Category: News

Following the events of last Wednesday - for which another hearty thanks should go to you all! - lots of people have been writing about what happened, what they did, where they went, and what they wrote. So, I thought they should be gathered together for you all to read. I'm sure this isn't exhaustive, but it's not a bad selection, I'm sure you'll agree!


Don't forget, as well, the two special blog publications that came out from NFFD Central - FlashFlood, our 24 hour journal (http://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.co.uk/) and The Write-In which took place on the day (http://thewrite-in.blogspot.co.uk/) and, of course, the flashes which have been produced before,on and since the day on our Flashes blog (http://nffdflashes.blogspot.co.uk/).


Blogs, Articles and Website features (in no particular order):

(INTER)NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY | Every Day Fiction - The ...
Today — May 16, 2012 — is the first ever National Flash Fiction Day… and International Flash Fiction Day as well, since this special day has quite naturally ...
www.everydayfiction.com/international-flash-fiction-day/


Tom Conoboy's Writing Blog: National Flash Fiction Day
National Flash Fiction Day. Today is National Flash Fiction day. So write a flash. Her's some prompts: Posted by Tom Conoboy at 7:00 AM. Labels: writing craft ...
tomconoboy.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.html


Spies, lies and pies: National Flash Fiction Day
National Flash Fiction Day. It's today, apparently. If I'd had more planning and not been at work so much, I might have tried my hand at a story especially for ...
spiesliesandpies.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.ht...


I call it research...: National Flash Fiction Day
I love a good flash, me. Tiny complete micro stories of up to about 500 words. David Gaffney, a brilliant writer of flash fiction, writes about it here in the Guardian .
icallitresearch.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.html


National Flash Fiction Day « Pete Denton – Writer
Today is National Flash Fiction day in the UK. I must admit that I had never heard of Flash Fiction until last year. When my writing group were talking about ...
petedenton.wordpress.com/2012/05/.../national-flash-fiction-d...


National Flash Fiction Day « Brainstorms & Bylines
Do you write flash fiction? Lucky you! Today is National Flash Fiction Day (U.K.)! In honor of the holiday to celebrate writing small, I've compiled a round-up of ...
barbaratyler.wordpress.com/tag/national-flash-fiction-day/


National Flash-Fiction Day « Vanessa Couchman
Tomorrow, 16th May, is National Flash-Fiction Day (NFFD) in the UK, celebrating this short story form. What is flash fiction? A very short but complete story, ...
vanessacouchmanwriter.wordpress.com/.../national-flash-fictio...


Subtle Melodrama Book Reviews: National Flash Fiction Day
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! Isn't that exciting? It is! But what even is flash fiction? As far as the submission guidelines I've seen are concerned, flash fiction ...
www.subtlemelodrama.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.html


Flash Fiction: Conversion - Flash Fiction - National Flash Fiction Day ...
Conversion - Flash Fiction - National Flash Fiction Day UK. Accessing the county water treatment facility proved far easier than he'd thought. Adding the contents ...
lisavooght.blogspot.com/.../conversion-flash-fiction-national-f...


It's the first ever UK National Flash Fiction Day (and lots of lovely free ...
Hello — and today is the first ever EVER UK National Flash Fiction Day — three cheers for Calum Kerr! So, what's happening today? The quick guide to NFFD ...
marthawilliams.org/2012/05/16/nffd-2012/


It's National Flash Fiction Day!* « worcesterpoetsasylum
It's National Flash Fiction Day!*. *In the UK. BUT! It's a great excuse to bust out yer pencil and write up some 500-word goodness, right? Right! You can also ...
worcesterpoetsasylum.wordpress.com/.../its-national-flash-ficti...


