What is a flash fiction called in other countries? In Latin America it is a micro, in Denmark kortprosa, in Bulgaria mikro razkaz. These short shorts, usually no more than 750 words, range from linear narratives to the more unusual: stories based on mathematical forms, a paragraph-length novel, a scientific report on volcanic fireflies that proliferate in nightclubs. Flash has always and everywhere been a form of experiment, of possibility. A new entry in the lauded Flash and Sudden Fiction anthologies, this collection includes 83 of the most beautiful, provocative, and moving narratives by authors from six continents, including best-selling writer Etgar Keret, Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah, Korean screenwriter Kim Young-ha, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz, and Argentinian Queen of the Microstory Ana Maria Shua, among many others. These brilliantly chosen stories challenge readers to widen their vision and celebrate both the local and the universal."

These stories were written in English by writers who emigrated to the United States. Why do these writers choose to express themselves in a language other than their native tongue? When writing is a major part of life, coming to a new country and learning to write in its language is, for many writers, necessary to feeling at home in the world in which they now live. But, for whatever reason, these writers, have added their voices to the great song of ourselves making this book our literary heritage to enrich us all.

Responding to America s love affair with the short-short, editors Robert Shapard and James Thomas searched thousands of books and magazines to select these sixty stories each under 2,000 words, each with its own element of surprise, whether traditional, experimental, humorous, moving, or magical. In the process they discovered both new talents and a wealth of celebrated writers, such as Jorge Luis Arzola, Aimee Bender, Teolinda Gersao, Romulus Linney, Yann Martel, Sam Shepard, and Tobias Wolff. Zdravka Evitmova conjures blood drops that cure any disease. Ian Frazier writes public relations for crows. Juan Jose Milas leads an amnesiac husband to an affair in the candlelit darkness of a cathedral with his wife. These tales told quickly offer pleasures long past their telling."

Remember Sudden Fiction International that bounty of short-short stories from all over the world? Literary folks loved them. Students carried the book around with them. And people on the run found the length of each story (no more than 2000 words) perfect respites from their busy lives. Responding to America's love affair with the short-short, editors Shapard and Thomas consulted nearly two-hundred magazines and chose the sixty stories, written in English or translated, that they considered best. Ranging across countries and cultures, the selection includes a number of new stories from the Pacific Rim. Well-known writers William Maxwell, Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Mark Richard join lesser-known writers Molly Giles, Andrew Lam, Judy Troy who will be (or should be) better known. Each story revels in its own element of surprise; each, whether traditional or experimental, proves that a tale told quickly offers pleasure long past its telling. Students and lovers of literature take note: this is serious writing that's fun to read."