Writer/Polyglot/Uprooted/Pushcart nom 23/LL Wigleaf top 50 23/SL @BridportPrize 21&24. 🎤Host & Producer Chosen Tongue/ Assoc dir @SalonEurope
Brussels, Belgium
- Tweets 6,566
- Following 3,489
- Followers 2,336
- Likes 43,510
Pinned Tweet
Thank you so much Jon for this opportunity and for the amazing reading you and Emma did of two of my stories. It was a wonderful experience! 🙏🙏🙏
OUT NOW! Italian author Eleonora Balsano (who lives in Brussels) speaks & writes in multiple languages - but feels most @ home writing in English. While it's not her mother tongue, it's a language she's come to believe affords her more freedom as a writer. shortstorytoday.com
6
22
84
11,936
In Italy, eavesdropping on convos in a café & I forgot how people here share their lives & feelings with strangers, as if humanity was all that mattered. I live in a country where even a banal childhood anecdote is supposed to be shared only with your therapist.
17
62
869
63,788
Agree but as a foreigner who briefly lived in America, the pressure to perform, make a living, and keep it together is huge. I was so stressed all the time.
2
2
260
14,396
I’d really like an app that tells you which journals are more likely to accept your work based on their taste and your writing. Finding a good home is so time consuming.
12
4
85
7,137
I was about to go to sleep when an email came in…. Thank you @EmergeJournal and @DianeGotAuthor for the acceptance that broke my 6-months rejection spell! Looking forward to sharing my story in January 2023. ☀️☀️☀️
19
82
Goodness, I got my first ever Pushcart nomination! What a surprise, @gonelawn! Thank you so so much!
21
3
89
2,014
Don’t know what’s happening in here but I can’t see my writer friends in my feed anymore, just random tweets mainly from people I have never interacted with before. Is this it? Everyone’s gone?
34
1
60
Delighted to have a story in FlashFlood for the 4th year in a row! The fastest editors on earth published my first flash in 2021 and I’ll always have a soft spot for this event! ‘We don’t say falling by chance’ will appear on 15 June at 4:10 pm! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
FlashFlood is now open for submissions until 27 April! Subs up to 300 words. You can read our guidelines here: flashfloodjournal.blogspot.c…
10
9
71
2,692
This morning I wrote a story. The first new thing in months and months of what seemed like the dryest spell ever. I'd forgotten how good it felt.
4
1
66
1,861
Surprised & delighted to be a runner-up in the final edition of this comp with a story born in @SmokeLong Fitness. Thank you Retreat West 🥰 & congratulations to the winner, @sarahillswrites 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 & to my co-runner up Emily Harrison!
20
3
64
6,923
Flabbergasted to see my story ‘The Best Vintages Have a Distinctive Character’ on this list! 🙈 Thank you so much!
new new: The Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions of 2023 (Guest Editor: Venita Blackburn): wigleaf.com
23
1
57
1,485
And yet another rejection, for one of my best stories. It’s been the longest rejection spell ever. Any mags willing to break it? 🤪
18
1
65
So pleased to have a story in this anthology again! Thank you to the judges @karjon and @sarahillswrites for my first acceptance of 2024 🥰 I can’t wait to read all the stories!
We thrilled to announce to announce the line up for this year's anthology on the theme of air, water, fire and earth. Thank you to everyone who submitted and trusted us with their stories: nationalflashfictionday.co.u…
9
4
55
2,189
Sfortunato purtroppo no: non c’è nulla di casuale nell’elezione di un branco di degenerati. Sono i rappresentanti più adeguati della maggioranza degli elettori.
6
9
60
I’m in for 12 but most of the others would be huge red flags (go through her wardrobe and tactfully tell her what to discard? 😂😂😂)
4
49
7,450
Thrilled to have made this list with a story close to my heart, born in an amazing @sfreligh workshop🤩. Thank you to the judges @karjon and @Downith for this opportunity. ✨
We are very excited to announce the results of our microfiction competition. You can read the winning stories here: nationalflashfictionday.co.u…
13
4
50
2,327
What a wonderful way to start the year🎆 Thank you @reflexfiction, it's a honour to be on the Winter longlist, and in such company! Congratulations to all the longlisted and commiseration to those who didn't make it this time.
