Elena Zhang
@ezhang77.bsky.social
Writer | Chicago | Work in HAD, Maudlin House, The Citron Review + more | Pushcart Prize and BotN nom | Best Microfiction ‘24, '25
https://elenalzhang.wordpress.com/writing/
https://elenalzhang.wordpress.com/writing/
Pinned
Elena Zhang
@ezhang77.bsky.social
· Aug 17
The Moon, My Heart (Elena Zhang) | Tiny Wren Lit
Evocative micro-poems inspired by Chinese folklore
www.tinywrenlit.com
My tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart,” is finally available now! So so grateful to @tinywrenlit.bsky.social and Dana Knott for making this dream come true! www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
So honored to be nominated!!
🚨🐸BEST MICROFICTION nominations are in!
Congrats to @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social, @ezhang77.bsky.social, Amy Allen, Celia Knapp, and Andy Lopez
Congrats to @timothycgoodwin.bsky.social, @ezhang77.bsky.social, Amy Allen, Celia Knapp, and Andy Lopez
November 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
So honored to be nominated!!
Reposted by Elena Zhang
I have a new story in Short Story Long! many thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social, a wonderful editor who always makes my writing better, the incredible Zoë Petersen for her beautiful original art, & all of you who take the time to read this one ♡ ashortstorylong.substack.com/p/a-love-sto...
November 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I have a new story in Short Story Long! many thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social, a wonderful editor who always makes my writing better, the incredible Zoë Petersen for her beautiful original art, & all of you who take the time to read this one ♡ ashortstorylong.substack.com/p/a-love-sto...
Reposted by Elena Zhang
I have a new little flash up today at @yourimpossiblevoice.com
The ants are coming, you might want to just lie down and accept it.
yourimpossiblevoice.com/the-ants/
The ants are coming, you might want to just lie down and accept it.
yourimpossiblevoice.com/the-ants/
The Ants | Your Impossible Voice
Holly Lyn Walrath — "You lie in the grass and let ants crawl all over you. You lie so perfectly still that they start to think you’re just another part of the landscape—a rock, a log, a statue."
yourimpossiblevoice.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I have a new little flash up today at @yourimpossiblevoice.com
The ants are coming, you might want to just lie down and accept it.
yourimpossiblevoice.com/the-ants/
The ants are coming, you might want to just lie down and accept it.
yourimpossiblevoice.com/the-ants/
Reposted by Elena Zhang
"One host was known for his black lacquered glasses. Another was always obscured in a cloud of cigar smoke, except for his wandering hands..."
Appearance and disappearance, apparition and television: We are delighted to feature this brief, enigmatic tale by Pedro Ponce, new today on hex 📺 👇🍸
Appearance and disappearance, apparition and television: We are delighted to feature this brief, enigmatic tale by Pedro Ponce, new today on hex 📺 👇🍸
Relic by Pedro Ponce
One by one, the talk show hosts were dying. We looked for connections, signs of foul play, but suspected we were wrong. Some expressed surprise that they were still among the living, only just now low...
hexliterary.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM
"One host was known for his black lacquered glasses. Another was always obscured in a cloud of cigar smoke, except for his wandering hands..."
Appearance and disappearance, apparition and television: We are delighted to feature this brief, enigmatic tale by Pedro Ponce, new today on hex 📺 👇🍸
Appearance and disappearance, apparition and television: We are delighted to feature this brief, enigmatic tale by Pedro Ponce, new today on hex 📺 👇🍸
Reposted by Elena Zhang
A Dream About Being by David Wojciechowski
November 24, 2025 at 5:25 PM
A Dream About Being by David Wojciechowski
Made a successful challah
November 23, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Made a successful challah
Reposted by Elena Zhang
One of mine from my tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart” www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
One of mine from my tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart” www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
Reposted by Elena Zhang
November 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Elena Zhang
Christmas turkey
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/20037
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/20037
November 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Christmas turkey
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/20037
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/20037
Reposted by Elena Zhang
Actually in the spirit of this conversation, what’s a decision you made about a past Thanksgiving holiday that really paid off? I think people often feel trapped by their lives. Sharing our experiences can liberate us from that sense of claustrophobia.
On the most recent episode of VIBE CHECK, we answer listener questions about Thanksgiving, most importantly “do you go celebrate with the family members you don’t even like?”
Do You Taste the Love?
Podcast Episode · Vibe Check · 11/21/2025 · 40m
podcasts.apple.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Actually in the spirit of this conversation, what’s a decision you made about a past Thanksgiving holiday that really paid off? I think people often feel trapped by their lives. Sharing our experiences can liberate us from that sense of claustrophobia.
One of mine from my tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart” www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
One of mine from my tiny chapbook, “The Moon, My Heart” www.tinywrenlit.com/product-page...
