Matt Kendrick
@mattkendrick.bsky.social
Writer | editor | teacher | joyful Ninja Turtle | chronically ill
Words: Craft Literary, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, Wigleaf Top 50
Website: https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/
Craft newsletter: https://prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/
Words: Craft Literary, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, Wigleaf Top 50
Website: https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/
Craft newsletter: https://prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/
Pinned
Matt Kendrick
@mattkendrick.bsky.social
· Dec 22
How wonderful to have one last publication of the year. This piece features [pictorials] and [stomach] [bubbles] and [dinosaur] [hourglasses]. Enjoy (I'm not sure that's the right word 😬)
citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
"You might be a mom now, but you feel like a child, sitting with people who make more in one minute than your dad made in a year."
I'm late to the party, but so glad I caught this one from the ever-inventive @sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I'm late to the party, but so glad I caught this one from the ever-inventive @sagetyrtle.bsky.social
DREAM LITMAG REALIZED! This is the VERY exciting acceptance I got in November, I've been sending my work in to @fracturedlit.bsky.social for FIVE YEARS! This piece starts, "You are a billionaire’s new, about-to-turn-19 wife..."
fracturedlit.com/the-billiona...
#FlashFiction #FlashLit
fracturedlit.com/the-billiona...
#FlashFiction #FlashLit
The Billionaires Are Having a Party | Fractured
fracturedlit.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:55 PM
"You might be a mom now, but you feel like a child, sitting with people who make more in one minute than your dad made in a year."
I'm late to the party, but so glad I caught this one from the ever-inventive @sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I'm late to the party, but so glad I caught this one from the ever-inventive @sagetyrtle.bsky.social
"Once the arrack had done its thing, he collapsed onto the broken chair and slept, snoring like a lorry belching smoke down the ghat road"
Such rich, evocative writing from @savzac.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social
Such rich, evocative writing from @savzac.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social
Thrilled to be a finalist in Fractured Lit's 2025 Flash Fiction Open contest. Thanks @fracturedlit.bsky.social for this honour.
fracturedlit.com/body-count/
fracturedlit.com/body-count/
Body Count | Fractured
fracturedlit.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:52 PM
"Once the arrack had done its thing, he collapsed onto the broken chair and slept, snoring like a lorry belching smoke down the ghat road"
Such rich, evocative writing from @savzac.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social
Such rich, evocative writing from @savzac.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social
"Your body quiets in a strange relief, grateful for a kind stranger, too anxious to still make it on time"
Wow, this is such powerful writing from @christinaberke.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social:
fracturedlit.com/what-were-yo...
Wow, this is such powerful writing from @christinaberke.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social:
fracturedlit.com/what-were-yo...
What Were You Thinking | Fractured
fracturedlit.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:48 PM
"Your body quiets in a strange relief, grateful for a kind stranger, too anxious to still make it on time"
Wow, this is such powerful writing from @christinaberke.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social:
fracturedlit.com/what-were-yo...
Wow, this is such powerful writing from @christinaberke.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social:
fracturedlit.com/what-were-yo...
You know man flu? Well, I currently have that except it's SPOONIE FLU, which is just like man flu but where you also have to deal with all the "normal-for-you" stuff of being a spoonie...🤒 Also, it's SPORKIE FLU as I'm not just low on spoons but dealing with knives and forks as well 😵💫
January 24, 2026 at 10:49 AM
You know man flu? Well, I currently have that except it's SPOONIE FLU, which is just like man flu but where you also have to deal with all the "normal-for-you" stuff of being a spoonie...🤒 Also, it's SPORKIE FLU as I'm not just low on spoons but dealing with knives and forks as well 😵💫
This will be wonderful from a brilliant, brilliant writer - put it on your to-buy list now!!!
January 24, 2026 at 10:17 AM
This will be wonderful from a brilliant, brilliant writer - put it on your to-buy list now!!!
