Compression: Nancy Scott
“If you ask my muse about compression she will tell you that she is impatient. If you ask me, I will blame my muse for not letting me writeanything long. The reality is probably that we both like the challenge andthe quickness of saying things in a small space.” — Nancy Scott
Compression: David Mohan
“Compression — A good compressed piece carries the power of implication. It suggest a pre-history and future whilst remaining grounded in the present.” — David Mohan
Compression: Maryanne Hannan
“To compress is not to distill. At least for me. I don’t work to concentrate meaning or remove extraneous material or distill words in pursuit of the essential. Instead, I play with pressure, much like a Balloon Artist. Three locking twists and voilà! your basic four-legged animal. Small, medium, large, larger. Variation welcome. Every segment needs perfect pressure and careful balancing, before the giraffe can stand tall on its own. Likewise, in writing, I enjoy working with multiple parts, tangentially congruent, each part close to exploding.” — Maryanne Hannan
Compression: Leila A. Fortier
“For me, compression is how I condense the thoughts of my work into visual abstract design as they appear in my mind. Often the shapes take on the emotive feel of the particular work. I like the pieces to float outside of conformity—compressed because they are not bound to traditional line breaks and formalities—but are the essential forms of which they were meant to be born…undiluted. ” — Leila A. Fortier
Compression: Sue Pertessis
“Compressed fiction is a spring coiled tightly with language’s pure essence, waiting to leap out and transfix the reader with the evocation of powerful emotions.” — Sue Pertessis
Compression: Mercedes Lawry
“Compression of language is appealing to me as it strips away not only the superfluous but the corners where lies might hide.” — Mercedes Lawry
Compression: LouAnn Muhm
“As regards compression: The truth is not in the details.” — LouAnn Muhm
Compression: Christopher Lowe
“I’m endlessly interested in what it is that makes a short piece of writing function. More and more, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the intersection of brief moments or ideas that can create a sort of metaphorical tension. There’s simply not enough time in a compressed piece for meaning to accumulate in the way it does in a traditional piece, which means that juxtaposition of smaller linking pieces must carry the weight that slow-building character development and narrative movement carry in a longer work.” — Christopher Lowe
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Upcoming:
03/23 • Kenneth Pobo
03/30 • Roberta Allen
04/06 • Avril Shakira Villar
04/13 • TBD
04/20 • TBD
04/27 • TBD
05/04 • TBD
05/11 • TBD
05/18 • TBD
05/25 • TBD
06/01 • TBD
06/08 • TBD
06/15 • TBD
06/22 • TBD
06/29 • TBD
07/06 • TBD
07/13 • TBD
07/20 • TBD
07/27 • TBD
08/03 • TBD
08/10 • TBD
08/17 • TBD
08/24 • TBD
08/31 • TBD
09/07 • TBD
09/14 • TBD
09/21 • TBD