Who we are

Coming Up Short is the brainchild of a creative writing graduate student and her thesis advisor by way of a brief, mania-induced, kitchen sink brainstorm sesh.

We are now a small team of passionate writers and editors, communed by the visceral power of brevity, committed to cradling short-form literature in our arms, may it rest its weary head.

We love flash that drips down our wrists when we bite, gnashes our heels when we run, makes us realize we have way too much stuff in our apartment.

Gut us / move us / scare us / titillate us / infuriate us / twist our hearts into Eldridge Knots / warn us / welcome us / save us / sink us / tickle our feet with rose petals and thorns / and so on / and so on / and so on.

Though conceived by fiction writers, the only limit to what we’ll publish is the word count (1,000, of course). We don’t care if it’s fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or a secret fourth thing.

We do care that it makes us feel something.

Thaw our frozen toes with fleshwarmth or chop them off and feed them to us, but do it in 1,000 words or less.

W E C A N T W A I T T O R E A D Y O U R W O R K