"And I wonder why I agreed to this –to giving my son something I knew would die, something I knew would hurt him"
Wonderful piece from @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social - so much truth in this one
Wonderful piece from @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social - so much truth in this one
Had a little story come out with @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social!! gooseberry-pie.com/current/?fbc...
Current - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by pexels.com by johndetochka by Madeline Anthes My son is distraught when his fish dies – his first real pet, he keeps saying, as though the family dog didn’t quite belong to him after seven ye...
gooseberry-pie.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:18 AM
"And I wonder why I agreed to this –to giving my son something I knew would die, something I knew would hurt him"
Wonderful piece from @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social - so much truth in this one
Wonderful piece from @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social - so much truth in this one
"or, eons on, at the office, the dinner table, in the street, the graveyard, where you go to mourn a father whose last words ring in your ears like tinnitus."
Love how this uses a humorous found form to conceal such a richness of story
Love how this uses a humorous found form to conceal such a richness of story
Teeny piece in the spiffing Gooseberry Pie amid a host of corkers. Big thanks to the main man Jeff for publishing. @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
Advanced Option Ears - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash by Kik Lodge These scientifically approved bone conduction ears radically remove background noise such as squeaking, rumbles and rustling, or any self-help opinion voi...
gooseberry-pie.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:16 AM
"or, eons on, at the office, the dinner table, in the street, the graveyard, where you go to mourn a father whose last words ring in your ears like tinnitus."
Love how this uses a humorous found form to conceal such a richness of story
Love how this uses a humorous found form to conceal such a richness of story
"As it stood, she was but a flare in her mother’s life, all lighthouse eyes and flashing smile, a swallow-tailed child who was quick as a flick that could never really land long in one place"
Brilliant imagery & voice in this micro from @megpokrass.bsky.social; wonderfully unique character as well
Brilliant imagery & voice in this micro from @megpokrass.bsky.social; wonderfully unique character as well
January 24, 2026 at 8:59 AM
"As it stood, she was but a flare in her mother’s life, all lighthouse eyes and flashing smile, a swallow-tailed child who was quick as a flick that could never really land long in one place"
Brilliant imagery & voice in this micro from @megpokrass.bsky.social; wonderfully unique character as well
Brilliant imagery & voice in this micro from @megpokrass.bsky.social; wonderfully unique character as well
"Like the dolls hung on the wall of a child’s bedroom, feet bound, in a Depression-era photograph our class studies. "
Wonderful use of form in this brilliant piece from @writesofkathryn.bsky.social; the use of a list; how everything connects in different ways with the title
Wonderful use of form in this brilliant piece from @writesofkathryn.bsky.social; the use of a list; how everything connects in different ways with the title
January 24, 2026 at 8:58 AM
"Like the dolls hung on the wall of a child’s bedroom, feet bound, in a Depression-era photograph our class studies. "
Wonderful use of form in this brilliant piece from @writesofkathryn.bsky.social; the use of a list; how everything connects in different ways with the title
Wonderful use of form in this brilliant piece from @writesofkathryn.bsky.social; the use of a list; how everything connects in different ways with the title
"We tried to get to the lighthouse but it remained eternally distant, blocked by sandbars and rutted roads, a lighthouse out of time and place"
Quietly beautiful writing from @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social; love the way this feels both unsettling and grounded all at the same time
Quietly beautiful writing from @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social; love the way this feels both unsettling and grounded all at the same time
Read “Unwitnessed by @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social
from 2nd anniversary issue
@gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
gooseberry-pie.com/unwitnessed/
from 2nd anniversary issue
@gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
gooseberry-pie.com/unwitnessed/
January 24, 2026 at 8:55 AM
"We tried to get to the lighthouse but it remained eternally distant, blocked by sandbars and rutted roads, a lighthouse out of time and place"
Quietly beautiful writing from @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social; love the way this feels both unsettling and grounded all at the same time
Quietly beautiful writing from @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social; love the way this feels both unsettling and grounded all at the same time
"Everything felt cold and morbid, with Ma and Pa mourning in their rooms, the gust of icy wind, and people in gray coats giving me sympathetic looks"
Beautiful evocation of grief from @swethaamit.bsky.social
Beautiful evocation of grief from @swethaamit.bsky.social
Read “Pumpkin Cupcakes” by @swethaamit.bsky.social in 2nd anniversary issue @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
Pumpkin Cupcakes - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Florencia Potter on Unsplash by Swetha Amit After Grandma died a week ago, the day after my sixteenth birthday, I walked to the neighborhood bakery for some pumpkin cupcakes. I stood in the l...