9
2
48
3,017
All I want for Xmas is someone who will sub my stories for me, select the right mags and also receive my rejections and never ever mention them to me. Just that. Simple.
4
1
40
1,634
I just found in the corridor a box my h has labelled ‘before Eleonora’ and now I’m wondering what’s in there? Locks of stranger’s hair? Love letters? Evidence of dreams crushed by matrimony? 🧐
11
1
43
3,127
My tiny story about society’s expectations about mothers just joined the flood!
FlashFlood: 'Your life back' by Eleonora Balsano #nffd2023 dlvr.it/Sr9B3w
11
8
42
3,833
I have a surreal story very close to my heart in this issue⬇️ grateful to the editors for choosing it & to whoever will take the time to read it. I’m off to read the whole issue 🤓
Gone Lawn 49, our flower moon issue, is live! Featuring 21 amazing authors, and cover art by Catherine Skinner. Check it out . . . .
gonelawn.net/journal/issue49…
6
1
42
4,309
And this is why I can’t leave Twitter (read the whole thread!):
Last January, I noticed something peculiar in my 2yo’s bedroom that - after a year of obsessive reporting - led me to a profound cosmic revelation about what’s even possible in our universe. A 🧵.
ALT The moon with a rocket landed in its eye. The most iconic shot of 1902 sci-fi film Le Voyage Dans La Lune.
10
10
42
5,743
In my 3rd year of subbing to mags, I still can’t tell whether a delayed response is a good or a bad sign. 🧐
9
1
39
9,577
Among the many successes, nominations & wins this December, I know many writers who feel like they've spent most of 2022 screaming into the void, or banging on a closed, armoured door. To them, I wish a stellar 2023. Be kind to yourself. 🤗
1
7
39
2,630
Another phrasing I loathe (and that I received on my MS) is: I truly wanted to love this but I didn’t.
8
37
4,984
I just reread the journal I wrote at 23 during a solo trip to Morocco and am pleased to realise I managed to age without ever becoming an adult.
4
1
38
1,916
I just had the best surprise ever during my morning walk. My story Holometabolous won Retreat West's May Monthly Micro comp! I'm honoured and grateful. @RetreatWest
7
1
36
I got an acceptance and a decline in the past 24 hours and despite my best efforts to be cool and mature about it, every single decline feels like a splinter I can't remove with tweezers.
10
38
So this is what I've been secretly working on for the past few weeks, and I can't wait to share it with you all. Chosen Tongue, a podcast about translingual writers and their journeys, will air very soon. I spoke about it with Jon DiSavino on @ShortStoryToday. Stay tuned!
YES! I just finished recording my interview with Eleanora Balsano. She was born in Rome and is now living in Brussels. Eleanora tells us about her literary podcast, Chosen Tongue, which will air soon. It's got a unique angle. Find out more on 10/4. @norami shortstorytoday.com
8
7
35
1,499
I met someone for the first time today and as they told me about their life, they unknowingly answered three questions I had been asking myself this week.
4
1
37
2,532
Thank you @press_roi for publishing my little meltdown story, it couldn’t find a better home!
Thursday mid morning, or is it mid mourning? In “Out of Stock” by @norami you’ll sense the unimaginable sense of loss captured in the mundaneness of a grocery run. Dig deep in our 64th edition, out 5/12, Sunday.
2
3
34
1,807
Just before the new year, I said to @brecht_dp that I only had one wish for 2023, and it was to be published in @JellyfishReview. I guess I'm off the hook now😁 and can peacefully stare into the blissful abyss of a wishless 2023.
1
31
1,079
Very excited to be on this shortlist 🙏🏻 Best of luck to all the other finalists, I can’t wait to read these stories with fab titles!
We are excited to announce the 14 Finalists for The Blue Frog Flash Fiction Prize!
Thank you to all who submitted! Congrats to the Finalists and good luck!
Authors: please celebrate without announcing which story is yours as Guest Judge @theinnerzone is reading blindly.