National Flash Fiction Day « CMStewartWrite
(Inter)National Flash Fiction Day Press Release from Annie Evett of Raging Aardvark: What do Hemmingway, Kafka, Chekov and Lovecraft have in common ...
cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/tag/national-flash-fiction-day/


Chris Bissette: National Flash Fiction Day
It's the first National Flash Fiction Day. Hurrah! This has been a long time in the making for everyone involved, and it's great to have watched it all come together ...
www.chrisbissette.com/2012/05/national-flash-fiction-day.html


Ganymeder » Blog Archive » National Flash Fiction Day: (text ...
National Flash Fiction Day: (text & audio) Dust and Dime Novels. *Click here for audio. Dust and Dime Novels. by Catherine Russell. The boy sat beneath the ...
www.ganymeder.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day-audio-dust...


Announcing our top 5 #FlashFiction contest finalists!
May is National Short Story Month, and today Flash Fiction gets its day. (Visit the National Flash Fiction Day 2012 website for more info.) We decided to celebrate ...
www.leagueofextraordinaryauthors.com/.../announcing-our-to...


National Flash Fiction Day | Jocelyn Rish
Today is National Flash Fiction Day (NFFD), which is a day to celebrate the art form of the very short story. I love writing flash fiction - it's a fun challenge to create ...
www.jocelynrish.com/content/national-flash-fiction-day


National Flash Fiction Day | THRESHOLDS
In the spirit of debate as we approach National Flash Fiction Day, THRESHOLDS asked STEVE WASSERMAN to take a close look at Flash. Was he blinded by ...
blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/?tag=national-flash-fiction...


Happy National Flash Fiction Day! « The Pygmy Giant
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! … especially to the winner of our competition: Joy Manné! Enjoy her story and flash responsibly today.
thepygmygiant.com/2012/.../happy-national-flash-fiction-day/


Flash-fiction competition winners announced
Journal Live
by David Whetstone, The Journal TODAY is the first National Flash-Fiction Day, a special day to celebrate all that is short and sweet – and fashionable – in ...


Manchester writers read to passersby on 'flash fiction' day
Manchester Evening News
Members of a Manchester writinggroup are reading their work to unsuspecting passersby today to celebrate the first ever National Flash Fiction Day.


VANESSA GEBBIE'S BLOG: NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY!
By Vanessa Gebbie
NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY! Happy First-Ever National Flash Fiction Day! The story goes like this. A couple of years back I was due to give a talk at the NAWE conference, on flash fiction writing. It struck me that so many of the writing ...
VANESSA GEBBIE'S BLOG


National Flash Fiction Day « Thing of the Day
By mluvit
National Flash Fiction Day. by mluvit. Today is National Flash Fiction Day. Also known as Microfiction, this form of creative writing involves composing very short stories of no more than 750 words or so: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/ ...
Thing of the Day


A flash day! | Merc's World - writing & ruminations
By Merc
Today is Flash Fiction Day! It started out as National Flash Fiction Day in the UK, but so many flash fiction writers wanted to scramble aboard and so there are events going on all over the place. There are masses of free stories flashing over the ...
Merc's World - writing & ruminations


not exactly true: Happy...
By Valerie O'Riordan
National Flash-Fiction Day, dudes - but I'm just a teeny bit more excited about the launch of my chapbook, Enough, which is also today! I'm celebrating by, eh, feeding the baby porridge and paying my National Insurance bill. Oh, hell, yeah.
not exactly true


Strictly Writing: What's my motivation?
By Derek
Consider this slice of Flash Fiction* (which I will now hastily make up to order)... He watched the fly... As today is National Flash Fiction Day, allow me to introduce Kissing Frankenstein & Other Stories by Flash Fiction South West. You can also ...
Strictly Writing


Flash Fiction Day – Competition Winner! « The Lancashire Writing Hub
By mikeyaddict
Flash Fiction Day – Competition Winner! We are pleased to announce the winner of our Flash FictionCompetition. Thank you for all the fabulous entries which made picking a winner a very difficult task. In total we received seventy five entries ...
The Lancashire Writing Hub


National Flash Fiction Day: Five Shorts To Help You Celebrate ...
In the UK, today marks its first annual National Flash Fiction Day. Flash fiction, a term coined around 1992, is also known as micro-fiction. Though there's no hard ...
www.clutchmagonline.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day-five-s...


