Christopher Allen
@christopherallen.bsky.social
Publisher and EIC of SmokeLong Quarterly. 2023 Flash Fiction Judge Bridport Prize. #BestSmallFictions #FlashFictionAmerica. Nomad. Very much a back-office guy. He/him
Pinned
Chrysalis — Ghost Parachute
Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her. From the kitchen. She’s on the couch in the den, recumbent, because she’s depressed, which she never says, but I know. I can read her mind. She lays my ni...
ghostparachute.com
It's been a minute since I published something of my own! SmokeLong and SmokeLong Fitness are like having two full-time jobs (which I LOVE), so I'm thrilled to have found time to write something. Sending a huge hug to this kid. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Sadly, this is timeless. New work by @avitusbcarle.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Breaking News — Ghost Parachute
Did you hear about the Black man? The Black woman? Black boy? The Black girl gone missing? Kidnapped. From thoughts and prayers. From the news. A child turned memory turned muted turned into a body, f...
ghostparachute.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Sadly, this is timeless. New work by @avitusbcarle.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
It's been a minute since I published something of my own! SmokeLong and SmokeLong Fitness are like having two full-time jobs (which I LOVE), so I'm thrilled to have found time to write something. Sending a huge hug to this kid. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Chrysalis — Ghost Parachute
Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her. From the kitchen. She’s on the couch in the den, recumbent, because she’s depressed, which she never says, but I know. I can read her mind. She lays my ni...
ghostparachute.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:03 PM
It's been a minute since I published something of my own! SmokeLong and SmokeLong Fitness are like having two full-time jobs (which I LOVE), so I'm thrilled to have found time to write something. Sending a huge hug to this kid. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
It's been a minute since I published something of my own! SmokeLong and SmokeLong Fitness are like having two full-time jobs (which I LOVE), so I'm thrilled to have found time to write something. Sending a huge hug to this kid. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Chrysalis — Ghost Parachute
Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her. From the kitchen. She’s on the couch in the den, recumbent, because she’s depressed, which she never says, but I know. I can read her mind. She lays my ni...
ghostparachute.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:03 PM
It's been a minute since I published something of my own! SmokeLong and SmokeLong Fitness are like having two full-time jobs (which I LOVE), so I'm thrilled to have found time to write something. Sending a huge hug to this kid. ghostparachute.com/issue/februa...
Aw, beautiful art! Thank you for giving this story the perfect home!
Read "Chrysalis" written by @christopherallen.bsky.social and illustrated by @kaystedmanfriedman.bsky.social.
"Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her."
tinyurl.com/y7r4umhe
"Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her."
tinyurl.com/y7r4umhe
Chrysalis — Ghost Parachute
Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her. From the kitchen. She’s on the couch in the den, recumbent, because she’s depressed, which she never says, but I know. I can read her mind. She lays my ni...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Aw, beautiful art! Thank you for giving this story the perfect home!
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Don't miss our outstanding final nomination for this year's Best Small Fictions, "A Silent Cage" by Wafa-e-fatima: www.smokelong.com/stories/a-si...
January 12, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Don't miss our outstanding final nomination for this year's Best Small Fictions, "A Silent Cage" by Wafa-e-fatima: www.smokelong.com/stories/a-si...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
"Slack" by Brandon McNeice @brandonmcneice.bsky.social is the fourth of our phenomenal stories nominated for Best Small Fictions this year: www.smokelong.com/stories/slack/
January 12, 2026 at 9:12 PM
"Slack" by Brandon McNeice @brandonmcneice.bsky.social is the fourth of our phenomenal stories nominated for Best Small Fictions this year: www.smokelong.com/stories/slack/
Reposted by Christopher Allen
We're privileged to nominate "Between Chamisa and Rengyō" by Mizuki Yamamoto @mizuki-yama.bsky.social for this year's Best Small Fictions:
www.smokelong.com/stories/betw...
www.smokelong.com/stories/betw...