17
2
37
Every acceptance is a joy but some are pure bliss: thank you @DianeGotAuthor for including my story in the @EmergeJournal upcoming Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness anthology. I'm deeply honoured to be part of such a topical and touching project.
10
36
628
I'm excited to have a story accepted for #FlashFlood2021! Thank you @nationalflashfd editors and thanks @saintlywriter. I wrote the story during my first ever class with you:) @RetreatWest
Looking forward to June 26!!
3
4
37
Never been interested in tattoos until today. Who got one later in life and doesn't regret it?
32
31
5,822
Anyone else experiences a blank in creativity after a tide of rejections? As much as I have tons of ideas during an acceptance spell, rejections shut me up, in a finger-on-lips, shhhhhhhh way.
2
33
2,077
Yesterday sadness hit me in the condiment aisle and there was a beautiful woman in a perfect navy coat who looked so brave I wanted her to teach me. Ten minutes later I saw her again, in the parking lot, patting her eyes dry with a Kleenex and I wanted so much to hug her.
1
30
2,201
I can’t believe that with all these books on the craft I still haven’t published ten books 🤣
1
1
31
773
I envy those who can lose themselves in one book at a time. Every night I carry five to bed, like some fairytale sultan entering the harem, unable to make his pick. I carry the same five back down in the morning, mostly unopened.
3
3
32
1,378
I do. My social life has been transformed during covid and I now know it won’t go back to what it was. I miss the quiet outside, the feeling that time was stretching out instead of constantly compressing.
1
28
2,251
Episode 15 is out! The formidable @aliner talks memories, voice and writing and y’all will love it ⬇️⬇️⬇️
2
7
28
1,436
My eldest is 14.5 and I’ve never felt as clueless as a parent. Please tell me this too shall pass (+ practical tips for survival)
26
30
4,851
I’ve moved around a lot so I don’t have any friends from childhood. I have a few very good friends I regularly see/ chat to on the phone but a BFF I share everything with, no.
2
32
3,367
Make peace with the shitty first draft. Just write it as it comes and let it sit for a while. Then edit, let it sit, edit again... The perfect draft you dream of is the fruit of incessant edits.
3
28
835
Having 3 boys means that on any given Friday afternoon there are at least a dozen guys around and everything smells like sweaty socks.
4
30
1,104
Delighted to make it to the second round!
The Short Story Challenge 2023 1st Round results are up at nycmidnight.co/41mIuZM! Congratulations to the top five in each group for advancing to the 2nd Round kicking off at 11:59PM EDT this Thursday, April 13th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to everyone for participating!
8
29
782
My quirky story about sugar daddies and Mickey Mouse, born in a @KenElkes workshop, came third in the Strands contest! Congratulations to all the winners, I can’t wait to read your stories. 🎉
SIFFC - 15 Final results are out.
Thanks for your patience.
Congratulations winners!
Read these stories in Strands Lit Sphere soon in the coming days.
Link: strandspublishers.weebly.com…
14
3
23
Excited to be part of NFFD for the third year in a row! My story Your Life Back will go live on 24 June at 12:10 pm. Thanks to the @nationalflashfd editors for a super fast acceptance! ☀️
5
24
457
Retreat West taught me all I know about flash fiction and I couldn’t be happier to read for WestWord✨Send us your best work✍️
3
4
29
1,206
On to the second round! I’ve been doing NYC Midnight for over a year and I love how it pushes me out of my comfort zone every time.
The 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2022 1st Round results are up at nycmidnight.co/3GXB8og! Congratulations to the top 10 in each group for advancing to the 2nd Round kicking off this Friday, January 13, at 11:59PM EST. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all that participated!
7
1
25
1,488
´You don’t always choose the language you write in. You may wish to write in a language but you may not have the capability to do so.’ Such an honour to listen to the great Abdulrazak Gurnah tonight, speaking, among many other things, of mother tongues and chosen tongues.
4
24
923
👀👀👀 So excited to see my story still on this list! 🤞& best of luck to the other nine shortlisted writers 🤞
6
2
23
1,538
On top of dry January I gave up coffee. I had a week of excruciating migraines but now it all feels softer, and lighter. Wonder if I can stick to it in the long run. Anyone managed to keep off caffeine?