Stuck in a Book: National Flash Fiction Day
As the clock has just ticked past midnight, I'm afraid you've just missed National Flash Fiction Day... If case you don't know, flash fiction is, essentially, very short ...
stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.ht...


National Flash Fiction Day & Jawbreakers | dan powell – fiction
It's National Flash Fiction Day and Jawbreakers, the official collection, is available now. It includes commissioned pieces from well-known writers including Ali ...
danpowellfiction.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day-jawbreaker...


National Flash Fiction Day! | 1889 Labs
National Flash Fiction Day! By mer. Posted May 16, 2012. 296 words. Support the author of this article by liking it on Facebook! Most Popular Posts The End is ...
1889.ca/2012/05/national-flash-fiction-day/


National Flash Fiction Day | Vapour Trails
National Flash Fiction Day The internet tells me it was National Flash Fiction Day yesterday, in the UK. Well, it's flash fiction day here on Vapour Trails today.
theknockingshop.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day.ht...


Leda and the Swan: National Flash Fiction Day « Tale Spinning
She's also the one who let me on that there was a National Flash Fiction Day. There are many others out there, and it's been a pleasure finding them, bit by bit.
stuartnager.wordpress.com/.../leda-and-the-swan-national-flash...


this is not the six word novel: Look! It's National Flash Fiction Day ...
There's a whole load of flash fiction up today at the pop-up FlashFlood magazine. You can also purchase 'Jawbreakers,' the National Flash Fiction Day ...
jen-campbell.blogspot.com/.../look-its-national-flash-fiction-d...


National Flash Fiction Day – An Announcement «
This Wednesday, 330 Words will be taking part in a very special event with Manchester writing group Flashtag (in association with the marvelous National Flash ...
330words.wordpress.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day-an-ann...


Tania Writes: Happy National Flash Fiction Day - And A Giveaway!
Labels: book giveaway, flash fiction, flash fiction anthology, flash fiction collection , flash fiction slam,national flash fiction day, oxford, sudden fiction, sudden ...
blog.taniahershman.com/.../happy-national-flash-fiction-day-a...


National Flash Fiction Day Clive Martyn
What do Hemmingway, Kafka, Chekov and Lovecraft have in common? They all wrote Flash Fiction, short-short stories. The most poignant captured in just 6 ...
www.clivemartyn.com/?p=356


Flash Fiction Gets Its Day | D. Thomas Minton
I bet you didn't know it's National Flash Fiction Day. I'll forgive you, especially if you don't live in Britain. It is, after all, the first time flash fiction has been honored ...
dthomasminton.com/2012/05/16/flash-fiction-gets-its-day/


Happy National Flash Fiction Day | 21st Century Writer
Call it micro or call it flash, it's all fiction pared down to the bare essentials. Today marks the first-ever celebration of the flash genre in which 150 words or fewer ...
www.mscottfiction.com/21stCenturyWriter/?p=609


Wanted: your flash critique
The Guardian
... who were too deeply engrossed in an old-fashioned book to be following the week's literary news, Wednesday was our first National Flash Fiction Day.


Words & Fixtures: Reading to Manchester
By Sarah-Clare Conlon
Reading to Manchester. Some videos of me performing on National Flash-Fiction Day... ...at Cornerhouse. ... I write flash fiction, edit anthologies and organise spoken word events with the FlashTag collective. I also perform as part of Les ...
Words & Fixtures


(Inter)National Flash Fiction Day Press Release from Annie Evett of ...
While there is nothing new about the short-short story, National Flash Fiction Day is being celebrated for the first time in the UK and has been adopted around ...
cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/.../international-flash-fiction-da... 


Melanie Writes: Happy National Flash Fiction Day!
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! Today is National Flash Fiction Day in the UK! The event has become somewhat international, but the organizers are mainly ...
www.melanieconklin.com/.../happy-national-flash-fiction-day.... 