January 12, 2026 at 8:56 PM
We're privileged to nominate "Between Chamisa and Rengyō" by Mizuki Yamamoto @mizuki-yama.bsky.social for this year's Best Small Fictions:
www.smokelong.com/stories/betw...
www.smokelong.com/stories/betw...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
The incredible "Love ; Sigh" by Claire Y. Guo won the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2025 and is our third nomination for this year's Best Small Fictions: www.smokelong.com/stories/love...
January 12, 2026 at 9:06 PM
The incredible "Love ; Sigh" by Claire Y. Guo won the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2025 and is our third nomination for this year's Best Small Fictions: www.smokelong.com/stories/love...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
We're honored to announce our Best Small Fictions nominations for this year. First up: "Sati" by Vaibhavi Kerkar. www.smokelong.com/stories/sati/
January 12, 2026 at 8:47 PM
We're honored to announce our Best Small Fictions nominations for this year. First up: "Sati" by Vaibhavi Kerkar. www.smokelong.com/stories/sati/
Reposted by Christopher Allen
"Poetry often reminds me of Karachi" Vaneeza Sohail is our featured author this week. Read her interview and "Party Song," a finalist for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Smoke Signals with Vaneeza Sohail - SmokeLong Quarterly
Your story is set in Karachi, which is also where you are from. What do you want people who have never been there to know about the city? You will never figure it out. Some days the city will make sen...
www.smokelong.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:32 PM
"Poetry often reminds me of Karachi" Vaneeza Sohail is our featured author this week. Read her interview and "Party Song," a finalist for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Thinking about doing SmokeLong's March Micro Marathon? Did you know that you can book at a discount until January 12th? It's still a great price after Jan 12th, but every little helps. Come write with us. We are definitely not a cult. Our mother had us checked. www.smokelong.com/the-march-mi...
January 5, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Thinking about doing SmokeLong's March Micro Marathon? Did you know that you can book at a discount until January 12th? It's still a great price after Jan 12th, but every little helps. Come write with us. We are definitely not a cult. Our mother had us checked. www.smokelong.com/the-march-mi...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Singapore flash writers, unite! @smokelong.bsky.social will be in Singapore soon and we're doing a reading and open mic with Lit Namjooning and @eunoiareview.bsky.social. If you're in/around SG and want to read your flash-length work, do register. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
January 2, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Singapore flash writers, unite! @smokelong.bsky.social will be in Singapore soon and we're doing a reading and open mic with Lit Namjooning and @eunoiareview.bsky.social. If you're in/around SG and want to read your flash-length work, do register. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
You can still join our free series of write-ins and open mics--five events each week until December 14th! Sign up for ZERO dollars. Yep. This one's on us.
www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...
www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...
Ready for Promptember 2025? - SmokeLong Quarterly
Join the SmokeLong community for Promptember, a mysterious intermonth happening between November and December of live write-in events designed to light a fire under your writing life. Participate in o...
www.smokelong.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:42 PM
You can still join our free series of write-ins and open mics--five events each week until December 14th! Sign up for ZERO dollars. Yep. This one's on us.
www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...
www.smokelong.com/ready-for-pr...
Yay!!!!
We made a numbered list of everyone who shared our FlashGiving posts across social media (thank you!) and generated a random number, which was 38, which means that Gill O'Halloran @quickasaflash.bsky.social is the winner of our 2025 FlashGiving draw! Please email editor@smokelong.com, Gill.🙂
November 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Yay!!!!
OK, so today I did this. The round stone at the top, so I think I've found a new vocation.
November 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
OK, so today I did this. The round stone at the top, so I think I've found a new vocation.
Thank you so much, Gillian! And what a great pleasure it was to spend time with the literary community in Perth!
⚡️Fast Flash Review: Other Household Toxins by Christopher Allen.
@christopherallen.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social
@christopherallen.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Thank you so much, Gillian! And what a great pleasure it was to spend time with the literary community in Perth!
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Cover Reveal! September 15th! Issue 89 of SmokeLong Quarterly! Ten killer flash by ten amazing writers. And we're thrilled to feature new CNF by Aimee Bender, our first featured author in the SmokeLong Master Series. Cover art by Mario Loprete.