gooseberry-pie.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:53 AM
"Everything felt cold and morbid, with Ma and Pa mourning in their rooms, the gust of icy wind, and people in gray coats giving me sympathetic looks"
Beautiful evocation of grief from @swethaamit.bsky.social
Beautiful evocation of grief from @swethaamit.bsky.social
"We never forgot the pinch of time, my father always in a hurry and my mother clicking shut her compact, her never-shiny nose"
Ooft - this one from @francinewitte.bsky.social really has a punch to it; wonderful emotional build towards its final line.
Ooft - this one from @francinewitte.bsky.social really has a punch to it; wonderful emotional build towards its final line.
January 24, 2026 at 8:52 AM
"We never forgot the pinch of time, my father always in a hurry and my mother clicking shut her compact, her never-shiny nose"
Ooft - this one from @francinewitte.bsky.social really has a punch to it; wonderful emotional build towards its final line.
Ooft - this one from @francinewitte.bsky.social really has a punch to it; wonderful emotional build towards its final line.
"We lean against Adam’s car in a moonlit silence that feels louder than our mixtapes"
Great exploration of childhood influences and delusions and that universal yearning to be "cool" from @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social - love all the pop culture references in this one
Great exploration of childhood influences and delusions and that universal yearning to be "cool" from @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social - love all the pop culture references in this one
Read “Last Ride” by @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social
from the 2nd anniversary issue
@gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
from the 2nd anniversary issue
@gooseberrypielit.bsky.social
Last Ride - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Emma Ou on Unsplash by Timothy C Goodwin We are still too self-conscious to buy our own Playboys but attempt a confident strut into the 7-11 so we can buy Swisher Sweets without making eye co...
gooseberry-pie.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:50 AM
"We lean against Adam’s car in a moonlit silence that feels louder than our mixtapes"
Great exploration of childhood influences and delusions and that universal yearning to be "cool" from @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social - love all the pop culture references in this one
Great exploration of childhood influences and delusions and that universal yearning to be "cool" from @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social - love all the pop culture references in this one
"like when she fetched her stepfather the wrong tool and he said, claw hammer, not tack hammer, Dumbo"
Wonderful juxtaposition of emotional shades in this great piece from @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social
Wonderful juxtaposition of emotional shades in this great piece from @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social
Read “Knots” by @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social from @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social 2nd anniversary issue.
gooseberry-pie.com/knots/
gooseberry-pie.com/knots/
Knots - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Lisa Berry on Unsplash by Kathryn Silver-Hajo Tanya yanks the ends of her new clothesline tight, but when she begins pinning the damp laundry, the ties come undone, sheets and shirts landing ...
gooseberry-pie.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:46 AM
"like when she fetched her stepfather the wrong tool and he said, claw hammer, not tack hammer, Dumbo"
Wonderful juxtaposition of emotional shades in this great piece from @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social
Wonderful juxtaposition of emotional shades in this great piece from @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social
This month's #Mondettes picked by @iamchrisscott.bsky.social
⚡Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Chris made these brilliant picks
🪴Three fantastic prompts to get you writing
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2026
⚡Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Chris made these brilliant picks
🪴Three fantastic prompts to get you writing
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2026
January 2026
Ten stories picked by Chris Scott
mondettes.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:49 PM
This month's #Mondettes picked by @iamchrisscott.bsky.social
⚡Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Chris made these brilliant picks
🪴Three fantastic prompts to get you writing
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2026
⚡Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Chris made these brilliant picks
🪴Three fantastic prompts to get you writing
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2026
"If art and creation is needed most when the world is particularly irrational ... why is it so fucking hard to write when life knocks us sideways?"