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
Reposted by Elena Zhang
sleigh-bells
bent down
bristling with
a forlorn note
Many thanks for @amsterdamreview.bsky.social for nominating "when the ponds were new" for Best of the Net. The poem is a visual erasure using a page of Walden.
bent down
bristling with
a forlorn note
Many thanks for @amsterdamreview.bsky.social for nominating "when the ponds were new" for Best of the Net. The poem is a visual erasure using a page of Walden.
November 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
sleigh-bells
bent down
bristling with
a forlorn note
Many thanks for @amsterdamreview.bsky.social for nominating "when the ponds were new" for Best of the Net. The poem is a visual erasure using a page of Walden.
bent down
bristling with
a forlorn note
Many thanks for @amsterdamreview.bsky.social for nominating "when the ponds were new" for Best of the Net. The poem is a visual erasure using a page of Walden.
Reposted by Elena Zhang
what a piece today, from Molly Akin!!
"One time I lost words. They slipped out and were buried under sand, finely ground, collected, disbursed."
https://www.havehashad.com/mf5jn
"One time I lost words. They slipped out and were buried under sand, finely ground, collected, disbursed."
https://www.havehashad.com/mf5jn
November 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
what a piece today, from Molly Akin!!
"One time I lost words. They slipped out and were buried under sand, finely ground, collected, disbursed."
https://www.havehashad.com/mf5jn
"One time I lost words. They slipped out and were buried under sand, finely ground, collected, disbursed."
https://www.havehashad.com/mf5jn
Practicing drawing some faces
November 21, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Practicing drawing some faces
Reposted by Elena Zhang
“I heard that the old man’s beatification was performed by an ancient eagle, whose feathers had been touched by God himself.”
🛸 take a walk in the woods with @sandrakasturi.bsky.social
www.nightshadesmag.com/beard-of-bir...
🛸 take a walk in the woods with @sandrakasturi.bsky.social
www.nightshadesmag.com/beard-of-bir...
Beard of Birds
by Sandra Kasturi
Once I heard the story of an old man living in the forest, birds nesting in his enormous beard instead of flying south for the winter. He would dole out bear hugs to bears until the...
www.nightshadesmag.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:54 PM
“I heard that the old man’s beatification was performed by an ancient eagle, whose feathers had been touched by God himself.”
🛸 take a walk in the woods with @sandrakasturi.bsky.social
www.nightshadesmag.com/beard-of-bir...
🛸 take a walk in the woods with @sandrakasturi.bsky.social
www.nightshadesmag.com/beard-of-bir...
Reposted by Elena Zhang
…a dreamtime lost in proving was regained by kneading herself awake in this pursuit of perfection which so infected her that her head began to swell and warm with something beyond a fever…
THE BEST THING SINCE PERFECTION by Jason Graff
www.bruisermag.com/graff_perfec...
THE BEST THING SINCE PERFECTION by Jason Graff
www.bruisermag.com/graff_perfec...
November 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
…a dreamtime lost in proving was regained by kneading herself awake in this pursuit of perfection which so infected her that her head began to swell and warm with something beyond a fever…
THE BEST THING SINCE PERFECTION by Jason Graff
www.bruisermag.com/graff_perfec...
THE BEST THING SINCE PERFECTION by Jason Graff
www.bruisermag.com/graff_perfec...
Reposted by Elena Zhang
An old fav I've been thinking about lately, my story "The Daddy Thing" at @electricliterature.com
Some things I still feel extra pleased about even years later: the story's odd shape, the bats (obvs), the mother's tattoo, the vampire, the rhythm, & the inverted question marks
#ThrowbackThursday
Some things I still feel extra pleased about even years later: the story's odd shape, the bats (obvs), the mother's tattoo, the vampire, the rhythm, & the inverted question marks
#ThrowbackThursday
The Girl is Always Eaten At the End - Electric Literature
"The Daddy Thing" by K.C. Mead Brewer, original fiction about a young girl who befriends a vampire bat, recommended by Electric Literature
electricliterature.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:18 PM
An old fav I've been thinking about lately, my story "The Daddy Thing" at @electricliterature.com
Some things I still feel extra pleased about even years later: the story's odd shape, the bats (obvs), the mother's tattoo, the vampire, the rhythm, & the inverted question marks
#ThrowbackThursday
Some things I still feel extra pleased about even years later: the story's odd shape, the bats (obvs), the mother's tattoo, the vampire, the rhythm, & the inverted question marks
#ThrowbackThursday
Reposted by Elena Zhang
Thrilled to have a new story out today with the wonderful Milk Candy Review that features eggs, soldiers, silence and absent suns. Hope you'll give it a read:
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
Nothing certain ~ by Matt Kendrick
The day the sun forgets to rise, Mr White sits down for breakfast at precisely twelve minutes past seven. This is in the dining room. It is Tuesday. His Tuesday breakfast is a soft-boiled egg opene…
milkcandyreview.home.blog
November 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Thrilled to have a new story out today with the wonderful Milk Candy Review that features eggs, soldiers, silence and absent suns. Hope you'll give it a read:
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
Reposted by Elena Zhang
always excited to get to feature new Ioanna Mavrou!
today we've got a gem!
