SmokeLong Quarterly

Who are you?

The students of Amsterdam University College’s current Creative Writing classes!

Where are you from?

Some of us are from tiny Dutch villages, a few of us are from a little bit of everywhere (around the world), and a couple of us grew up in here in Amsterdam.

Why did you decide to take a creative writing course?

Many of us need the structure and the room to explore our own writing without feeling completely lost. Writing is difficult – sometimes it can make a person want to tear their hair out! But for most of us writing is one of our favourite activities.

Many of you were introduced to flash fiction this semester. What do you appreciate about the form?

First off, due to the length, the form is less daunting. But many of the pieces can be quite tantalizing: they rope you into the story and leave you wanting more. It’s like literary candy; you can always come back to it when you feel the need to read.

You’ve previously read published work from SmokeLong. What did you enjoy about the pieces? Are there specific pieces that you particularly appreciated?

We looked at several of your selected stories earlier in the semester. Two stories that really piqued our attention where “X” and “Two Towels Drying”. Both pull you into story quickly. In both cases, the authors used the form to their advantage.

What do you hope to learn from reading SmokeLong Quarterly submissions?

Very simple: an ability to critically assess what separates a piece that can be published from one that cannot.

Any final comments you’d like to add?

We look forward to reading the submissions – that’s it!