In the early 2000s, I saw a local newspaper ad soliciting 101 word stories. For some reason, I was drawn to the idea and submitted a few stories. I don’t remember if they got published.
The limitation concept stuck with me, and I started 101 Words in December 2005. In those early days, I only posted my own stories and a few from friends. I didn’t open it up to the public until 2007.
In November 2014, I decided to go all in and turn 101 Words into something special.
My vision for 101 Words is a comprehensive ecosystem and community that can support writers, editors, and readers. This vision is a work in progress and I hope you stick around to watch it grow.
— Shannon
Meet Our Editors
Emily Clayton
Emily Clayton is a freelance writer / copywriter who grew up in Ontario, Canada, and now resides with her husband in Northern California. Her fiction has been published in Kudzu House Quarterly, the FlashDogs Time Anthology, and online in various formats. Visit her site for more about her work and published fiction.
Liz Betz
Liz Betz is a retired rancher from Alberta, Canada. Her passion and active mind strategy is writing; she also has a relaxing hobby of photography. Her photography and essay efforts are blogged, and she has a stand-alone blogged book available for fellow lymphedema warriors. She is always delighted when more of her short stories reach publication. Links to many of her almost 50 published short stories (and her blogs) can be found at I-Write.
Frances Koziar
Frances Koziar lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and began as an editor at 101 Words in January 2019. She is a retired/disabled academic archaeologist and a social justice advocate. As a writer, she specializes in the young adult, contemporary fiction and high fantasy genres, and her short prose and poetry has been published in 20+ literary magazines. Links to many of her works can be found on her website.
Phillip T. Stephens
Phillip’s writing and art appear in anthologies, online and print magazines, and peer-reviewed academic journals. Phillip and Carol live in Oak Hill, Texas. They built a habitat in the shade of their oaks to house foster cats for austinsiameserescue.org. They found new homes for more than three hundred abandoned pets. Phillip’s work reflects the threads that weave metaphor into the fabric of thought.
Mariya Poe
Mariya Poe lives in Detroit, Michigan, with her two dogs. She earned a BFA in writing from Pratt Institute. In addition to editing for 101 Words, she’s a fiction reader for Carve Magazine. She is the winner of the 2015 Stony Brook Fiction Prize and her short stories have appeared in Hobart, wildness, New Orleans Review, and The Collagist.
Aldas Kruminis
Aldas is a writer from Dublin, Ireland. He has spent the last few years dreaming of a successful and prolific career as a writer, so he earned a Masters in Creative Writing from Loughborough University. His work has been published in Terrene, Idle Ink and more. Find out more at http://aldaskruminis.com/.
Devin Hamilton
A writer and editor, Devin lives in South Minneapolis and is obsessed with shadow, movement, and human interaction. She enjoys an overindulgence of coffee and wine, and her prose and essays can be read at Mookychic, Moonchild Magazine, and Occulum among other places. Sun Yung Shin awarded her with the Patsy Lea Core award in 2015. Devin and her twin sister run a Bookstagram where they geek out with other readers and discuss why Hemingway talking about boobs is boring. London’s Ravenmaster liked her review of his novel. You can follow her on Twitter @DevinHamilton1.
Debra Schaefer
Debra Schaefer is an Academic Dean in Jiangsu, China. She was twice awarded China’s national prize for Best Drama Organizer. Ms Schaefer studied for a B.A. and M.A. in History with minors in Music, Religion, Philosophy, Modern Languages, Mathematics, and Women’s Studies. In 2018, she began studying Creative Writing at Oxford University. She is a member of both the Royal Geographical Society and the British Museum Archives, and spent 15 years as an opera singer in London, Paris, Rome, and Vienna. Currently, she is writing a memoir in conjunction with her studies at Oxford.
Do You Want to Be a Volunteer Editor for 101 Words?
If you have the skills and about five hours per week, apply to be a volunteer.