I'm on the Wigleaf Long list--the short and long of it; my circus story honored.

Of course, there are lists and there are lists. Here's a funny one from "A Dose of Buckley". It's not as honorable as the Wig-leaf Top 50!




Every year in May, Wig-leaf displays their Top 50 short fictions. This year it was judged by (not the America's Next Top Model) Danielle Evans, who wrote a nice introduction for the list. It's a strong list with some well deserved and incredible reads.

I am absolutely honored to have made the Long List with my story, "A Circus Story", nominated by Right Hand Pointing, and blogged about HERE.  It appeared in RHP, Issue 47, and was published 1/1/2012, which fit it right under the time frame.

HERE is the short list, with links for the Wig-leaf winners.

MATTHEW  BAKER,   "An Outing After Supper"

  from Booth


JODI  BARNES,   "Reconstruction"

  from Prime Number


AMY  BENSON,   "Crime Is Down All Over"

  from PANK


ANN  BOGLE,   "Meryl Streep Laughed at That"

  from Altered Scale (via Fictionaut)


POLLY  BRESNICK,   "Beauty Marks"

  from elimae


MARK  BUDMAN,   "For the Birds"

  from Atticus Review


STACE  BUDZKO,   "Why We Will Always Love You, Vera Knightville"

  from New World Writing


BRIAN  ALLEN  CARR,   "Bullets"

  from Ostrich Review


KIM  CHINQUEE,   "Cartwheel"

  from Green Mountains Review


ELIZABETH  COLEN,   "Buckshot and Diesel"

  from Spork


DAVID  COTRONE,   "My Brother the Painter"

  from Necessary Fiction


MARY  CATHERINE  CURLEY,   "Elbows"

  from Monkeybicycle


PETER  HO  DAVIES,   "Bride of the Future"

  from failbetter.com


OLIVER  DE  LA  PAZ,   "Labryrinth 24-26"

  from Diagram


LILY  DODGE,   "Jonah in the Whale"

  from Spork


HOLLI  DOWNS,   "The Extra Knot"

  from Contrary


GABE  DURHAM,   "In Case of Emergency"

  from Corium



ALEX  EPSTEIN,   "Bereavement"

  from Electric Literature's Recommended Reading


ELISA  GABBERT  and  KATHLEEN  ROONEY,  "The One About Ambivalence"

  from Matter Press


FAITH  GARDNER,   "Second Runner-Up"

  from SmokeLong Quarterly


MOLLY  GAUDRY,  "No-Nation Woman"

  from Barrelhouse


ROXANE  GAY,   "John F. Kennedy"

  from Melville House


AMELIA  GRAY,   "The Swan As Metaphor for Love"

  from JOYLAND


TAWNYSHA  GREENE,   "The Game"

  from elimae


KAWIKA  GUILLERMO,   "Never Let Your Enemy Be Above You"

  from Annalemma


STEVE  HIMMER,   "George Washington"

  from Melville House


CHLOÉ  COOPER  JONES,   "Parachute"

  from The Collagist


MAUREEN  KINGSTON,   "The Pin-Up Calendar or Be Careful What You Wish For"

  from Gone Lawn


MILES  KLEE,   "Five Miniatures"

  from The Collagist


MOLLY  LAICH,   "What People Without Jesus Do"

  from Monkeybicycle


TOM  LAKE,   "The Chambermaid"

  from Witness


PAUL  LISICKY,   "Monster"

  from Mead


MADELINE  MCDONNELL,   "It Was the Summer"

  from The Kenyon Review


MARSHA  MCSPADDEN,   "Seven Since"

  from matchbook


DELANEY  NOLAN,   "How I Gonna Bare My Neck Outside in the Sweat-Scared Morning"

  from Guernica


ETHEL  ROHAN,   "I Love You!"

  from Hobart


JOSEPHINE  ROWE,   "Dixieland"

  from The Iowa Review


DANI  SANDAL,   "Maria in Drag"

  from PANK


GREG  SCHREUR,   "Syncategoremata"

  from > kill author


RION  AMILCAR  SCOTT,   "Chester A. Arthur"

  from Melville House


GLENN  SHAHEEN,   "Enola Gay"

  from Word Riot


MATTHEW  SIMMONS,   "Gerald Ford"

  from Melville House


R.T.  SMITH,   "Col. Othniel Sweet's Mysteries of Nature, #11 (blackbirds)"

  from Blackbird


EMMA  SMITH-STEVENS,   "Anthem"

  from PANK


BECKY  TUCH,   "Luc Bustomanta"

  from Hobart


AUTUMN  WATTS,   "The Cities of Animals"

  from Guernica
 

BRANDI  WELLS,   "Giant Mutant Kittens"

  from Bluestem


A.  WERNER,   "Mars"

  from NANO Fiction


JOHN  SIBLEY  WILLIAMS,   "The Speed of Progress"

  from Corium


JOSEPHINE  YU,   "A Fable from the Palm-Leaf Manuscript"

  from Juked


HERE is the Longlist


Acker, Lizzy, "The End of Astronomy," FANZINE (April 2012)    
   
