I wrote my first piece of flash nonfiction when a parenting fellowship asked for a 554-word writing sample. I wondered how I’d write something compelling, something complete, in so short a space. I had an MFA then, had read Brevity, and had published a few essays. But I’d never tried flash myself.

As I wrote the sample, however, I was amazed at what I could do in just 554 words.

I didn’t win the fellowship, but I did publish that piece eventually and continued writing flash. As a woman with kids and a full-time job, the form felt manageable to me—celebratory, even. It was a kind of writing I could finish while teaching four writing classes a semester and parenting young kids and trying to survive a global pandemic.

I once heard Zoë Bossiere describe flash as “the people’s genre.” And that’s what I love most about it: It’s doable. It’s manageable. It’s still art.

If you are struggling to find the time to read or write, or are balancing too much, or just love the form’s compression, this magazine is for you.