Ben Brindise
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benbrindise.bsky.social
Ben Brindise
@benbrindise.bsky.social
Writer, Flash Fiction Editor: Variety Pack / Issue 12 Out Now / Author of Secret Anniversaries (Ghost City Press, 2019) & Rotten Kid (Ghost City Press, 2017) / benjaminbrindise.com
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This past week, my spoken word poem Dear Kia Boys was published in the Buffalo Hive along with a conversation between me & co-host of WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE @justinkarcher.bsky.social

Thanks to them for giving a home to this piece.
We got out there. Fall’d it up. Big time.
October 21, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
A new story of mine went up yesterday in Ghost Parachute. Thanks to @brettpribble.bsky.social for finding a spot for it. Check it out if you like stories about living, dying, and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in the freezer.

ghostparachute.com/issue/septem...
Amber Running in the Family — Ghost Parachute
His mother’s knees locked up and he could hear the amber in them crystalizing. Over the years, his ear honed to it. It crackled in her cartilage, growing and reaching to weave into more of her. Sink i...
ghostparachute.com
September 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
fall sky
sky fall
September 30, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Thanks to @wildroofjournal.bsky.social for publishing my flash fiction story Bonus Land in their Fall 2025 issue today.

If you like dark comedy about the absurdities of modern economic life, find the full story in the issue.
September 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Looking forward to checking out the Fall issue of @wildroofjournal.bsky.social later this month

It includes my flash fiction story Bonus Land which follows a guy working in collections

I appreciate them taking a chance on this one that gets a little weird
September 22, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Thinking of one of the best rejections I ever got over a decade ago:

they severely complimented the first story despite not taking it and then said the second story was so bad they couldn’t believe they were both written by the same person
September 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
It's almost sweater season... What's up your sleeve?
We are OPEN for submissions for ALL genres!
September 15, 2025 at 11:56 PM
“We were happy people, and we made the people we passed happy, smiles rippling behind us like wakes. I thought, Why not?”

- Epithalamium, Bill Roorbach
September 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Next Week: WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE feat Ten Thousand

Just Buffalo Teaching Artist Ten Thousand, known for his freestyle features, is a five time national poetry slam representative and Buffalo team coach.

Catch his feature at 9pm with an open mic to follow
September 9, 2025 at 1:37 PM
yesterday we celebrated a friends birthday playing mush ball & today I’m doing back stretches on the living room rug
September 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
A new story of mine went up yesterday in Ghost Parachute. Thanks to @brettpribble.bsky.social for finding a spot for it. Check it out if you like stories about living, dying, and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in the freezer.

ghostparachute.com/issue/septem...
Amber Running in the Family — Ghost Parachute
His mother’s knees locked up and he could hear the amber in them crystalizing. Over the years, his ear honed to it. It crackled in her cartilage, growing and reaching to weave into more of her. Sink i...
ghostparachute.com
September 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
“There are fewer and fewer kids, and they move farther and farther away. Or they take too many trips without ever leaving home.”
Read "Mr. Fixit" written by @maeganpoland.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"He wasn’t much of a computer guy, but he could find a blueprint or diagram and tinker well enough that he got things where they needed to be. Now, he can’t even fix a car radio..."

tinyurl.com/5b748tkn
Mr. Fixit — Ghost Parachute
Drive along Route 95 toward Vegas, turn right on a dusty road just fifteen miles south of Tonampa, and you’ll find a cluster of buildings that are fifteen years shy of being a ghost town. There’s stil...
tinyurl.com
September 2, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
Read "Amber Running in the Family" written by
@benbrindise.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Whether it be amber or breast cancer or a lightning strike, the bill always comes due."

tinyurl.com/yc4u4em3
Amber Running in the Family — Ghost Parachute
His mother’s knees locked up and he could hear the amber in them crystalizing. Over the years, his ear honed to it. It crackled in her cartilage, growing and reaching to weave into more of her. Sink i...
tinyurl.com
September 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
I have a new story set in a dinosaur theme park up at @flashfrog.bsky.social today. Thanks to @ericscottryon.bsky.social for giving this one such an awesome home. And I love Jayne Frisina's art. Check it out if you wanna. 🦕 🦖

flash-frog.com/2025/09/01/d...
Dino Land by Will Musgrove
Unlike the park’s main entrance, the door to the break room doesn’t roar. Instead, the rusty hinges sigh like me easing into my La-Z-Boy. I step inside and see manager Julie spreading a Stegosaurus…
flash-frog.com
September 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
Previously published or unpublished, fiction or nonfiction (or anything in between), 250 words or fewer, deadline Nov 15. The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest. www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2025 - SmokeLong Quarterly
The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey) is now an annual competition celebrating and compensating the best micro fiction and nonfiction online. The grand prize winner of The Mikey is automatical...
www.smokelong.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
living the dream

(the dream in this case being publishing stories & driving around New England)
August 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Sometimes I name characters in stories after family members for fun — why not, ya know?

Unlike cousin Jimmy in White Elephant (Hooghly Review, 2025) my cousin Jimmy is a great guy & we celebrated his wedding last weekend in Cleveland
August 26, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
Tonight’s the night! Poetry open mic at Caffe Aroma. It will be headined by Charlotte, NC Poet Laureate Jay Ward. The fun starts at 9pm sharp.

At 6pm Jay will be running a poetry workshop at the caffe at Amy's , which is free and open to all. Hope to see you at one or both
August 20, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Tomorrow Charlotte, NC Poet Laureate Jay Ward hits Buffalo for a workshop & feature set

Workshop: 6pm - Caffe at Amy’s
Feature: 9pm - Caffe Aroma
August 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Who can read the world?
August 11, 2025 at 3:11 AM
We had an incredible time workshopping with Buffalo’s Poet Laureate Aitina Fareed-Cooke at the first WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE workshop

Catch Jay Ward (Charlotte, NC Poet Laureate) headlining and workshop leading this month!

📸: Kalvin Booker
August 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
This one’s about pacemakers and second chances.

Thanks again to Arts for Learning WNY for including me in this project.
August 6, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This past week, my spoken word poem Dear Kia Boys was published in the Buffalo Hive along with a conversation between me & co-host of WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE @justinkarcher.bsky.social

Thanks to them for giving a home to this piece.
August 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Ben Brindise
I got a poem published in The Buffalo Hive! Also check out the video interview with me & @benbrindise.bsky.social about the poetry scene in Buffalo. Link in the comments
August 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM