“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” Emily Dickinson
It’s not untrue to say writing short fiction changed my life. There I was grappling with truth as a journalist when one day I decided to try making things up. It was a transformational moment. Being a woman with an extremely short attention span I have so far found my fictional comfort zone well and truly embedded in the concision of micro and flash fiction, or stories under 1000 words. So here you’ll find a series of my stories in miniature. I love writing them and at this stage have no plans to branch out into anything longer, but we’ll see. This page is still very much a work in progress.
Read Online
- 1989, Aniko Press, (runner up in February Flash Fiction competition.)
- Pumpkin, Flash 500, (second place winner in the Flash 500 Competition, February 2023.)
- Starfish, Jellyfish Review Dec. 2022.
- Hunger, Reflex Fiction Oct. 2022. (Longlisted in the Autumn Flash Award. A version of this story was shortlisted for the UK Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction.)
- In This Tale of a Suburban Tiger, the Part of the Mother is Played by a Bird, Splonk, Sept. 2022. (Nominated for the 2022 US Pushcart prize)
- Apple Girl, MoonPark Review, Sept. 2022.
- Mouse, Reflex Press, (first place, Autumn 2020 award, nominated for the 2021 US Pushcart prize.)
- Undercurrents, SmokeLong Quarterly, 2020. (Shortlisted in the Fractured Lit 2022 Reprint Prize)
- Molly, Cordite Poetry Review, 2022.
- Jenny doesn’t tell her therapist everything, UK Flash Flood, 2022.
- Salt City Runaway, Fractured Lit, (winner, anthology prize 2021, reprinted in Three Can Keep a Secret, Night Parrot Press 2022.)
- The view from apartment 95 on the Wednesday afternoon, Raine Square Short Story Dispenser (winner, Writing WA 2021 Love to Read Local Flash Fiction comp.)
- You want him to stop melting your records, UK Flash Flood, 2021.
- Hagstone, Fudoki Press, 2021.
- Little Pilgrim, Retreat West (second place, July 2021)
- Crash Landing at Elizabeth Quay, Short Edition, 2020.
Print editions
- Gorgo Down Under, May Break Your Bones: An Oxford Flash Fiction Anthology. This story was shortlisted in the UK Oxford Flash Fiction Prize, 2022.
- After the Funeral, Three Can Keep a Secret: Flash fiction by Western Australian Writers. Night Parrot Press, Oct. 2022.
- Salt City Runaway, Three Can Keep a Secret: Flash Fiction by Western Australian Writers. Night Parrot Press, Oct, 2022. ( Originally published by Fractured Lit.)
- How to Light a Coal Fire, Return to Factory Settings, Bath Flash Fiction, Vol. 5. (shortlisted 2021 Bath Flash Award)
- The Long Drop, Once: A selection of short, short stories, Night Parrot Press
- The Offering, Twice Not Shy: 100 short, short stories, Night Parrot Press
- I carry your faces like photographs, Twice Not Shy: 100 short, short stories, Night Parrot Press
- The Disappearing, Twice Not Shy: 100 short, short stories, Night Parrot Press
- Nephila, Palm Sized Press and London Independent Story Prize, (finalist)
- The Locket, Ellipsis Zine: Ten, Everything has a Price
- Perth in Conversation, Perth, a guide for the curious, UWA Press.
Media
- Perth Festival Writer’s Weekend, The West Australian
- Writer’s Weekend, The Starfish
- Perth Festival Writer’s Weekend, Books and Publishing
- The ABC of Flash Fiction, interview for Writers off the Page podcast
- Author interview, smoke and mirrors, SmokeLong Quarterly
- Author interview, London Independent Story Prize
- Fremantle Shipping News
- The books of 2021, ABC Radio Saturday Breakfast.
Gillian O’Shaughnessy 