Zoë Bossiere - The Best of Brevity: Twenty Groundbreaking Years of Flash Nonfiction

The Best of

Brevity

Featuring Flash Essays By

Marcia Aldrich

Brian Arundel

Samuel Autman

Julie Hakim Azzam

Krys Malcolm Belc

Jenny Boully

Nina Boutsikaris

Traci Brimhall

Aye Papatya Bucak

Amy Butcher

Christine Byl

Shuly Xchitl Cawood

Jennie Chia-Hui Chu

Jill Christman

Steven Church

Nicole Cyrus

Jaquira Daz

Beverly Donofrio

Brian Doyle

Erika Dreifus

Laurie Lynn Drummond

Pam Durban

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Tessa Fontaine

Josey Foo

Matthew Gavin Frank

Joey Franklin

Roxane Gay

Danielle Geller

Charlotte Gullick

Rajpreet Heir

Daisy Hernndez

B.J. Hollars

Sonya Huber

Lori Jakiela

Dani Johannesen

Sam Kiss

Matthew Komatsu

Sandra Gail Lambert

Sarah J. Lin

Sonja Livingston

Bret Lott

Debra Marquart

Lee Martin

Michael Martone

Rebecca McClanahan

John A. McDermott

Brenda Miller

Kathryn Miller

Kyle Minor

Ander Monson

Erin Murphy

Randon Billings Noble

Joe Oestreich

Jamila Osman

Michelle Otero

Patricia Park

Dustin Parsons

Torrey Peters

Deesha Philyaw

Lia Purpura

Kristen Radtke

Robert Root

Vincent Scarpa

J.D. Schraffenberger

Heather Sellers

Diane Seuss

Jennifer Sinor

Suzanne Farrell Smith

Sam Stokley

Mark Stricker

Ira Sukrungruang

Deborah Taffa

Jill Talbot

Christina Tang-Bernas

Thao Thai

Abigail Thomas

Jia Tolentino

Brian Trapp

Michelle Valois

Anna Vodicka

Julie Marie Wade

Nicole Walker

Alexis Wiggins

Twenty Groundbreaking Years
of Flash Nonfiction

The Best of

Brevity

Edited by Zo Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore

Acknowledgments for previously published works appear on pages 250252, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page. All essays in this anthology originally appeared in Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction .

Anthology copyright 2020 by Rose Metal Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations within critical articles and reviews. Please direct inquiries to:

Rose Metal Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 1956, Brookline, MA 02446

rosemetalpress@gmail.com

www.rosemetalpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bossiere, Zo, 1992- editor. | Moore, Dinty W., 1955- editor.

Title: The best of Brevity : twenty groundbreaking years of flash

nonfiction / edited by Zo Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore.

Other titles: Brevity (Altoona, Pa.)

Identifiers: LCCN 2020029124 (print) | LCCN 2020029125 (ebook) | ISBN

9781941628232 (paperback) | ISBN 9781941628249 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: American essays--21st century.

Classification: LCC PS689 .B475 2020 (print) | LCC PS689 (ebook) | DDC

814/.6--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029124

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029125

Cover and interior design by Heather Butterfield.

Cover art: An Individual Yearning by Debi Pendell.

More information and artwork can be viewed on the artists website:

www.debipendell.com .

This book is manufactured in the United States of America.

Table of Contents

Dinty W. Moore

Zo Bossiere

Brenda Miller

Sonja Livingston

Ira Sukrungruang

Diane Seuss

Daisy Hernndez

Brian Doyle

Amy Butcher

Abigail Thomas

Sandra Gail Lambert

Ander Monson

Rebecca McClanahan

Alexis Wiggins

Samuel Autman

Kathryn Miller

Danielle Geller

Joey Franklin

Erin Murphy

Jenny Boully

Brian Trapp

Deborah Taffa

Lori Jakiela

Jamila Osman

Patricia Park

Suzanne Farrell Smith

Steven Church

Jill Christman

Robert Root

Torrey Peters

Dani Johannesen

Matthew Gavin Frank

Thao Thai

Jennifer Sinor

Marcia Aldrich

Joe Oestreich

Traci Brimhall

Rajpreet Heir

Bret Lott

Tessa Fontaine

Vincent Scarpa

Christina Tang-Bernas

Erika Dreifus

J.D. Schraffenberger

Pam Durban

Josey Foo

Kyle Minor

Nicole Walker

Krys Malcolm Belc

Christine Byl

Mark Stricker

Shuly Xchitl Cawood

Jia Tolentino

Sam Stokley

Nicole Cyrus

Laurie Lynn Drummond

Kristen Radtke

Bouiyan Chen, translated by Jennie Chia-Hui Chu

Michelle Otero

Sarah J. Lin

Anna Vodicka

Julie Marie Wade

Michael Martone

Aye Papatya Bucak

Michelle Valois

Jaquira Daz

Lia Purpura

Julie Hakim Azzam

Deesha Philyaw

Nina Boutsikaris

Charlotte Gullick

Brian Arundel

John A. McDermott

Jill Talbot

Lee Martin

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Sam Kiss

B.J. Hollars

Beverly Donofrio

Matthew Komatsu

Randon Billings Noble

Heather Sellers

Dustin Parsons

Sonya Huber

Debra Marquart

Roxane Gay

Introduction

On Voice, Concision, and 20 Years
of Flash Nonfiction

By

When Brevity celebrated its recent 20th anniversary, I took time to reflect on what I had learned as founder and editor of the journal. The key lesson, perhaps, is that editing a magazine is an unpredictable path lined with a series of happy surprises.

When I began this venture back in 1997, I expected Brevit y to last maybe a year or two. The idea of an online magazine was untested, and few of my literary friends were active on what we then called The World Wide Web.

The idea of flash nonfiction was new as well. I chose the brief essay form because I admired the work in various flash fiction anthologies that were popping up at the time, and the word count that I chose750 or fewersplit the difference between those fiction venues that limited authors to 500 words and those that allowed up to 1,000.

To be honest, Brevity was more an experiment than a commitment. The inaugural issue had five essays and an embarrassingly rudimentary design. The second issue didnt look much better, and I made the nave editorial gaffe of publishing my own work. In short, I didnt know what I was doing, and my motivation was as much about learning how to code HTML as it was to build a lasting literary presence.

But Brevit y limped along, and though submissions trickled in slowly at first, the number grew steadily with each issue. Soon enough we were publishing award-winning writers such as Brian Doyle, Brenda Miller, Debra Marquart, Lee Martin, and Rebecca McClanahan. In many cases, it turned out, writers were crafting short pieces specifically for Brevity , intrigued by the possibilities of this new form.

In addition to learning what it means to edit a successful magazine, Ive been granted a continuing education in what is possible in the extremely concise nonfiction essay. At the start, my thinking was that any true story limited to 750 words would need to be scene-based, and that the scene itself should cover the smallest period of time possible, maybe only a few minutes. That strategy works of course (read, for instance, Joey Franklins Girl Fight, included in this anthology), but as the magazine grew over time, the inventive writers who submitted their work challenged my initial assumptions, obliging me to stretch my expectations, and then stretch them again.