Adcox, James Tadd, "The Separation" NANO FICTION (May 2012)    
 
Adcox, James Tadd, "Viola Is Sitting on the Examination Table," THE COLLAGIST (February, 2012)    

Alene, Kirsten, "A Really Far Ways Off," SMALL DOGGIES MAGAZINE (September 18, 2012)    
 
Alexander, Jessica, "If You See Something, Say Something," NEW WORLD WRITING (Winter 2012)    
  
Alexie, Sherman, "Murder-Suicide," NARRATIVE (Winter, 2012)    
   
Allan, Angela, "Amelia Fucking Earhart," SMOKELONG QUARTERLY (Issue 36)

Awake, Mikael, "Ant Killer," JUKED (September 9, 2012)     

Barzini, Chiara, "The Wave," EVERYDAY GENIUS (11/29/12)    
   
Barzini, Chiara, "The Nursery," EVERYDAY GENIUS (11/29/12)    
 
Baumer, Mark, "Craig Griffey," HOBART (April 2012)    

Beachy, Kyle, "Allegory," JUKED (September 4, 2012)
   
Becker, Lauren, "Parameters," DARK SKY via BARRELHOUSE (August 2012)    

Becker, Lauren. "If I Would Leave Myself Behind," ATTICUS REVIEW (Volume 2, Issue 11, 20 March, 2012)  

Bertino, Marie-Helene, "Say Goodbye to Your Father," TREEHOUSE (Issue #1; Spring 2012)    
   
Bilinski, Kyle, "Souvenirs," MONKEYBICYCLE (undated)      

Bolin, Alice, "Pool," PANK (December, 2012)    
         
Bosse, Eric, "Soft Shell," SPORK (August 22, 2012)    
  
Brown, Jason Lee, "Left Leg, Just above the Knee," KENYON REVIEW (Spring 2012)    
   
Butler, Blake, "Let Me Pretty Much Become You," THE FIDDLEBACK (Volume 2, Issue 5)       
   
Caplan, Benjy , "One Third Cut Tab in Assorted Positions," FLYWHEEL (January 2012)    
   
Chinquee, Kim, "Flicker," THE LITERARIAN (Issue 11)    
 
Colen, Elizabeth, "The Balance of Terror," SPORK (August 9, 2012)    

Cooper, Michael, "Met Orange," STORYGLOSSIA (#47; August 2012)    
  
Crouch, Michelle E., "Step 9: A Misinterpretation," TREEHOUSE (Issue #1; Spring 2012)    
   
Dexter, Matthew, "Restraining Order," CONTRARY (Spring 2012)      
   
Doyle, Brian, "Do Wa Do Wa Diddy," NAT. BRUT. (Issue #1; Fall 2012)    

Ellingsen, Berit, "Sexual Dimorphism -- A Nightmare Transcribed From Sanskrit," ELIMAE (July/August, 2012)    
 
Ellison, Jan, "The Hookup," NARRATIVE (Fall, 2012)    
   
Etter, Sarah Rose, "Stranger Sleep," HOT METAL BRIDGE (Spring 2012)      
   
Farris, Katie, "The Devil’s Face," ANNALEMMA (Feature, undated)    
   
Gager, Timothy, "A Circus Story," RIGHT HAND POINTING (Issue #47)    
   
Gay, Roxane. "I Did Not Marry for Love," ATTICUS REVIEW (Volume 2, Issue 9, 6 March 2012)    
   
Gautier, Amina, "Caretaking," CERISE PRESS (Vol.4, Issue 10, Summer 2012)    
  
Gerke, Greg, "James Buchanan," MELVILLE HOUSE (undated)    

Germanacos, Anne, "A Substance You Can’t Touch," ECLECTICA (April/May 2012)    
   
Giles, Molly "Nobody Believes Me But It's True," TINHOUSE BLOG (October 26, 2012)    

Gingher, Marianne, "Early Marriage," CEDARS (Issue 3; Autumn 2012)   
  
Grandbois, Daniel, "Three," THE COLLAGIST (October, 2012)   
  
Gray, Amelia, "Ulysses S. Grant," MELVILLE HOUSE (undated)  

Grefe, Jamie, "Unfisting," ELIMAE (September/October, 2012)   

Harkin, Justyn, "Prime," USED FURNITURE REVIEW (February 6, 2012)   

Hawthorn, Eric "Stash," MONKEYBICYCLE  (undated)

