If…
by Christopher James
If a child was kidnapped, and the parents didn’t pay the ransom for so long the kidnappers gave up and returned the child anyway, and the child, presumably missing at least one finger by this stage, was working up the courage to ask the parents why they didn’t just pay, that’s how I feel about you.
Christopher James lives, works and writes in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has previously been published online in many venues, including Tin House, Fanzine, McSweeney’s, SmokeLong, and Wigleaf. He is the editor of Jellyfish Review.
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “If”? I’ve wanted to write some version of this story for three or four years (held hostage by the idea) but could never get it to work. It was, therefore, a wonderful surprise to realize it was such a short piece all along!
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
12/15 • Isabelle Ness
12/22 • Catherine Bai
12/29 • Stephan Viau
01/05 • Allison Blevins
01/12 • Justin Ocelot
01/19 • Yejun Chun
01/26 • Mathieu Parsy
02/02 • Robert McBrearty
02/09 • Sarah Daly
02/16 • Wayne Lee
02/23 • Terena Elizabeth Bell
03/02 • Michael Mirolla
03/09 • Nicholas Claro
03/16 • TBD
03/23 • TBD
03/30 • TBD