Wonderful post (as always) from @jmgatford.bsky.social
fixioning.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
Wonderful post (as always) from @jmgatford.bsky.social
fixioning.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
How To Be Creative When Life Knocks You Sideways
Fixion lessons from the group chat
fixioning.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:52 PM
"If art and creation is needed most when the world is particularly irrational ... why is it so fucking hard to write when life knocks us sideways?"
Wonderful post (as always) from @jmgatford.bsky.social
fixioning.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
Wonderful post (as always) from @jmgatford.bsky.social
fixioning.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
Matt Kendrick is me!! Really looking forward to this. Join Tracie and me on the 21st Feb 👇
Hey Writing Peeps—
I’d love to see your smiling faces at my virtual launch on Feb 21. Matt Kendrick is hosting, and we have 3 special guest readers.
Wait, there’s more! Door prizes!
Sign up here to hang w/ the kool kids.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I’d love to see your smiling faces at my virtual launch on Feb 21. Matt Kendrick is hosting, and we have 3 special guest readers.
Wait, there’s more! Door prizes!
Sign up here to hang w/ the kool kids.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
"Not Finished Yet" (by Tracie Adams) Book Launch
Saturday 21st February 2026
19:00 GMT (14:00 EST / 13:00 CST / 12:00 MST / 11:00 PST / 20:00 CET)
Online via Google Meet
75 minutes
Hosted by Matt Kendrick
Readings from Tracie Adams
Q&A between Mat...
docs.google.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Matt Kendrick is me!! Really looking forward to this. Join Tracie and me on the 21st Feb 👇
Ooh, I've only just seen this. Sounds like it could be exactly what we need. @heyflashvillage.bsky.social from @smokelong.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️
Are you in need of a village? We are The Village with All of The Flash Writers. And here's the invitation link:
smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/plans/191340...
smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/plans/191340...
The Village
The village with all of the flash writers
smokelong-quarterly.mn.co
January 13, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Ooh, I've only just seen this. Sounds like it could be exactly what we need. @heyflashvillage.bsky.social from @smokelong.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️
"I believe Dixon’s real point to his essay ... is actually: Write whatever the hell you want"
Yes, to this - WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!!
Wonderful wisdom as always from @kathyfish.bsky.social
Yes, to this - WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!!
Wonderful wisdom as always from @kathyfish.bsky.social
January Newsletter: Writing Craft Books: The Importance of Gathering & Honing Your Tools open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...
Writing Craft Books: The Importance of Gathering & Honing Your Tools
Reminder: My upcoming 3-in-90 workshops early bird special expires TODAY!
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:01 PM
"I believe Dixon’s real point to his essay ... is actually: Write whatever the hell you want"
Yes, to this - WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!!
Wonderful wisdom as always from @kathyfish.bsky.social
Yes, to this - WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!!
Wonderful wisdom as always from @kathyfish.bsky.social
Who wants something entirely wonderful for a Monday? This month I've handed over my monthly craft article to a dazzle of other writers who've provided tips and prompts for writing effective flash:
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/tips-and-p...
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/tips-and-p...
Tips and Prompts for the New Writing Year
January feels a little too early in the year to be fully engaging my brain.
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Who wants something entirely wonderful for a Monday? This month I've handed over my monthly craft article to a dazzle of other writers who've provided tips and prompts for writing effective flash:
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/tips-and-p...
prattlefogandgravelrap.substack.com/p/tips-and-p...
A wonderful thing. Today is the FIVE YEAR anniversary of my first ever #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb course. Can't quite believe it's been that long. So, so grateful to everyone who has taken one of the courses since then. There have been A LOT of you. Today I'm starting course number FORTY!!!!
January 11, 2026 at 11:32 AM
A wonderful thing. Today is the FIVE YEAR anniversary of my first ever #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb course. Can't quite believe it's been that long. So, so grateful to everyone who has taken one of the courses since then. There have been A LOT of you. Today I'm starting course number FORTY!!!!