Hazuka, Tom, "That's All You Have to Do," CHEEK TEETH (March 3, 2012)   
  
Helms, Joshua R., "To & From," SMOKELONG QUARTERLY (Issue 35)   
  
Hembree, Carolyn, "Fable From My Forebears," DIAGRAM (12.4)   
  
Herriott, Andrew. "The Floorboards Creak," VESTAL REVIEW (#42, Summer 2012)   

Hinton, Frank, "Possible Non-Homogeneous Planes," SPORK (April, 2012)   
  
Hobson, Brandon, "Disfigurement," CONJUNCTIONS (02.07.12)   
  
Hoffman, Sherri H., "Blue," PANK (January 2012)   
  
Hostovsky, Paul, "Beard," MONKEYBICYCLE (undated)   
  
Houser, Trevor J., "The Town of Gull 1925-39," FRIGG (Issue 35/Winter 2012)   

Hudson, Genevieve, "Hot," TINHOUSE BLOG (April 7, 2012)     
  
Hudson, Genevieve, "Gentlemen of the Confederate Army," KNEE JERK (November 2012)     

Hunter, Lindsay, "Richard Nixon," MELVILLE HOUSE (undated)   

Janka, Laura, "The Czech Republic," THE BROOKLYNER (March 1, 2012)    
  
Jones, Shane, "Music Box," SUPER ARROW (Issue #5)    
  
Jones, Shane "Prison, Crystal, Pants," TINHOUSE BLOG ( February 24, 2012)   
  
Kiernan, Emily, "A Fable," MONKEYBICYCLE, (undated)    

Kirby-Smith, Susan, "Creature Comfort," >KILLAUTHOR (Issue 19)    
  
Kirkpatrick, Matthew, "Franklin Pierce," MELVILLE HOUSE (undated)  
  
Lacey, Catherine, "(Grew)," DIAGRAM (12.3)   
  
Larson, Aaron, "The Zookeeper Switches off the TV," DECOMP (August 2012)   

Lefkowitz, Frances "Sharks," NEW WORLD WRITING (Spring 2012)   
  
Ligon, Samuel, "This Land is My Land," THE FIDDLEBACK (Volume 2, Issue 6)   
  
Lisicky, Paul, "Thomas Looked for the Happy Ones," CEDARS (Issue 3; Autumn 2012)   
  
Luby, Meredith, "Cicada Season," REDIVIDER (Issue 9.2; Spring 2012)   
  
Luce, Kelly, "Three Scenarios in Which Hannah Sasaki Grows a Tail," SHENANDOAH (Issue 61, Number 2)   

Lundin, Dan "Between Green and Union On a Day That Is Sunny All Day," EVERYDAY GENIUS (April 2012)     
  
Malone, Sarah, "Bridal Discount," THE COLLAGIST (July, 2012)   
  
Mangla, Ravi, "A Good Meal," TREEHOUSE (Issue #2; Summer 2012)   
  
Mangla, Ravi, "Loafer," MATCHBOOK (April 2012)     
  
Manning, Troy "There Was an Elderly Woman," DECOMP (January 2012)    

Maum, Courtney "Dispatch From The Fetal Reduction," NEW WORLD WRITING (Winter 2012)   
  
Mayer, Rupprecht, "The Fear of Secretarial Errors," HOBART (December 2012)     
  
McPherson, Stephanie, "The Siren," MELUSINE (Spring/Summer 2012)   
  
Miao, Lucy, "In the Event of," SPORK (May 31, 2012)   
  
Mohan, David, "The Suicide's Room," ELIMAE (2012 February)   
  
Monzo, Quim, "One Night," GUERNICA (August 2012)   
  
Moshimer, Gary "Pigs Fly," BLUESTEM (JUNE 2012)   
  
Nichols, Jenny, "On Trading Mothers," HARP AND ALTAR (Winter 2012)   

Nikolidakis, Lisa, "Options," NECESSARY FICTION (October 2012)   

Nissen, Thisbe, "The Challenger Disaster at Smiling Goat," THE IOWA REVIEW (Vol. 42, No. 3; Winter 2012)   

Nissler, Ashley "Postpartum," NEW WORLD WRITING (Spring 2012)   
  
Painter, Pamela, "Lost," FICTION SOUTHEAST (Fall 2012)   
  
Pass, Hannah, "Remedy," KENYON REVIEW (Fall 2012)   
   
Pfister, Joseph "The Wake," DECOMP (June 2012)   
  
Pham, Lam, "Water Witching," STORYGLOSSIA (#47; August 2012)   
  
Phillips, Emilia, "Cuspis," HOBART (May 2012)     
  
Pokrass, Meg, "I Married This," THE LITERARIAN (Issue #9)   
  
Poyner, Ken, "The Nuclear Engineer,"  DARK SKY via BARRELHOUSE (August 2012)   
  
