Alyson is a writer from New Jersey with an MFA from Warren Wilson College. Her story collection was runner-up for the 2022 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and longlisted for the 2023 Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Competition. She has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and Best Microfictions and received a special mention in the 2024 Pushcart Prize anthology. She works as an editorial consultant and creative writing instructor, and she is an Assistant Fiction editor at Pithead Chapel.
Publications
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Colorado Review (print only)
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Alaska Quarterly Review
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Passages North (print only)
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Salamander
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Cincinnati Review miCRo series
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Michigan Quarterly Review Mixtape
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DIAGRAM
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The Journal
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Wigleaf
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Saranac Review
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Lunch Ticket
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Lost Balloon
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WAS Quarterly
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Atticus Review
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Pithead Chapel
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matchbook
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Okay Donkey
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Pigeon Pages
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Short Édition
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Redivider
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Sundog Litu
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Vast Chasm
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Miracle Monoclei
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Hex
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Husk Zine
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Exposition Review
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The Puritan
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Little Patuxent Review
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Construction
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Craft
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Flock
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Ficton Writers Review
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Empty House Press
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Rejection Letters
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Emrys Journal Online
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Entropy
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Visual Verse
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Unbroken
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Select Short Édition Story Dispensers
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The Common Breath - The Middle of a Sentence (anthology)
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Art of the Short - featured story (podcast episode)
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Good Beer Hunting - Read.Look.Drink
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Project Write Now - guest blog post
selected flash fiction
the conservation candidate’s speechwriter tosses another draft of his valentine
into the trash
they’re called giblets when they are packaged in the cavity like that
checking on the devil
we watch a depressing climate change documentary and i begin to dream of tables every time i sleep beside you
call it a night
open the window, let the cool air in
her own bear now
Q: does this pie travel well?
the middle ages
selected short fiction
three season room
everything must go
saint nobody
selected prose poetry
the vendor at the farmers market honey stall gingerly peels away a sticky note stuck to the underside of the cash box
electrical storm
fun stuff
my story, Doubloons, will be distributed at short story dispensers throughout the US
(click for locations)
read.look.drink.#271
@goodbeerhunting.com
interview : colorado review
wigleaf isolation playlist
track 16
art of the short podcast
memorable birds in books
recognitions
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2024 Special Mention, Pushcart Prize Anthology, "Marvelous Freaks of Nature!"
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2023 Longlist, Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Competition, story collection Marvelous Freaks of Nature!
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2023 Fiction Mentor, Adroit's Summer Mentorship Program
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2023 Semi-finalist, Adroit Review's Anthony Veasna So Scholar
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2023 Longlist, Wigleaf Top 50 "Q: Does This Pie Travel Well?"
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2022 Runner-Up, Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, story collection Marvelous Freaks of Nature!
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2022 Pushcart Prize Nomination, The Middle Ages
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2022 Best Small Fictions nomination, The Journal, "Her Own Bear Now"
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2022 Finalist, Gigantic Sequins Flash Fiction contest
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2022 Longlist, The Forge's Flash Fiction Competition, "Open the Window, Let in the Cool Air"
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2022 Longlist, Wigleaf Top 50 "Hazardous to Sea Life"
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2022 Best Small Fictions nomination, Exposition Review, "Vigil"
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2021 Finalist, Edith Wharton - Straw Dogs Writers Guild - Writer-In-Residence
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2021 Honorable Mention, Cincinnati Review's Robert and Adele Schiff Awards
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2021 1st Place, Exposition Review's Flash 405 Contest (House Party Theme), "Vigil"
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2021 Longlist, Wigleaf Top 50, "Decoys"
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2021 Best Microfictions nomination, "Fire Sale"
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2020 Longlist, The Forge's Flash Fiction Competition, "Hazardous to Sea Life"
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2020 Pushcart Prize nomination, "Prix Fixe"
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2020 Best Small Fictions nomination, "Prix Fixe"
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2018 Longlist, Prism International's Grouse Grand Lit Prize for V. Short Forms, "Sharon Tate"
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2018 Finalist, Page International Screenplay Awards
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2017 Semi-Finalist, ScreenCraft Family-Friendly Screenplay Award
hire me
Looking for objective feedback on your prose or your screenplay?
I am currently taking clients. I'd love to talk to you about how my developmental editing could potentially help your
story or script reach its full potential.
DM on socials for more information about rates and availability.
"Alyson's genuine curiosity,
honesty, and extensive knowledge make her a wonderful editor."
-Susan P.
Alyson is extremely knowledgeable about writing and has many examples from literature, about style, about craft. She makes suggestions about what you should read. All I can say is I have been concentrating on the things she suggests, and my writing is so much better.
-Karen C.
"Some of the best feedback I've ever received on my writing. Alyson is efficient, thorough and highly skilled"
-Rachel M.