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.
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, where 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.
Neesha Hosein
Neesha Hosein is a writer and editor, born in Trinidad & Tobago and raised in Houston, Texas, where she still resides. Her writing has appeared in NASA’s Johnson Space Center publications, Chicken Soup for the Soul, a Freedom With Writing anthology, and SMITH Magazine’s Six Word Memoirs anthologies. As an editor for almost 20 years, she enjoys helping authors beautify their work and destroy typos. Neesha is also an avid reader, gamer, Trekkie, and paper artist. Visit her at www.NeeshaHosein.com.
Susan Sabia
Susan Sabia has a BS in Journalism and has written both fiction and nonfiction. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her work has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Everyday Fiction, Havok Magazine, and other publications. Susan resides in Connecticut with her husband, daughter, dog, cat and many, many fish.
Amanda Barusch
Amanda Barusch completed an MFA in fiction and book arts at the University of Utah. She has worked as a janitor, an exotic dancer, a consumer advocate, and a professor. Her creative work appears in Crack the Spine, Every Day Fiction, Flashes of Brilliance, Stone Path Review, and elsewhere. Amanda divides her time between Utah and New Zealand, where she teaches at the University of Otago. You can find her on Twitter @amandabarusch or read more on her website www.amandabarusch.com.
Shoshauna Shy
Shoshauna Shy resides in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a freelance copy editor and flash fiction author whose stories have recently appeared in the public arena courtesy of BigCityLit, 50 Give or Take, and Ariel Chart. One of her flash pieces appeared in the Best Microfiction 2021 series from Pelekinesis Press, and she was also one of the seven finalists for the 2021 Fish Flash Fiction Prize out of County Cork, Ireland.
Amber Beck
Amber Beck is a graduate student at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, studying for her MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing. She is also the editor for Chatham’s monthly MFA Newsletter. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Zephyr, Rejection Letters, Calliope, and Bindweed Magazine, and she won first place in the NEA’s 2021 Big Read’s writing contest. Amber spends most of her time with her two cats, writing, reading, and playing Pokémon.
Madison Randolph
Madison Randolph is a graduate student at University of Texas Permian Basin studying for her MA in English. Her flash fiction has appeared in multiple online magazines, such as Friday Flash Fiction, The Drabble, Bright Flash Literary Review, and The Chamber Magazine among others. She resides in Oklahoma with her family and dog, Belle, where she spends her time sharpening her writing skills and drinking large amounts of coffee.
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.