September 10, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Cover Reveal! September 15th! Issue 89 of SmokeLong Quarterly! Ten killer flash by ten amazing writers. And we're thrilled to feature new CNF by Aimee Bender, our first featured author in the SmokeLong Master Series. Cover art by Mario Loprete.
I'll just leave this here. The rubber duckies are watching.
August 26, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I'll just leave this here. The rubber duckies are watching.
Thank you, @kplumhoff.bsky.social for these BEAUTIFUL tiny gin and tonic cups! They are stunning.
August 10, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Thank you, @kplumhoff.bsky.social for these BEAUTIFUL tiny gin and tonic cups! They are stunning.
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Our competitions always introduce us to new talent. Chi Pham's story "Man Spelt Backwards" is the author's first published story. We are THRILLED to be the first. And we have nominated the story for PEN America's Robert J. Dau Short Story Award for Emerging Writers. @seaheye.bsky.social
July 8, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Our competitions always introduce us to new talent. Chi Pham's story "Man Spelt Backwards" is the author's first published story. We are THRILLED to be the first. And we have nominated the story for PEN America's Robert J. Dau Short Story Award for Emerging Writers. @seaheye.bsky.social
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Novelists, don't miss this! August 2! www.smokelong.com/product/comp...
Compression for Novelists with Sherrie Flick - SmokeLong Quarterly
We forget that the core element of flash fiction—compression—is frequently used in novels, not just novels-in-flash, but any longform manuscript benefits from understanding how compression works and w...
www.smokelong.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Novelists, don't miss this! August 2! www.smokelong.com/product/comp...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
"The makeup ritual is both self-flagellation and self-creation because those can be the same gesture...It’s violent work of daily erasure and reconstruction, but becoming yourself sometimes requires destroying what you were." Chi Pham (2nd place in The Smokey 2025): www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Smoke Signals with Chi Pham - SmokeLong Quarterly
On the idea of contour as scalpel for creation and self-flagellation: The narrator eliminates the father’s aesthetic and creates something other. Do they create their full self or only who the father ...
www.smokelong.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:20 PM
"The makeup ritual is both self-flagellation and self-creation because those can be the same gesture...It’s violent work of daily erasure and reconstruction, but becoming yourself sometimes requires destroying what you were." Chi Pham (2nd place in The Smokey 2025): www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
We're sponsoring The SmokeLong Quarterly Trans Writer Fellowship and Residency in cooperation with @sundresspub.bsky.social and you can find out more here... www.sundresspublications.com/safta/reside...
Residencies - Sundress Publications
www.sundresspublications.com
June 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
We're sponsoring The SmokeLong Quarterly Trans Writer Fellowship and Residency in cooperation with @sundresspub.bsky.social and you can find out more here... www.sundresspublications.com/safta/reside...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
Looking for a supportive, energetic writing community? Do you write flash? The next starting date for SmokeLong Fitness is August first. Book anytime before July 31st to start August 1st. www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...
SmokeLong Fitness — The Community Workshop - SmokeLong Quarterly
Please note that due to A SmokeLong Summer 25, we are accepting new participants starting August 1st. If you book now, you’ll be able to start August 1st. In September 2022 SmokeLong launched a works...
www.smokelong.com
June 18, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Looking for a supportive, energetic writing community? Do you write flash? The next starting date for SmokeLong Fitness is August first. Book anytime before July 31st to start August 1st. www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...
Reposted by Christopher Allen
This challenge starts June 25th. Read the archives of a favorite flash journal and get your name in the hat to win $400. www.smokelong.com/the-archive-...
The Archive Challenge — Win $400! - SmokeLong Quarterly
How often do you read the literary journals you submit your work to? Flash has been around for centuries but as “flash” only for around 23 years, when James Thomas’s wife suggested the term. Lots of o...
www.smokelong.com
June 23, 2025 at 7:15 PM
This challenge starts June 25th. Read the archives of a favorite flash journal and get your name in the hat to win $400. www.smokelong.com/the-archive-...