National Flash Fiction Day Contribution - BULLISH INK | BULLISH INK
Bare As Bones Standing along the shore at the edge of the cove, Simona sees the mainsail fluttering in the breeze above the cool blue of the...
www.bullishink.com/.../national-flash-fiction-day-contribution... 


The Picador Book Room · May 16th is National Flash Fiction Day (in ...
May 16th is National Flash Fiction Day (in the UK but, with the internet, isn't everything local?). We're celebrating this feisty genre with a short, original piece from ...
picadorbookroom.tumblr.com/.../may-16th-is-national-flash-fi... 


Expose Yourself! Celebrating Flash Fiction Day | Black Balloon ...
While not technically a celebration of pervy exhibitionism, Flash Fiction Day can still be a grand opportunity to expose yourself...to good writing. If you're in the ...
www.blackballoonpublishing.com/.../expose-yourself-celebrati... 


Hurray for (Inter) National Flash Fiction Day - Writing.ie - Guest Blogs
On National Flash Fiction Day here more about events and competitions in the form. National Flash Fiction Day takes place today May 16th. Last week I ...
writing.ie/.../hurray-for-inter-national-flash-fiction-day.html


National Flash Fiction Day | Joanne Phillips – a writer's journey
Happy National Flash Fiction day to all you writers out there. In the spirit of the day, a very short post indeed. Check out the competitions pages for May and June ...
https://joannegphillips.wordpress.com/.../national-flash-fiction-...


Stories in your pocket: how to write flash fiction | Books | guardian.co ...
It's National Flash Fiction Day on Wednesday – the first one ever – and it's an exciting day for me and many others who specialise in this particular truncated ...
www.guardian.co.uk/p/37hb8/tw 


Yearning for Wonderland: National Flash Fiction Day and ...
HAPPY NATIONAL FLASH FICTION DAY! Although this is a UK based website, National Flash Fiction Day (#NFFD on Twitter) has gained traction worldwide.
yearningforwonderland.blogspot.com/.../national-flash-fiction... 


Pam's Writing Exploits: Happy National Flash Fiction Day!
Happy National Flash Fiction Day! May 16 is apparently National (and International?!) Flash Fiction Day, so happy flash fiction day! To find out more click here.
pamgriffin.blogspot.com/.../happy-national-flash-fiction-day.h... 


Happy National Flash-Fiction Day! Today's a big... | A Butterfly Mind
Happy National Flash-Fiction Day! Today's a big day for me … First, I'm announcing the 1000words stories chosen for inclusion in the National Flash- Fiction Day ...
abutterflymind.tumblr.com/.../happy-national-flash-fiction-da... 


Flashtag celebrate National Flash Fiction Day – People's History ...
Enjoy this short fiction performance to celebrate National Flash Fiction Day ... As part of National Flash Fiction Day, Wednesday 16 May, the innovative Flashtag ...
www.phm.org.uk/.../flashtag-celebrate-national-flash-fiction-d...


4'33” 60 Second: Flash Fiction contest/ results « Creative Writing ...
By writingcomps
Thanks again – and happy National Flash Fiction Day! To submit a story, visit ... to like this post. This entry was posted on 20 May 2012 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Fiction Contests, Flash Fiction, Helpful Links, Literary Events, Uncategorized.

And last, but not least, some links from the Edinburgh event:A full reader list  at http://underword.co.uk/
Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thalamus/sets/72157629769445230/
and a review at: http://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=18&id=2330&Itemid=122#2330

Well, that about wraps it up for this, the first ever National Flash-Fiction Day. I'm back from a wonderful launch at the Southampton Central Library where we had brilliant readings from Vanessa Gebbie, Sara Crowley, Tim Stevenson, Natalie Bowers, Gail Aldwin, Holly Howitt and, at the last minute, Bob Jacobs and Brendan Way. Massive thanks to them and everyone who helped out and who turned up!

I've seen on Facebook and Twitter that you have all been having great flash-fun today at various events up and down the country (and around the world!) and I look forward to catching up with them over the next few days. If you ran an event and would like to send us a blog post about it, maybe with piccies, we'd love to run it!

