PO Box 75498 Tampa, FL 33675 | 813-622-8252

805 Lit + Art, an award-winning literary journal published by the Manatee County Public Library System, is honored to announce the inclusion of a short story in The Best Small Fictions 2019. The short story, “Whatever They Told You Not to Be” by writer Natalie Hernandez, will appear in addition to short fiction by Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties; Tom DeMarchi, a writing instructor at FGCU; Brenda Peynado, a professor at UCF; and dozens of other up-and-coming writers.

805 editor-in-chief Stephanie Katz says, “I’m thrilled Hernandez’s story will share a space with other vibrant short fiction in this indispensable collection. Hernandez is a talented recent graduate, and the 805 editors and I were proud to publish her debut short story.”

About 805 Lit + Art

805 Lit + Art was founded in 2015 by the Manatee County Public Library System located in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. 805 publishes short stories, essays, poetry, and art by emerging writers and artists from across the world. In 2018, 805 won the Innovation Award from the Florida Library Association. 805 was featured in Poets & Writers Magazine as one of the “Nine New Lit Mags You Need to Read.” 805 is run by library staff and volunteers. Issues are published online four times a year, and all issues are free to read. 805 is one of the only literary journals published by a library.

About The Best Small Fictions Series

The Best Small Fictions is the first contemporary anthology dedicated to anthologizing the best short hybrid fiction published in a given calendar year. Best Small Fictions features micro fiction, flash fiction, haibun stories and prose poetry. Founded by Tara L. Masih, Best Small Fictions is now helmed by series editor Nathan Leslie. Guest editors have included Pulitzer Prizewinning Robert Olen Butler (2015), PEN/Malamud Award winner Stuart Dybek (2016), Pen/Malamud Award winner Amy Hempel (2017) and two-time Pushcart Prize winner Aimee Bender (2018).

The Best Small Fictions 2019 will be available in print and as an ebook on November 5, 2019. The 2019 edition is guest edited by Rilla Askew, author of six critically-acclaimed books, including Fire in Beulah, winner of the American Book Award.

Manatee County Library’s Literary Journal Short Story Chosen for Prestigious Short Fiction Anthology
Scroll to top