Secret
ByIn Cay Kim’s “Secret,” a Korean girl, with the help of her grandmother, enters a national singing competition show and finds herself steeped in a rivalrous phenomenon that is tied to both her country’s identity and its history.
Hold Me Looser, Tiny Dancer
ByIn Maria Kuznetsova’s “Hold Me Looser, Tiny Dancer,” a mother hoping to earn an extra payday uses an inexplicable science-fictional contraption to offer other mothers in her neighborhood a chance to revisit their long-gone pasts, begging the question: What will we do to make ourselves feel loved again?
Open Level Fiction Workshop with Anya Johanna DeNiro
In this six-week open-registration workshop, each participant will workshop a short story or novel excerpt.
Workshop
Wednesdays, May 6–June 10
2026 Literary Debutante Ball
Tickets are now on sale for our 2026 Debutante Ball! Join us in Brooklyn for a night of cocktails, dancing, and live music to celebrate our One Story debut authors and our Distinguished Alum, Lauren Groff.
Friday, April 24
6:30–10:30pm
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Practice & Beautiful Failure: An Interview with Lauren Groff
On April 24th at our Literary Debutante Ball, One Story will honor a past One Story author who has gone on to make a significant contribution to literature. This week, read an interview with our 2026 Distinguished Alum.
Writing Illness in Fiction
In this class, we will look at craft strategies for rendering illness and pain on the page. How might we use metaphor, sensation, sensuality, time, space, memory, and surprising language to invite the reader into our character’s bodily experience?
Mondays, April 20–May 18 (no class May 4)
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2026 Lecture Series
A year of lectures on the craft of fiction from eight One Story authors.
The next lecture in our 2026 Lecture Series takes place Saturday, April 18, from 4-5:15pm ET. Chris Vanjonack discusses how to construct a compelling and satisfying narrative within the length restrictions of flash fiction.
Lecture Series
February–November 2026
Connecting Narrative Threads with Chris Vanjonack
The next lecture in our 2026 Lecture Series discusses how to construct a compelling and satisfying narrative within the length restrictions of flash fiction.
Online Lecture
Saturday, April 18
4–5:15pm ET
Subscribe for $15
One Story arrives in your mailbox in an envelope like a letter from a friend. Each chapbook-sized story introduces you to a new author. No ads, no images—just a great read.
One great short story
in the mail every month
The End of the World
ByWhat do you do when your best friend is about to leave for college and it feels like the world is ending? Take a road trip together to a place called The End of the World, of course!
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Check out our Back Issues
One Story has been publishing since 2002. We never publish an author twice. Browse our back issues to see who we published when.
For Publishers: Submission Manager
One Story provides a free, open-source submission management system to other publishers at no cost.
Sunday Shorts: A (Somewhat) Silent One Story Reading Group
Led by Lena Valencia, this group will meet online once a month to silently read a chosen story from One Story’s archives together, followed by a visit from the author or editor of the issue and a group discussion.
Reading Group
January–June 2026
One Story Submissions Are Closed
They will re-open in the spring. Please read our guidelines before sending us your work.