kara oakleaf

Publishing for Minnesota Silent auction 'Publishing for Minnesota' hosted online at 32auctions.

lots of bookish things up for auction to support minnesota (and just a good list of resources that could use your donations if you aren’t bidding on anything here) ❤️‍🩹

www.32auctions.com/publishingfo...

congrats sudha!! 🎉 so exciting!

Body as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39 My ribcage must be the foyer, all high ceilings and wasted space and a place for the air to circulate. Small voices echoing off the walls of my lungs.

Finally got a chance to read this prize-winning story by @karaoakleaf.bsky.social and it is absolutely phenomenal. I literally covered my mouth with my hands at the end & realized I was holding my breath.

newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...

matt this is such a compliment 😊 thank you so much for reading it!

thank you sudha! 😊

Issue 39: 2025 New Flash Fiction Prize | New Flash Fiction Review Featuring new work by Belinda Rowe, Jaime Gill, Emily Rinkema, Theodora Sutcliffe, Kara Oakleaf, Leigh Ann Ruggiero, Kathryn Silver-Hajo, Brigid M. Hughes, and Jess Richards

We will be open for submissions 1 to 15 Jan. For inspiration, read our winning stories from last issue by @karaoakleaf.bsky.social @emilyrinkema.bsky.social @belindarowe.bsky.social @jaimegill.bsky.social @theodora.bsky.social @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social

newflashfiction.com/issue-39/

Iron Shoes | Issue #39 My parents, Olive, and I arrive at Uncle Don’s Memorial cookout after a day spent laying flowers at graves.

“I asked Dad once, What goes on in Olive’s head? He said, Believe whatever thing seems nicest.”

leigh ann ruggiero’s “iron shoes” in @nffr.bsky.social 🤍

newflashfiction.com/iron-shoes/

Body as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39 My ribcage must be the foyer, all high ceilings and wasted space and a place for the air to circulate. Small voices echoing off the walls of my lungs.

The long hallways of my arms, where sometimes, I swear I can feel their footsteps, where I look down and expect to see the skin rise up, something pushing against me from the inside." Brilliant unforgettable winning story@karaoakleaf.bsky.social @nffr.bsky.social
newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...

thank you so much for this claudia! 🥰

Body as a Single-Family Home | Issue #39 My ribcage must be the foyer, all high ceilings and wasted space and a place for the air to circulate. Small voices echoing off the walls of my lungs.

‘…knowing they were safe, that they were surrounded only by their own histories.’

Beautiful, heartbreaking framing to this prize-winning @nffr.bsky.social story from @karaoakleaf.bsky.social 🏠

newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...

james! thank you so much for reading 😊

“My Uncle Louie beat a man to death with his bare hands, the same hands that now hold my baby in the living room of my newly dead grandmother’s house.”

been reading through the @nffr.bsky.social issue this week and man, @emilyrinkema.bsky.social’s piece is a stunner. ♥️

This is one of the most damning arguments against AI and one of the most damning indictments of the university admins who gleefully jumped on this bandwagon without once thinking about the long-term damage it might cause. Everyone should read this.

thank you so much for this! ♥️

thanks for reading josh!

thank you belinda! so glad to be in your company in this issue 😊

thanks nadia! 😊

emily! thank you so much 😊 slowly making my way through the issue and wow that opening line in yours (and the way it comes back)… it’s such a good story. ♥️

huge thanks to the editors and @gfaulknerwriter.bsky.social for selecting this story, and to the @smokelong.bsky.social summer for helping me get this piece started ♥️

New Flash Fiction Review (subs closed) (@nffr.bsky.social) New Flash Fiction Review is an online magazine devoted to flash fiction. Read more: https://newflashfiction.com

very surprised and grateful to see this little story win the 2025 new flash fiction review prize!

the whole @nffr.bsky.social issue is phenomenal and i’m so glad to be in such good company 🥰

newflashfiction.com/body-as-a-si...

“This is precisely how it is every Tuesday. The egg. The soldiers. Mrs White in a fluster.”

beautiful story from @mattkendrick.bsky.social in milk candy review 💔

Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of Books Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.

"In cutting literature programs, universities...are dismantling the intellectual infrastructure that enables young people, and particularly the least advantaged, to become critical subjects capable of engaging with the all-too-many systems of power around them."

lareviewofbooks.org/article/lite...

virginia. 💙💙💙

look at this little piece of wonderful news in the midst of all the mess. ♥️

another i love and use in class is “sea air” by matt sailor but i can’t find it anymore - will come back with a link if i can track it down!

loving this whole thread… here’s one of mine:

booth.butler.edu/2020/02/07/r...

“She laughs and her short red hair is an inkblot in the starlight, and you love her and miss her more than you thought was possible, all your feelings driven by this new wild blood. Was this yours, this brain full of such fierce fire?”

@ambersparks.bsky.social in short story long 💜

This is what democracy looks like! A people united will never be defeated. We want federal forces out of DC NOW! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC

Reasons to Stay Alive When the World Burns by Oladosu Michael Emerald

“Because the taste of mangoes clings to your teeth like a hymn. Because the boy on the bus folded his laughter into a paper crane & left it on your seat.”

an absolutely perfect tiny story in @trampset.bsky.social ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

trampset.org/reasons-to-s...

oh, that’s only one option! writers could also “empower a house of worship,” “foster a skilled trade job,” or “make dc safe and beautiful.” so many opportunities for art!!