Vestal Review

Flash fiction and the IRS code

vrflash1 — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:52:55 +0000

Flash fiction: stories under 500 words. Should the writers of the IRS tax code use this limit as well before they self- publish it?

To Our Writers

vrflash1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 15:43:23 +0000

Dear writer,

A word about submissions to ours or any other literary magazine.

The works coming to us over the transom are generally either good or very good. The problem, however, is that good is the new average, and, therefore, is not enough. You must be excellent.

HEARST POETRY PRIZE

vrflash1 — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:59:29 +0000

North American Review extended the deadline for HEARST POETRY PRIZE until November 15.

Contest Information:

All winners and finalists will be published in the Spring 2016 issue.

First Prize $1000
Second Prize $100
Third Prize $50

Modern Russian arts

vrflash1 — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:49:30 +0000

Eros by Vasily Shulzhenko

Pushcart nominations 2015

vrflash1 — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:55:40 +0000

Sue O’Neill and Mark Budman nominated the following stories published by Vestal Review in 2015 for the Pushcart prize:

Print Issue 46: “Momentum” by Pamela Wolfson;
Print Issue 46: “If Visiting Rome is Out of the Question” by Rachel Farrell;
Print Issue 46: “How Are You?” by Nancy Ludmerer.

Good luck to all nominees.

Online Issue 48 is almost completed

vrflash1 — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 16:37:39 +0000

The wait is over (almost).

Online issue 47 is out

vrflash1 — Fri, 01 May 2015 15:23:40 +0000

Yes! It’s finally here.

The thinking process

vrflash1 — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:51:27 +0000

At least I can express my muddled thinking clearly.

Pushcart Prize nominations

vrflash1 — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:55:16 +0000

Susan O’Neill and I nominated the following stories published by Vestal Review in 2014 for the Pushcart Prize:

Print Issue 44: “A Lover,” by A. W. Marshall

Print Issue 42: “Bed Bugs,” by Abbie Copeland

Congratulations, Andrew and Abbie.

Why I write flash fiction

vrflash1 — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 17:27:12 +0000

In a quote often misattributed to Mark Twain, the 17th-century French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal said, “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had time to make it shorter.” As applied to flash fiction writers, the masters of compressed work, that probably means we have too much time on our hands. Our letters/stories are short (but not necessarily sweet) and to the point. We don’t mince words. We are looking for redundancies, imperfections and dead waste that get in the way, and cut them off like a surgeon or a sculptor.