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From Vermont to Paris: Celebrating Alumni Janice Leadingham's Journey to Best Small Fictions 2024
by Writing Workshops Staff
A month ago
We're thrilled to celebrate alumni Janice Leadingham, whose remarkable short story has earned recognition in one of the most prestigious anthologies in contemporary fiction.
Janice's story, "Imagining the Woman Known Only as Wife On this Eroded Tombstone in the Old Butler Cemetery off Route 194," was originally published by Reckon Review and has now been selected by guest editor Amber Sparks for Best Small Fictions 2024, published by Alternating Current Press.
A Writer's Journey Through WritingWorkshops.com
Janice's connection with WritingWorkshops.com spans multiple years and continents, from Vermont's mountains to Paris's literary salons. She first joined us as a fiction student in our 2023 Writing Workshop in Vermont, where she studied under the guidance of acclaimed writer Chaya Bhuvaneswar. And, Janice returned for our 2025 Writing Workshop in Paris, France, where she worked with celebrated novelist Marie-Helene Bertino.
The Art of Small Fiction
Best Small Fictions represents the pinnacle of achievement in short-form storytelling. As the series introduction explains, it's "the first-ever contemporary anthology solely dedicated to anthologizing the best internationally published short hybrid fiction in a given calendar year." Since its inauguration in 2015, the series has celebrated the finest microfiction, flash fiction, haibun stories, and prose poetry from around the world.
Guest editor Amber Sparks beautifully captures the essence of what makes these brief narratives so powerful: "The very-short story writer must take those basic elements of story and crush them down into a very small, dazzling diamond. Small fictions can often be epic, spanning centuries, epochs, geological ages; and keeping them so tightly compressed can lend an air of almost mystic importance."
About Janice Leadingham
Based in Portland, Oregon, Janice Leadingham brings a unique perspective shaped by her Tennessee roots near Dollywood to her literary work. Her writing has appeared in HAD, The Bureau Dispatch, Northwest Review, and Bullshit Lit, among other publications. When she's not crafting fiction, Janice practices tarot reading, adding another layer of mysticism to her artistic identity.
You can follow Janice's work on social media @TheHagSoup on Twitter and Instagram, or visit her personal website at hagsoup.com.
Continuing the Legacy
Janice's success exemplifies what's possible when talented writers commit to their craft and seek out transformative educational experiences. We couldn't be prouder to have Janice as part of the WritingWorkshops.com family, and we look forward to celebrating many more of her achievements in the years to come.
Ready to join us on your writing journey? Explore our writing workshops and learn how expert instruction and collaborative feedback can help you refine your craft across genres.
