Down Brandon by Clifton "Jerry" Noble

Emerald Blog: Down Brandon

Every summer, Bay Path University’s MFA program in Creative Nonfiction writing offers a weeklong Writing Seminar based in Dingle, a town nestled on the Atlantic coast on the western shore of County Kerry, Ireland. Each day throughout the week, Seminar Facilitator Suzanne Strempek Shea gives […]

Quick Work No. 5

Quick Work No. 5

Here, in micro-flash nonfiction, writers make quick work of compelling stories. During July 2020, we present short takes on work and working. The Boys Department by Michele Wick After Grandpa died, Grandma became a sales lady at Alexander’s Department Store. At 70 years old, she […]

Miss Eliza by Suraj Alva

Miss Eliza

By Suraj Alva Mumbai, India, 1998 All the boys in my class thought Miss Eliza beautiful and mysterious. Like an American film actress, she had pale skin and wore skirts or jeans. The other teachers wore saris or dresses more concealing than the nun headmistress’s […]

Quick Work No. 4

Quick Work No. 4

Here, in micro-flash nonfiction, writers make quick work of compelling stories. During July 2020, we present short takes on work and working. The Chaplaincy by Rich Giptar I worked in a room with willow crosses and laminated mantras on the walls, comfy mismatched chairs and […]

With Bells on My Boots: A Disabled Woman's Relationship with Style and Beauty by Dana Robbins

With Bells on My Boots

With Bells on My BootsA Disabled Woman’s Relationship with Style and Beauty By Dana Robbins I was 23 when I had the stroke. It paralyzed my left side and left me mourning the breezy, beautiful young woman I had been. Even after several years of […]

Quick Work No. 3

Quick Work No. 3

Here, in micro-flash nonfiction, writers make quick work of compelling stories. During July 2020, we present short takes on work and working. Graveyard Shift by Marlin Brezzi Bing went to meet his maker before any of us were born, but those who came before us […]

Multitude of Array by Shiela Scott

Multitudes of Array

By Shiela Scott From the Photographer: Multitudes of Array was taken in front of the Mississippi Museum of Art in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. It shows part of a steel trellis incorporated into an artistic landscape piece that invited me into the garden of beautiful flowers […]

Quick Work No. 2

Quick Work No. 2

Here, in micro-flash nonfiction, writers make quick work of compelling stories. During July 2020, we present short takes on work and working. Escape by L’Tanya Durante I stripped down to the swimsuit I wore underneath my protective gear, imagining my body under attack by asbestos […]

Wasp Questions by Benjamin Thomsett

Wasp Questions

By Benjamin Thomsett The decapitated wasp head still bit and chewed at anything in front of its face. Meanwhile, a little further away on the windowsill, the body arched and the tiny black-needle stinger jabbed and jabbed. I watched the two separate parts do this […]

What It Takes to Survive by Christine Richardson

What It Takes to Survive

By Christine Richardson I stepped through the frigid northern Minnesota darkness toward my sleeping dog team, careful not to rouse the eight dogs tucked under warm piles of frost-coated arctic sleeping bags in front of the dogsled they had pulled 80 miles. We were at […]