Pruteanu, Alex M., "The Osseous Tissue of Fish, Two Poems and One Song, How to Safeguard a House Key, They Drank Water Out of Jars,Where the Microphone Is Hidden," FRIGG (Issue 38/Fall2012)
  
Readman, Angela, "Shit to do With a Wedding Dress," SMOKELONG QUARTERLY (Issue 38)    

Reale, Michelle, "Granular," DOGZPLOT (September 2012)     
  
Redden, Chad "He,"  DOGZPLOT (February 2012)   
  
Riippi, Joseph, "Station," ELIMAE (2012 March)   

Rosenblum, Sophie, "Awful Math," DOSSIER (undated)   
  
Rowan, Matt,  "The OK Grocery Store Corral," KNEE JERK (August 2012)   
  
Rydell, Angela, "Life Expectancies," GULF STREAM MAGAZINE (Online #7)   
  
Sakandar, Nasir, "Head," ALICE BLUE REVIEW (undated)     
  
Salesses, Matthew, "Five from I'M NOT SAYING, I'M JUST SAYING," THE COLLAGIST (June, 2012)   
  
Savoca, Matthew, "Cat Funeral," SPORK (August 17 2012)   

Schladale, Robert, "If Only," PRICK OF THE SPINDLE (Vol 6 Issue 2)   
  
Shea, Ray, "On the Eve of Surgery With No One to Drive You Home," SPECTER (No. 15/December 2012)   
  
Ship, Lydia, "In the Mouth," FLYWHEEL (September 2012)     
  
Smith, Zak, "Once A Noted Writer of Avant-Garde Science Fiction, He Now Supports Himself Writing Restaurant Reviews For A Los Angeles Weekly," TINHOUSE BLOG (January 27, 2012) 
 
Slater, Ann Tashi, "Body, Tree, River, Mountain/After the Tsunami," FAILBETTER (Winter 2012)   

Smith, R.T., "Col. Othniel Sweet's Mysteries of Nature, # 14 (auto-combustion)," BLACKBIRD (Spring 2012)   
  
Smith-Stevens, Emma, "Guide to a Childhood Diversion," CONJUNCTIONS (11.06.12)   
  
Spivey, Ben, "Peephole," ELIMAE (2012 March)   

Steinhagen, Jon, "The Armchair Detective," MATCHBOOK (March 2012)     
  
Sullivan, Sean, "My Father's .45," BULL (April 2012)    
  
Tadge, Kevin "The Glass Stranger," DECOMP (June 2012)   
  
Telefici, Michael A., "The Tarbouche Maker," CONTRARY (Winter 2012)      
  
Tognazzini, Anthony, "Nomination," GIGANTIC (11/18/12)   
  
Unferth, Deb Olin, "The Magicians," VICE (2012 June 8)   

VanDenBerg, William, "Whistle," HOBART (November 2012)     
  
Voth, Alana Noel, "Chance," FWRICTION REVIEW (10.11.12)   
  
Walsh, Rob, "The Night," CONJUNCTIONS (12.11.12)   
  
Wang, Bryan Shawn, "Duet for Beginners," LITNIMAGE (Winter 2012)      
  
Watterson, Jaclyn, "We Act," PANK (May 2012)   
  
Watts, Autumn, "The Cities of Animals," GUERNICA (July 2012)     
  
Weil, Josh, "Pawn," THIS LAND (12.30.12)   
  
Wells, Brandi, "bear fur (factories)," MATTER PRESS (September  17, 2012)   
  
Wilson, Kevin, "The Morons Wallow in a Sea of Girls," CORIUM (Issue #10, Summer, 2012)    
  
Wilson, Lee Tyler, "Arming the Factions" FICTION SOUTHEAST (Fall 2012)   
  
Winter, Bess, "A Collector," SMOKELONG QUARTERLY (Issue 37)   
  
Wise, Spencer, "Letter to My Jewish Son Who Thinks He's Black and Went to Live in Ghana and Now Regrets It," PANK (January 2012)   
  
Wise, Spencer, "To My Sister in Chiapas," PANK (January 2012)   
  
Wolf, Louisa, "Abstention," MATTER PRESS (January 26 2012)   
  
Workman, Michael Paul, "The Horse Factory," CAFÉ IRREAL (#44, November 2012)   
  
Zheng, John, "One Night," NEW WORLD WRITING (Spring 2012)   
  
Zheng, John, "Neighbors in the Cultural Revolution," NEW WORLD WRITING (Spring 2012)   
  
Zimra, Hedy, "Why I Don't Say Hello In The Grocery," PANK (April 2012)   
  
Zuppardo, Peter, "Two Pieces on E. G. Roberts' Life and Works," SPORK (September 20, 2012)