When Gabi and Alec invited me to submit something for their upcoming anthology, I thought it was a great opportunity, but the timing was awful. During that month, I was finishing a major draft of my first novel and had carpal tunnel surgery on my wrists. I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to participate. … Read more
Mud Flat Press co-owner Alec Clayton has two short stories and a short novel excerpt in Mud Flat Shorts (mostly fiction). Here’s Alec musing on the writing of these stories: I didn’t plan it this way, but all three of these stories are about death, yet they are not without a lot of laughs. The … Read more
by Marica Bernstein Special to the Webster Progress Times | 07-20-2022 In the two-volume classic “A History of Mississippi,” James Robert “Jim” Peery (1900-54) is listed alongside William Faulkner, Richard Wright and others as a Mississippi author who has “proven that even poor folk can be shown with understanding and appreciation for what their lives … Read more
Keith Eisner’s story “Shrine” previously appeared in the 2018 Big Muddy magazine as the winner of that magazine’s Short Story Contest, sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University. His story “Blue Dot,” published in Salamander, appeared in the 2017 O. Henry Prize Story anthology. Both are reprinted in Mud Flat Shorts (mostly fiction). Keith writes: How cool is it … Read more
When we published Mississippi Arts & Letters way back in the 1980s, Jes Simmons contributed poems and other writing, and many years later we reconnected on Facebook and by email. Jes was one of the first writers we invited to submit to Mud Flat Shorts (mostly fiction). She responded with the short story “At Dairy … Read more
An old friend and favorite writer, Jack Butler, sent us a group of shorts stories that we wanted to publish. There were not enough for a book, however, so we came up with the idea of inviting other writers and doing an anthology of shorts stories. This one. Here’s what Jack had to say about … Read more
We asked Jackie Cassella, founder of Creative Colloquy to recommend writers for Mud Flat Shorts (mostly fiction). She recommended three writers, all of whom graciously accepted our invitation and all of whom submitted stories that were just right for the anthology. There are two stories by Jenni Prange Boran. Here she talks about her story … Read more
by Ricker Winsor – In Bali, we adopted a village-dog puppy we named Nana. She and her sister found their way, at about seven weeks of age, to the workplace of our neighbor. The office security people there were about to throw them against a wall, the customary way to kill puppies. The dog situation … Read more
I never knew my uncle James Robert Peery, or if I ever did meet him I was too young to remember. He died when I was 11 years old, and for reasons I never knew, our branch of the family seldom visited his branch of the family. Nevertheless, he was my hero when I was … Read more
People ask me what my books are about. I’ll be damned if I can give a clear and definitive answer. I’ve written a book of art criticism, As If Art Matters: Modern and Post Modern Art – Reviews and Commentary. That one’s easy. The subtitle tells what it’s about. There are essays such as “The … Read more