BARBARA FRIED
STORIES (selected)
"After Henry," Los Angeles Review, spring 2017. Winner of the 2016 LAR Flash Fiction
Award [read]
"What Remains," Fish Anthology (2017). Winner of Fish Publishing's 2017 International Short Memoir Contest [read]
“The Half-Life of Nat Glickstein,” Subtropics, Issue 15 (Winter 2013) Selected as one of the "Distinguished Stories" of 2013 by the editors of Best American Short Stories (2014). [read]
“It Goes Without Saying,” Bellevue Literary Review (Spring 2013). Finalist in BLR's 2013 Fiction contest; nominated for Pushcart Prize. [read]
“A Song of Longing” and “Elegy for Daniel," Guernica (April 15, 2012) [read]
“Really,” Word Riot [read]
“What Makes That a Joke?,” Communion, Issue 1 (Spring 2014) [read]
"A Betting Man" [top 25 in Glimmertrain's 2014 Very Short Fiction contest; long listed in Fish's 2014-15 Short Story Contest]
“House of Pies" [Semi-finalist in New Millennium's 2011 Fiction contest]
POEMS
The History of Ideas [read]
The Days are Gods [read]
A Note to A.A. Milne [read]
About the poem: When my sister and I were young, our mother often read us A.A. Milne's poetry at bedtime. We loved the poem "Disobedience," and asked to hear it over and over again. My mother always obliged, but not without some eye-rolling at key points in the delivery. At the time, I had no idea what that was all about. Years later, looking back, I realized it was my introduction to feminism. My mother didn't want for a sense of humor or an appreciation of the whimsical. But given the age in which she grew up, I would guess she found this particular piece of whimsy a little too close to the truth to be amusing. I wrote this parody for her 88th birthday. She died three weeks later, an ardent feminist and inspiration to the end.