Thank you to everyone who has done anything for National Flash-Fiction Day. It has been truly amazing and you are all, individually and collectively, wonderful people.And thank you to the Arts Council who allowed us to do Jawbreakers and those wonderful cards and posters.

And a personal thank you to my fiancée Kath, for all her help and support. It wouldn't have been possible without her.

I will be adding new content to the site in coming days and weeks, updating blogs and generally catching up on the things that have gone by the by in recent days. Oh, and shipping out copies of Jawbreakers (still available to buy!) And we will be back with competitions, events and all kinds of flash-goodies throughout the year. Because, of course, we're building towards NFFD 2013 now!!

So, well done everyone, thank you again for all you have done. I'm off to sleep for a week now, but I'll see you soon.

All the very best
Calum Kerr
Director, National Flash-Fiction Day 2012.

Sarah-Clare Conlon is a writer and editor, and one half of flash fiction/music combo Les Malheureux with David Gaffney. You can read more from her on award-winning arts blog Words & Fixtures.

There's less than three weeks to go before the first National Flash-Fiction Day is upon us, and two days before THAT, I'm going to be running a flash-fiction workshop in Manchester City Library. The event's sold out now, but you can still sign up to get on the wait-list, if you're interested. And to get you interested - and perhaps to demystify things for those of you who'll definitely be joining me on the day - here's a taste of what's in store.

First off: no lectures, no tutorials, no severe editorials - this workshop's going to be all about the writing. (And a little bit about the reading - it is in a library, after all...) If you're anything like me, the blank page is a savage horror on the desktop: whilst those first words can be honed and tweaked and crossed out and reconsidered, getting them down in the first place is often the problem. So I want to use this workshop as an opportunity to break down these barriers - for one night, at the very least! So what we'll do will be a couple of very fast, very frantic writing exercises. It'll be fun, and there won't be time to over-think - or, perhaps, to think at all! - or to get intimidated; we'll be gathering prompts and blasting our way through some far-from-premeditated stories as fast as a ticking clock will allow us. (I promise not to bring a ticking clock.) And to get you in the mood, in between rounds, I'll be showing you some of my favourite examples of flash-fiction - for inspiration, not intimidation! At the end of the session, nobody will have to share their stories, but if they want to, there'll be the chance to get them uploaded onto the library's website. Fame! Our great Director, Calum Kerr, has also set up a new flash-blog if you want to send him your work - and I'll also be talking to you about other submission opportunities for flash-fiction.

And if all this hasn't scared you off, I'll see you on Monday May 14th!

It's #StorySunday over on Twitter. In case you don't know what that means, people but the 'hashtag' #StorySunday into their tweets and post a link to a story they like. I've been watching it this morning and a number of people are posting their links to stories which won the first National Flash-Fiction Day micro-fiction competition. I wanted to add a National Flash-Fiction Day voice to the throng, but what an invidious choice, asking me to pick between my children. So, I thought I would post all of the stories here, giving you the chance to read them if you haven't yet, and then I can post a single link and no-one gets left out!

So, in alphabetcial order, here are the ten wonderful stories which won this year's competition. I hope you enjoy them and please feel free to tweet this post, share this post on Facebook, tell your friends on the phone or just sit back on a lazy Sunday and enjoy.

'New Shoes'
by Jenny Adamthwaite

Dad wanted trainers.
"I'd like to know I could run away," he said.
When the hospital bed lay empty, it gave us a moment's hope.

'Sad Lover'
by Jason Bagshaw

Beth and Alana had reservations at the restaurant in town. On the phone Beth said, 'I'll meet you at seven,' and Alana faked excitement and said, 'Can't wait.' Half past seven and the two of them were seated, ordering their drinks, listening to the piano of a popular composer coming through the speakers. 'It's Bach,' said Beth. 'I know,' Alana replied, but she knew it was Mozart and she wanted to break things off with her. 'I'm going to tell George everything,' said Beth and Alana cried inside. 'Good,' Alana said and hummed along to Mozart. To Bach.

