The guest judge for our 2026 Flash Fiction Competition (August 3rd - August 24th) is poet and editor Dr. Taylor Byas! A Black Chicago native currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio, she is a Features Editor for The Rumpus, an Editorial Advisor for Jackleg Press, a member of the Beloit Poetry Journal Editorial Board, and a Poetry Editor-at-Large for Texas Review Press. She also has two published and award-winning poetry collections: I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times and Resting Bitch Face.
We had the chance to interview her to share more on her work and reveal her expert insights for aspiring flash fiction writers. Read on below!
In this month’s competition, young writers have been asked to craft a compelling story in under one hundred words. This challenge requires them to be intentional with both their word choice and the topic of their submission. You often address complicated cultural issues in your work, such as the Black experience and Black womanhood, but you effectively distill these large conversations into precise, focused pieces. What does that process of refinement look like for you, and how would you encourage young writers who might be intimidated by the limits of flash fiction?
I see the limits of flash fiction in a similar way to how I view formal restrictions in poetry. That tight container can be the very thing that helps you uncover the heart of the story you’re trying to tell. When I’ve worked with flash fiction in the past, I would typically write a first draft that went over the word count a little bit, and then the revision process was a bit of a game of figuring out what was necessary to tell the story. Economy helps you cut off the gristle, forcing you to see where you need to cut back. I would encourage young writers to use the limits of flash fiction to push the boundaries of language. With less space, your language must do more work. Step out of your comfort zone and have fun figuring out what that looks like!
Your work often revolves around vivid storytelling. For example, in your poem “Tender-Headed,” you explore an intimate moment between the speaker and her grandmother, weaving sensory details and dialogue into a brief and impactful vignette. We're asking young writers to accomplish the same goals in their flash fiction. Could “Tender-Headed” have been a prose piece? What makes you choose to write either poetry or prose, and how does that decision affect how you tell a story?
I think there’s a version of “Tender-Headed” that could have been a prose poem, absolutely! And I write even more prose poetry now than I did when I wrote that poem. For me, the difference between poetry or prose tends to deal with the size of the story and movement. Prose poems, and maybe also flash fiction, are often contained to a single scene or moment around which I can build a story, and there’s often a different way that my brain operates. When I start thinking in a more “cinematic” way, as in the eye of the poem feels a bit like a camera, that is an intuitive sign that I likely need to work in prose.
Write the World gives young people from across the globe the opportunity to connect with their peers of different backgrounds through a shared interest in writing. In a 2024 interview with The Rumpus, you said that you wrote your debut full-length poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times “with Chicago youth in mind.” Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, did you always know you wanted to be a writer? What motivated you to pursue this path?
I always knew that I wanted to be close to stories in some way, shape, or form. I didn’t always know that I would write them, not until late high school really. I’ve always loved books, loved being able to escape into a world at any time. I’ve always admired that magic. Being able to create that magic is a big part of what motivated me to write. What motivates me to keep writing? The need that never goes away. It never goes away. I also know what it was like to be reading stories that didn’t reflect MY world for most of my childhood, and I want to change that for young people. I want to write stories where young Black youth can find themselves sooner.
You have been both widely published and recognized for your work, receiving the Best Microfiction Award and five Pushcart nominations, among other significant prizes. You’re also a lead editor for several notable literary journals. What is your central piece of advice for young people who are just beginning to submit their work for publication?
No matter what society and capitalism are telling you, take your time. The art should always come first, publication and making the art into a product should always be secondary. You should enjoy the process of creating art. Make sure you’re enjoying it. Give yourself time to make something that you’re really proud of, that feels good.
What are you looking for in a winning entry? Do you have any other advice for the writers, especially those who are new to writing flash fiction?
I’m looking for writers who aren’t afraid to take risks, both in story and in language. The flash fiction genre is a great space to do that and push the limits, and when it works, the pay off is glorious. I hope writers are pushing their limits and having fun, and I’m looking for pieces where that comes across in what’s in front of me.