Sure, we all love hunkering down with a big, juicy novel…but there’s something to be said for the powerful punch of flash fiction. Flash fiction (loosely defined as short stories that are no longer than a page) has had something of a reinvention lately. Could it be because of our dwindling attention spans? Perhaps. But, as writer Julian Gough puts it,  “This is not a catastrophe; it is an opportunity. We are free to do new things, which could not have been understood before now.”  His advice to young writers? “Steal from The Simpsons, not Henry James.”

Here, for your short-attention-span reading pleasure, are five great examples of flash fiction, available for free PDF download. (Hint: print one out and keep it in your pocket in case of fiction emergency.)

  • “Justice: A Beginning,” by Grace Paley: “One day, waiting for a bus, standing on a street corner in Lower Manhattan, somewhere near Canal; having completed jury duty, having in fact judged another human being and found him guilty, she thought of justice, that heavy word.”
  • “We See Our Mother Go To Bed,” by Josefine Klougart: “We see our mother go to bed soon after dinner; she places her plate in the dishwasher and leaves, dragging a pale trail behind her like one dredges the bottom of the sea, her feet a rake across the ocean’s floor and up the stairs.”
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World Literature Today, Vol. 86, No. 5 (September/October 2012), pp. 46-49
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
BOMB, No. 117 (Fall 2011), pp. XIV-XVIII
New Art Publications
World Literature Today, Vol. 86, No. 5 (September/October 2012), p. 62
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
World Literature Today, Vol. 86, No. 5 (September/October 2012), pp. 54-55
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
The Massachusetts Review, Vol. 49, No. 4, GRACE PALEY (WINTER 2008), pp. 423-424
The Massachusetts Review, Inc.
World Literature Today, Vol. 86, No. 5 (September/October 2012), pp. 56-57
Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma