November 2024

Ten stories picked by Nora Nadjarian

Nora Nadjarian is a poet and writer from Cyprus. Her work was included in Europa 28 (Comma Press, 2020) and National Flash Fiction Day anthologies (2020 and 2023). Her short fiction was placed in the Reflex Flash Fiction competition in 2021. She has been published in various journals, including Milk Candy Review, Ghost Parachute, Gone Lawn, Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine, Tiny Molecules and Fractured Lit. Her work was chosen for Wigleaf‘s Top 50 Very Short Fictions of 2022 (selected by Kathy Fish). In recent years she has run successful workshops for the Flash Fiction Festival in Bristol, UK.

Twitter: @NoraNadj

Website: www.noranadjarian.com

Her recently published collection of poetry ‘Iktsuarpok’ is available from Broken Sleep Books at https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/nora-nadjarian-iktsuarpok

‘ …the overriding impression the collection left with me was one of colour and light, joy, even. I think this is partly because of the vividness of her observation and description which, in defiance of the dictum about happiness writing white, actually seems to work best on that theme.’

Sheenagh Pugh

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If you aren’t familiar with her work, here’s one of her pieces to start things off:

Doors (Nora Nadjarian | Frigg Magazine)

Why I like it (MK): the brilliant personification of “sobs” and how that gives such originality to the way the piece explores its emotions; the slight surrealness to the overall effect; the brilliant tone of voice, the way it’s infused with so much attack.

In a Nest of Kindly Arms (Pat Foran | Does It Have Pockets)

Why I like it: Almost a prose poem, it draws you in with its simplicity and the arresting image of the ‘nest of kindly arms’. The word-play, alliteration (sing/song/sound) and the haunting repetitions (‘So soothing, this singing…So gentle, this breaking. If this singing heart is actually breaking…’) made me want to read this over and over.

Ordinary Miracles for a Good Christian Boy (James Montgomery| Flash Flood)

Why I like it: It’s a gorgeous example of how to make every word count in flash. I love how effortlessly the religious theme is intertwined with vibrant descriptions of the Pride parade. All the questions build up to that devastating ‘…yes, God is’ and the final questions leave so much food for thought: ‘so weightless? So lifted? So blessed?’

PROMPT: Write a piece where two apparently disparate topics are intertwined in a story told only in questions.

Pet Shop Boys (Tim Craig | New Flash Fiction Review)

Why I like it: The story is told from the collective ‘we’ POV and we know right from the start that it will not end well. I can just see these characters, tell their background, their habits, and I love how they come to life in such a short piece through use of specificity (‘pulling the ring on another Stella’, ‘Sue Ryder’) and how these young kids talk (‘no wonder your teeth are fucking black Shahmeer’). The dark thread of racism runs beneath the surface and the ending perfectly sums up how such a tragedy can simply be shrugged off.

The Papermoon (Joel Hans | HAD)

Why I like it: One of those pieces that make you realise rules were made to be broken and that the more unusual the format, the more likely the reader is to be drawn in. Here we have a story told entirely through the use of a series of nouns following the definite article. The staccato-like brevity of each line is used to great effect.

PROMPT: Write an entire story using two-word sentences.

The Roman Tub (Francesca Leader | Literary Namjooning)

Why I like it: It brilliantly conveys the serenity of ‘me-time’ at the Roman Bath juxtaposed with the tension between the couple and the hubbub of the world ‘outside’. There are so many unusual turns of phrase that make you sit up and take notice: ‘midday pavement broils’, ‘marble quietude’, ‘volcanically-hot water’.

Where the Dust Goes  (Diane Gottlieb | Brevity)

Why I like it: It masterfully builds up the timeline of a day where the uneasiness and the tension creep into the narrative after the ‘crazy blur of squirrel’ is first mentioned. The references to dust and the information given for each part of the day get more and more ominous: rain, the dark, ringing phones, unanswered phone calls and answering machines blinking red. By 10:09pm we know something is very wrong and then it’s 10:10pm. In the minute that has passed, a woman’s life has changed forever.

Mollusk (Didi Wood | Okay Donkey)

Why I like it: The breathlessness of the format matches the helplessness of the victim and the elusive nature of the many-armed Mr Mollusk, the abuser. An account full of the stench and tang of seafood, the feeling of being underwater in ‘a bottomless murk’ while being sexually abused by ‘your parents’ best friend’.

Folklore (Christopher Murphy | MoonPark Review)

Why I like it: I love how refreshingly different this is to anything I’ve read before. A whole story is written through use of repetition and variations on the theme of ‘things we should/shouldn’t talk about’.

The Wonder (Dawn Miller | Atticus Review)

Why I like it: The beautiful, fable-like story of the sighting of a lynx in a small town, told through the collective third person ‘we’ POV. We ‘encounter’ the animal only through rumours of what it did, what it looked like (‘Some said its long whiskers, like errant handlebar moustaches, flanked its heart-shaped face’), details of where it was seen and by whom. The rumours are humorous at first but the story takes a vicious turn when the lynx is increasingly blamed for things it did or didn’t do, and we are left wondering who the real predators are here.

But we didn’t stay in the same place (Addison Zeller | Cease, Cows)

Why I like it: It successfully deals with the hugely overdone theme of a breakup through clever use of the cards the former partner sends, the images, the messages, and how they are signed off when there is little or nothing left to say. Also because I adore: ‘Her arms dangled like a feather boa over the ends of a picnic table’.

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What did you think of these choices? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments - have you found a new favourite piece? Did you try out one of the prompts?

Next month’s selection will be chosen by Catherine O’Brien and will be appearing (fingers crossed) on the 17th December.

Opportunities to work with Matt

Editing

NOVEL / NOVELLA EDITING: First steps review, structural review, line edit, proof edit, submission review

EDITING FOR COLLECTIONS: structural overview report, line edit, proof edit

SHORT FICTION EDITING: Structural review, line edit, detailed edit, proof edit