When it comes to Micros, we’re not the only game in town.

And thank goodness. We have to decline an approximate cargo ship full of excellent 100-word microfiction (are we called drabbles, they’re asking me), tiny poems and mini CNFs every quarter.

Back in 2017, The Citron Review was one of the first journals to give one of my own short, 100-word pieces a chance. Personally, I love writing these weird little bits and since then, I’ve been lucky to connect with a marvelous array of journals that regularly publish 50, 100, or 400 word pieces or flash that’s up to 1000. You should too. We have absolutely wonderful sibling and cousin journals. These are our kindred spirits and many go far beyond the short form. As we approach nominations season (stay tuned, drabbles), I’m so excited to put forth work that we were lucky enough to catch in our nets and also to see some of the devastatingly good pieces that swam away to other delicious opportunities.

Speaking of opportunities, I was a little surprised to see the newspaper of record get into the 100-word micros business. And if you’re between 13-19 years old and happen to be in middle or high school, this New York Times memoir contest is for you.

For the rest of us, the above link offers a trove of resources to get us started on our own 100-word memoirs. I expect to see the fruit of these prompts arriving in my submissions box in 3-2-1…

And while you’re waiting for our editorial decisions for the Winter Issue, I’m proud to recommend our Fall 2022 work from Patience Mackarness, Megan Carlson, Celeste Hurst, Terri Drake, Jen Schneider, Judith Shapiro, Eliot Li, and K.S. Dyal. In this selection, we have two of our longest titles ever featured as well as one of our shortest hint fictions. Several pieces threaded nature into human relationships. Or maybe it’s the human who’s threaded into nature. You might ask yourself the question, can a four line poem alter your perspective forever?

Which brings me to one further question, do we have a term for a 100-word memoir? Are you a drabble ripped from the headlines? A CNFrabble?

Good day all ye sweet drabbles,

JR Walsh
Online Editor
The Citron Review