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It’s the end of one year and the start of another, and that means it’s time for our Best Small Fictions nominations.

It probably makes sense that each of these pieces was nominated for one of the other annual awards: Best of the Net, Pushcarts, and Best Microfiction. To be perfectly frank, I could have made another pass through our 2023 fiction publications and plucked five new pieces to be highlighted—the stuff has been that good—but I couldn’t get past the excellence of these honorees.

Each of them uses language in a special way. Each has vivid imagery and unique style. And each is definitely offbeat in the way we appreciate, as our mission statement outlines. They all prove that it’s possible to create something unusual that’s nonetheless completely accessible and beautiful.

Here they are, our Best Small Fictions nominees for 2024:

When the Cowbirds Come to Carry Your Sister Away ~ fiction by Audra Kerr Brown

We Are the Mice That Live in Your Basement ~ fiction by Sara Dobbie

Andromeda Among Asphodels, 2005 ~ fiction by Spencer Nitkey

Moll (After Kincaid) ~ fiction by Richie Narvaez

Like Trees in a Storm ~ fiction by Anika Carpenter

Congratulations to all, and best of luck!

Kevin Brennan
Editor
The Disappointed Housewife