Submissions and Contests

The Best Small Fictions is the first-ever contemporary anthology solely dedicated to anthologizing the best short fiction published in a given calendar year. Best Small Fictions features the best microfiction, flash fiction, haibun stories, and prose poetry from around the world.

Founded by Tara L. Masih, guest editors have included Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler (2015), PEN/Malamud Award-winner Stuart Dybek (2016), PEN/Malamud Award-winner Amy Hempel (2017), two-time Pushcart Prize-winner Aimee Bender (2018), PEN/Faulkner-nominee Rilla Askew (2019), Sonder Press operator Elena Stiehler (2020), PEN/Bingham Prize-winner Rion Amilcar Scott (2021), Bridport Prize-winner Elaine Chiew (2022), People’s Book Prize-winner Catherine McNamara (2023), Story Prize longlister Amber Sparks (2024), and award-winning co-creator and editor of the Norton Sudden and Flash Fictionanthologies Robert Shapard (2025).

Black Lawrence Press is honored to be the current publisher of this esteemed series. Editors interested in nominating work for the 2026-27 double edition can find guidlines and submission instructions here.

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Current Staff

Series Editor – Michelle Ross

Assistant Editors – Michael Czyzniejewski, Yasmina Madden, Kim Magowan

Senior General Advisors – Michelle Elvy, Tara Lynn Masih

Consulting Editors & Roving Editors will be announced after the Best Small Fictions 2026-27 table of contents has been finalized.

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Past Staff

Past Series Editors – Tara Lynn Masih, Sherrie Flick, Nathan Leslie

Emeritus Senior Advisors – Michael Cocchiarale, Kathy Fish, X. J. Kennedy (1929-2026), Clare MacQueen, Pamela Painter, Robert Shapard, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, James Thomas

Founding Editor – Tara Lynn Masih

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Praise for the Series

“If you are a writer of any kind, this book is also a must-read because it will only enhance and inspire your own work, particularly through models of stellar openings/endings and meticulous editing.” —JMWW

“Give us succor, these essential stories implore the earth. Give us meaning, they ask the world. We need you and haven’t forgotten you, they say. Forgive us.” —SmokeLong Quarterly

“The best of these fictional vignettes are like a splash of ice water in the face. Wake up, they shout, your life is unspooling. They create their emotional effects with a quick windup and a powerful release, often a final, lingering image.” —Harvard Review

“[T]he beauty of an anthology such as this, pulling together the best of the form, is that you will always encounter something new, something different, something that pushes the boundaries of flash further than before. If this anthology proves nothing else, it is that small fiction in all its forms continues to go from strength to strength, as does the series itself.” —Bath Flash Fiction Award

“The fifty-five authors represented [in BSF 2015] have all triumphed. They’ve sliced open secret passageways within language and kicked readers toward infinity. Yes, we’ve heard it before about the short form, and yes, it’s true, “Less is more,” though here it could be “Less is” or “More is.” What we’re finding, or re-finding, is simply “It is,” and it’s wonderful.” —The Small Press Book Review

“It will be well worth your while to spend a minute or 60 with some of the brightest concise writing available today.” —NewPages

The immigrant narrative is at the heart of the American experiment. However, despite the contributions of immigrants to the cultural, financial, scientific, and artistic makeup of the United States, there is no clear home for new immigrant writings in the United States. To remedy this, Black Lawrence Press proudly announces the Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series, an innovative program designed to provide a home for new immigrant writers in the United States and bridge a gap in the American literary community. The Series will remain a self-standing body with complete autonomy within Black Lawrence Press, and its editorial and advisory boards will be composed of immigrant writers and/or authors whose works explore the immigrant experience.

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished first collection of poetry or prose (short stories or essays). Novels are not eligible for this prize. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length manuscript in any genre. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.