'Black Hole'
by Daniel Carpenter

There is a black hole above her house.

This swirling cosmic nothingness, ever expanding, tendrils reaching out across the sky. She does not know how it got there. She knows it's taking her things. She does not remember last Saturday. When she tries to explain it she can't. She wants to say, "There's a black hole above my house and it's stealing every memory I have ever treasured," but it is not the kind of sentence people understand.

The black hole expands, time collapses in on itself.

She discovers her twelve year old self in her attic.

'She'll Leave You For A Man'
by Kirsty Logan

You've always known it: that gleam, that glint, that licking of lips that means she is thinking about them. Men.

She thinks about them while smelling night jasmine, while rolling out pastry, while signing the bill for the waiter.

And so she will go. She will forget the shape of your hands.

But she will tire of her stubble-rashed chin, of long silences and calloused thumbs, of nothing to pillow her head.

So wait. Just wait.

'Meredith'
by Amy Mackelden

On Grey's Anatomy, everyone's slept with everybody, and although real life is complicated, I'm sure it's not that complicated, or if it is then everyone's fucking without me, doing it secretly, when I'm at Pilates, or sleeping between ten and eight.

'New Build'
by Clare O'Brien

There is no door to close. Just space, scaffolded, bathed in mud and builder's grit. The air rolls in, clouds of steam boiling from impervious stone, steel rods singing down into the sea.

I can already smell the tang of a fire burning at our bare hearth as the rain sweeps through the rafters. Our boys climb ladders lashed to girders, laugh at the water which sticks their shirts to their backs.

Around our house's heart the rooms are growing shells. Inside these plotted squares we'll live our story. The windows wait outside, roped against the wind.

'The Worst Head in the World'
by Angela Readman

Liam gave me his mother's head. I guess he was sick of carrying it around.

'It's just for a while,' he said, placing the jar on the drawers. In the dark, lips made budgie-like kissing sounds. We had a reason to screw loud.

Come morning, the head tutted, 'I WANT a doily.'

It frowned if I wasted chicken bones, or didn't ask Liam if he'd washed his hands.

When he went, Liam left the head behind. It wavers in the water, tells me I'm not good enough, nods when I iron seams in jeans.

'Alterations'
by Tim Stevenson

After the accident she came home rebuilt.

At breakfast, the platinum beneath her skin glows, pulsing with electricity, curiously alive.

I take some toast, spread butter. I see that there are no eggs in the pan.

She smiles, a mechanical lighthouse across the blue ocean of tablecloth. Her head turns smoothly towards the window, her warmth coming only from the sun.

I open my newspaper setting the pages full sail, seeking guidance in the new star of her unreadable face, in the night of her eyes.

Tonight I know I will not dream of her, only of the sea.

'Relieving Mafeking'
by Alun Williams

The 06:17 from Nuneaton stops for three minutes outside Wembley on its approach to Euston. For one hundred and eighty seconds, Mafeking Jones sits open mouthed in his usual seat, staring at a naked woman, framed like a fallen Madonna at her open bedroom window.

No one else notices, no one else sees, perhaps because they are insularly wrapped up in newsprint tales of economic gloom and sporting deeds that have now passed to memory.

Mafeking is an accountant, a man of spreadsheets and numbers but for those three Wembley solitary minutes he's Michaelangelo in a Florentine dream.

'First Person'
by Martha Williams

You lie within me, cupped and curled. You're in me, I'm in you; we're each other's inside out.

They count your fingers, toes, chromosomes... twice. My head spins.

Are you upside down?

They turn off the monitor. They speak in needles, numbers, and odds. I strum my fingers to your kicks.

They say, "If you... we have pills... the products of conception would..." They don't smile. My belly tightens.

Can you feel me? I'm your first person.

I say, "The products of conception, call them 'Emma'".

You lie still...

When you wake, you can call me 'Mum'.

Dear Flash-Fiction Fan,