My story, "The Carpenter and the Beast of Teeth," appears in the latest issue of Territory. There are a lot of great writers in this issue, and the editors are doing some exciting things with design. Check out Kelly Luce's sad, beautiful story, "Cross-Section, West Texas," about a woman whose dentist finds an old love infecting … Continue reading The Carpenter and the Beast of Teeth

This morning, I had an essay in The New York Times' Lives column. The essay appears in the magazine insert and also online. Huge thanks to the editors for believing in the essay and offering great edits. Also, a big thank you to Melinda Josie for the great piano illustration. I've never had so many … Continue reading Essay in The New York Times

My story, "The Punk Rock Parking Lot Cremation of John Purdie," is out now in the most recent issue of Redivider. Big thanks to the editors for taking it! The story is about a high school punk band. Whenever they play music together, the world starts to unravel around them. You can find out more at the Redivider website.

I'm really pleased that Judge Kate Christensen selected my story, "The Deer," as this year’s Winner of the $1,000 Arts & Letters Prize for Fiction. “The Deer” will appear in the Fall 2016 issue. Here are Christensen's incredibly kind comments on my story: “The Deer”… is breathtaking and original and gorgeous. Striking, unerring, weird. I was … Continue reading 2016 Arts & Letters Prize

My story, "Our City on the Roach's Back," just went live at Miracle Monocle. It's even weirder—and grosser—than it sounds.

I'm so honored to have been invited to read at the Little Grassy literary festival alongside Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Gregory Kimbrell, Danielle Evans, Austin Kodra, and Roger Reeves. Big thanks to Allison, Jon, Kirk, Emily, Meghann, Jen, the booksellers, and everyone.

There's a map of Arkansas authors, and I'm on it, and it's amazing: In 1994 the poet C.D. Wright created a literary map of Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas Press published it as part of her Lost Roads project.  The map highlights and affirms the great number of worthy writers whom Arkansas has nurtured.  This updated version, redesigned and with … Continue reading A Readers’ Map of Arkansas

I had a wonderful time visiting Clayton State University a few weeks ago. Thanks so much to Brigitte Byrd and the English department for bringing me to campus. While there, I gave a craft talk on character in fiction and did a reading. Links to video recordings of both are below: A Conversation with Micah Dean Hicks … Continue reading Clayton State University Reading

It's been a busy semester of conferences and readings, so I'm really late on this, but big thanks to the editors of EPOCH for publishing my story, "Wolf Coat Mine," in their most recent issue. Here's a sample: My man looks afraid, wants assurance that everything is fine, but all I can think about is … Continue reading EPOCH

I had a great time at the Sigma Tau Delta conference in Minneapolis this past weekend (aside from the snow. The snow was rough). We had some truly wretched poetry on display at the yearly Bad Poetry event (that's a good thing: it's supposed to be bad). I got to hear fiction by many talented young … Continue reading Sigma Tau Delta Conference