stories that teach - The Masters Review

Five Micro Ghost Stories

October 28, 2016

We asked our readers to send us their ghost stories of 250 words or less, and we were honored by how many people answered the call. Thank you to everyone who submitted their spooky, subversive, and haunting tales. We had a great time reading them, and they sent a tingle up our spines. Here, we present five of the most unique submissions we encountered, all of which play with traditional ghost story tropes. They are...

Miscellaneous Posts

Five Apocalyptic Stories

May 13, 2015

“It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” — REM “It’s always the end of the world.” — Jess Walter Short Story Month continues! As part of our showcase, we’re looking at the end of the world and the many ways it is depicted in fiction. We solicited stories from some of science fiction and fantasy’s best writers and opened a call for submissions to our readership in order...

Craft Posts

“Teaching” Fiction – A Critical Essay

February 16, 2014

If there are no rules in writing, then what is the purpose of the workshop? Ever since Creative Writing Workshops started, there have been skeptics. People have asked: Is creativity something that can be taught? What about talent? Isn’t writing, after all, subjective? Do workshops really work? I have sat through seven years of Creative Writing workshops: first on the undergraduate level at Princeton, then during my MFA at UNC Wilmington, where I attended both...

Announcement Opportunities Posts

Now Open for Book Reviews, Interviews, and Craft Essays!

February 8, 2023

That’s right: We’re now accepting submissions of Book Reviews, Interviews and Craft Essays through Submittable. Find the full submission details below or on our Submissions page—we anticipate quick responses to submissions in this category! The Masters Review Blog – Book Reviews, Interviews & Craft Essays The Masters Review is now accepting submissions of completed book reviews, interviews and craft essays for publication on our blog. Please do not send pitches or queries to this category....

Posts Reprint

Reprint: “For Our Children and For Ourselves” by Xuan Juliana Wang

August 10, 2022

Today, The Masters Review is thrilled to share Xuan Juliana Wang’s “For Our Children and For Ourselves” from her collection HOME REMEDIES, published in 2019. “For Our Children and For Ourselves” is about the choices and sacrifices we make in search of better lives. Are they always worth it? Next week, Brandon Williams will be breaking down this story in our Stories that Teach section! Stay tuned. But for now, enjoy. Whether he believed it...

Announcement Posts

May is Short Story Month!

May 2, 2016

Each May we celebrate Short Story Month by showcasing our favorite form. Guest editors and writers join us for thirty days of essays, interviews, and original fiction. Here’s what we have lined up for 2016. In an essay on character folding, Rebecca Makkai discusses how to effectively combine characters. Contributions from Masters Review editors Kim Winternheimer and Sadye Teiser include an essay on the short story in today’s literary climate and an examination of The...

Submissions

September 10, 2012

Posts Publications Short Story Award Winning Work

Summer Short Story Award 1st Place: “Elbow in Zulu” by Dara Kell

April 8, 2024

“‘Elbow in Zulu’ reveals a nuanced narrative beneath its ostensibly cheerful tone, delving into the complex intersections of South Africa’s race and class divides. Told from a plural, jocular, and occasionally elusive perspective, the story explores the fears and obsessions of an affluent group of friends in Johannesburg. Reading this piece, we may question what it means to be charitable and ask who or what is worthy of our philanthropy. As we reach the denouement,...

Interview with the Winner Posts

Interview with the Winner: Aurora Stone Mehlman

April 5, 2024

Aurora Stone Mehlman’s “Broken Animals” was chosen by Jai Chakrabarti as the 2nd place finalist in our 2023 Summer Short Story Award for New Writers. Be sure to read this terrific story, and then check out our interview with the winner below! Can you talk a little about the origin or inspiration for the story? Many years ago, I knew a woman whose son had done what the boy in the story did. She...

Announcement Anthology Opportunities Posts Submissions

The Masters Review Anthology Vol. XII Available Now!

April 4, 2024

Volume XII of our annual anthology is now available for purchase at Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon! Be sure to order your copy of this new anthology, with stories and essays selected by Toni Jensen, and then submit your own work to our Best Emerging Writers anthology—volume XIII of our favorite project. You can find all the details for the contest here or order Volume XII at the links here. As a bonus, we’re...

Craft Posts Writers on Not Writing

Writers on Not Writing: Mimi Manyin and Melanie Brooks

March 31, 2024

Writers pour so much energy into their craft that sometimes we forget that creative pursuits other than writing can fill us up in other important ways. Here, we’ll look at how two writers—Mimi Manyin and Melanie Brooks—turn to music and cookies when they aren’t writing, and how those pursuits affect the return to the page. I love music. I listen to all types of music, from Classical and Broadway to dance, pop, R&B, rock/metal,...

Posts Publications Short Story Award Winning Work

Summer Short Story Award Honorable Mention: “That Chookaloski Mare” by Ashley Thorup

March 11, 2024

“It was the summer of breaking,” begins Ashley Thorup’s “That Chookaloski Mare,” chosen by The Masters Review editors as one of two honorable mentions in our 2023 Summer Short Story Award for New Writers. Thorup’s story was an early favorite for our readers, immaculately crafted, with a devastating but well-earned ending. Stay tuned for the rest of our Summer Short Story Award finalists! It was the summer of breaking: the AC, the tractor’s ram...

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