork International Short Story Festival (a slice of heaven for the short story junkie), Bath in October for a flash workshop at Mr B's Emporium for Writing Events Bath, or Devon in November for an Arvon Foundation 5 day course with me and Adam Marek in short and very short stories....

And on the topic of short stories, there are still some tickets left for Short Story Big Picture, the discussion in London on May 29th organised by Spread the Word, with an excellent panel including Di Spiers of BBC Radio 4, Ted Hodginkson from Granta, Helen Garnons-Williams from Bloomsbury, and me, talking about short stories. Should be fun! Come ask us some hard questions! (I will be reading a teeny fiction from my book there too.)