"and she sees my nails, uneven, chewed down, and she sees that I didn’t bring a reusable bag even though I always do"
The emotional pull of this piece from @mizuki-yama.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social; stunning writing
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mizu...
The emotional pull of this piece from @mizuki-yama.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social; stunning writing
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mizu...
Mizuki Yamamoto — Does It Have Pockets
Receipt | Bath House | Molting Season
www.doesithavepockets.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:24 AM
"and she sees my nails, uneven, chewed down, and she sees that I didn’t bring a reusable bag even though I always do"
The emotional pull of this piece from @mizuki-yama.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social; stunning writing
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mizu...
The emotional pull of this piece from @mizuki-yama.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social; stunning writing
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mizu...
"enough to ignore the desks stacked against the walls and the picture books of Noah’s ark spilling from the shelves"
Love the way this builds through anaphora; from the always brilliant @ezhang77.bsky.social in @emergejournal.bsky.social
emergeliteraryjournal.com/do-you-want-...
Love the way this builds through anaphora; from the always brilliant @ezhang77.bsky.social in @emergejournal.bsky.social
emergeliteraryjournal.com/do-you-want-...
Do You Want to Become a Wolf
by Elena Zhang Yes, enough to follow the boy my age down to the church basement, enough to forget our parents singing to God with their arms up as we go below, enough to ignore the desks stacked ag…
emergeliteraryjournal.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:22 AM
"enough to ignore the desks stacked against the walls and the picture books of Noah’s ark spilling from the shelves"
Love the way this builds through anaphora; from the always brilliant @ezhang77.bsky.social in @emergejournal.bsky.social
emergeliteraryjournal.com/do-you-want-...
Love the way this builds through anaphora; from the always brilliant @ezhang77.bsky.social in @emergejournal.bsky.social
emergeliteraryjournal.com/do-you-want-...
"In the time it took for the girl to guess, light traveled from the Sun to Mercury, the rabbit ear TV singing its white noise ostinato"
Wonderfully distilled writing from @tinazhu.bsky.social in @centaurlit.bsky.social
centaurlit.com/at-the-denti...
Wonderfully distilled writing from @tinazhu.bsky.social in @centaurlit.bsky.social
centaurlit.com/at-the-denti...
At the Dentist’s in Arlington Heights by Tina S. Zhu | Centaur
centaurlit.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:20 AM
"In the time it took for the girl to guess, light traveled from the Sun to Mercury, the rabbit ear TV singing its white noise ostinato"
Wonderfully distilled writing from @tinazhu.bsky.social in @centaurlit.bsky.social
centaurlit.com/at-the-denti...
Wonderfully distilled writing from @tinazhu.bsky.social in @centaurlit.bsky.social
centaurlit.com/at-the-denti...
"You’re not asleep, but if you keep your eyes shut nobody will talk to you, not that anyone will, they’re all grimly holding themselves together"
Wonderful fractured piece from @anneh23.bsky.social
Always great to see a #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb story out in the world!
Wonderful fractured piece from @anneh23.bsky.social
Always great to see a #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb story out in the world!
Huge thanks to @freeflashfiction.bsky.social for publishing this little one. Written in @mattkendrick.bsky.social Go with the Flow course last year.
You Can’t Ever Get a Champagne Cork Back in the Bottle
by
Anne Howkins
@anneh23.bsky.social
#FlashFiction #writingcommunity #flashfiction #shortfiction #fiction #writing #writerslift #microfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/you-...
by
Anne Howkins
@anneh23.bsky.social
#FlashFiction #writingcommunity #flashfiction #shortfiction #fiction #writing #writerslift #microfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/you-...
January 11, 2026 at 8:57 AM
"You’re not asleep, but if you keep your eyes shut nobody will talk to you, not that anyone will, they’re all grimly holding themselves together"
Wonderful fractured piece from @anneh23.bsky.social
Always great to see a #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb story out in the world!
Wonderful fractured piece from @anneh23.bsky.social
Always great to see a #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb story out in the world!