18
21
6,772
Can’t say if it’s the rain, the news or middle-age but I feel totally overwhelmed by emotions. Constantly an inch from tears.
4
21
1,709
It's happening! Thank you Deborah for launching this, such a joy to meet everyone today & looking forward to our own European get-together!
2
25
1,190
I wish more people would apologise when they hurt others but no, almost no one ever says sorry and it's such a simple and kind thing to do. A little empathy goes a long way.
5
27
612
I want to believe that not getting what you think you want nudges you towards your true destination but it’s been a tough couple of days. Please share positive rejection stories, I need to see the light at the end of this! 🌦️🌈
9
1
22
2,456
I've been working on a project I'm super excited about these past few weeks and forgot about everything else. I can't wait to tell you all about it...hopefully next month!
🤩🤩🤩
3
24
496
I submitted very little this year and had 9 stories published. Not many but all close to my heart. Thanks to @EmergeJournal @reflexfiction Retreat West @JetFuelReview @EllipsisZine @gonelawn & @nationalflashfd for giving my words a home. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
1
2
21
582
I just got lectured from a barman who after serving me my third coffee in 10 minutes said, you should really get a ginger shot in the morning. You don’t look v healthy. 🙈
10
24
1,758
Also, Deb, can you imagine federating indie publishers and authors across Europe? Making it a fun festival instead of the clinical book fairs we have now? I’m visualising it! Every year in a different country. 😍😍😍
2
2
21
1,030
Am finally watching Past Lives and now not even a Kintsugi artist could glue me back together.
6
19
1,466
I’m so excited to read alongside these amazing writers on Sunday! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Please join us for Awakenings reading #4--Sun Nov 12 at 6 EST! ❤️❤️❤️@norami, Amy Champeau, @esfletcher, @IndieJenFischer, Melody Greenfield, @annkkelly, @kimsrogers, @kimruehl @Emergejournal Register here: eventbrite.com/e/awakenings-…
2
1
17
881
Very excited to have a spot on Volume 7 @twinpieslit with a story written during a @fabulistpappas workshop. Thanks to @electra_rhodes for choosing it!
7
1
21
When I was 8 months pregnant with my 2nd (the 1st was 16 months and not walking yet...) an elderly man asked what I did beyond 'playing mummy' because that certainly couldn't take all of my time.
5
24
Now that I am donating hundreds of books I won't ever read again, I believe a book is successful not when it sells thousands but when people keep it on their shelves 5 years later.
4
22
422
Very pleased to have a story out in @pdxreview. Thank you to the editors for choosing it! portlandreview.org/how-to-us…
6
2
18
I spy my story on this list…👀 Congratulations to all the long listed and commiserations to those who didn’t make it this time.
1
1
19
1,284
When I had my 1st son I couldn't speak or sing to him for the first few weeks b/c I didn't know which language to use. Italian felt long lost, but French left me indifferent. English was only mine. In the end, I mixed the three. No wonder it took the poor kid over 3 years to form a sentence.
3
17
1,873
My story The Movie Star’s Daughter has an Itchy Back is in this issue⬇️ thank you @JetFuelReview for including it ☀️☀️☀️
JFR's Issue #25 is now available! Please check it out at jetfuelreview.com (Many thanks to our cover artist, Ryota Matsumoto!)
4
3
20
1,922
I have a story in the fall series on @pdxreview and I couldn't be more pleased! I can't wait to share it with you 🤩
6
19
Sending out acceptances on a Friday afternoon is so chic! Thanks @EllipsisZine and @StandOnDog, you made my weekend!
3
18
Happy & grateful that my story has made it to the SL. Good luck to the other nine writers & their stories,🤞🤞🤞
5
21
My story Treacle Pudding with a Side of Gravy is out today. Huge thanks to Laura Black for publishing it and to @LaurieMMarshall for illustrating it.
7
1
17
My story about second chances 💔 is live! Shoutout to the wonderful writers in Smokelong Fitness who gave me precious feedback on an earlier draft. 🙏🏻
The Measure of Time by Eleonora Balsano @norami #amreading #flashfiction reflexfiction.com/the-measur…
2
18
928