"“The important thing is we are together,” he says later as they, along with everything, get sucked into the black hole."
https://www.havehashad.com/tllh5
today we've got a gem!
"“The important thing is we are together,” he says later as they, along with everything, get sucked into the black hole."
https://www.havehashad.com/tllh5
You Had To Be There by Ioanna Mavrou
You think you have everything figured out and then one day the world breaks. Before, you used to be open, inviting. Now, not so much. You try and find quiet spaces where you can take in the light and…
www.havehashad.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
always excited to get to feature new Ioanna Mavrou!
today we've got a gem!
"“The important thing is we are together,” he says later as they, along with everything, get sucked into the black hole."
https://www.havehashad.com/tllh5
today we've got a gem!
"“The important thing is we are together,” he says later as they, along with everything, get sucked into the black hole."
https://www.havehashad.com/tllh5
Reposted by Elena Zhang
a poem before sleep
(translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
(translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 PM
a poem before sleep
(translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
(translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
Reposted by Elena Zhang
🚨 I have a new chapbook out in the world! 🚨
The Man is a sequence of 24 micro poems, all beginning with ‘The Man’. I also provided the doodles for the cover. I have 50 copies & they’re all pay-what-you-want (+ $4 for shipping) so DM me if you want a copy! 📚❤️
The Man is a sequence of 24 micro poems, all beginning with ‘The Man’. I also provided the doodles for the cover. I have 50 copies & they’re all pay-what-you-want (+ $4 for shipping) so DM me if you want a copy! 📚❤️
November 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
🚨 I have a new chapbook out in the world! 🚨
The Man is a sequence of 24 micro poems, all beginning with ‘The Man’. I also provided the doodles for the cover. I have 50 copies & they’re all pay-what-you-want (+ $4 for shipping) so DM me if you want a copy! 📚❤️
The Man is a sequence of 24 micro poems, all beginning with ‘The Man’. I also provided the doodles for the cover. I have 50 copies & they’re all pay-what-you-want (+ $4 for shipping) so DM me if you want a copy! 📚❤️
Reposted by Elena Zhang
✨ICYMI✨
“the instructor says to breathe deep and let go, and my mind peels back the pastry folds of time and brings me to the beach on the northwest side of the island, fifteen and doing a star float in the twilight”
@kleopatraolympiou.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/kleopatraoly...
“the instructor says to breathe deep and let go, and my mind peels back the pastry folds of time and brings me to the beach on the northwest side of the island, fifteen and doing a star float in the twilight”
@kleopatraolympiou.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/kleopatraoly...
Kleopatra Olympiou | Here I Am
www.claudineliterary.net
November 19, 2025 at 8:20 PM
✨ICYMI✨
“the instructor says to breathe deep and let go, and my mind peels back the pastry folds of time and brings me to the beach on the northwest side of the island, fifteen and doing a star float in the twilight”
@kleopatraolympiou.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/kleopatraoly...
“the instructor says to breathe deep and let go, and my mind peels back the pastry folds of time and brings me to the beach on the northwest side of the island, fifteen and doing a star float in the twilight”
@kleopatraolympiou.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/kleopatraoly...
Reposted by Elena Zhang
"I liked it alright, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t rub the longing off its face. The painted eyes looked past me"
A tiny gem from @ezhang77.bsky.social in @claudineliterary.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/elenazhang
A tiny gem from @ezhang77.bsky.social in @claudineliterary.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/elenazhang
Elena Zhang | Call Me
www.claudineliterary.net
November 19, 2025 at 9:19 PM
"I liked it alright, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t rub the longing off its face. The painted eyes looked past me"
A tiny gem from @ezhang77.bsky.social in @claudineliterary.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/elenazhang
A tiny gem from @ezhang77.bsky.social in @claudineliterary.bsky.social
www.claudineliterary.net/elenazhang
Pretty sure we were singing the Land Before Time song here. Miss you mom.
November 19, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Pretty sure we were singing the Land Before Time song here. Miss you mom.
Reposted by Elena Zhang
New flash out with Hex Literary about the horror of childhood and the allure of finally finding an escape! I’m proud of this one!
“Eli says he wants to show me a secret. He says even his mom doesn’t know it, and she’s always spying on him trying to figure it out.”
“Eli says he wants to show me a secret. He says even his mom doesn’t know it, and she’s always spying on him trying to figure it out.”
"Eli says I can come over on Saturday, but I have to be quiet when we go inside, because his mom will be home all day."
We are so stoked to feature a new one by @lilliekoi.bsky.social today that is absolutely oozing with a phenomenal sense of childhood dread and weirdness. Don't miss "Out," up now!
We are so stoked to feature a new one by @lilliekoi.bsky.social today that is absolutely oozing with a phenomenal sense of childhood dread and weirdness. Don't miss "Out," up now!
Out by Lillie E. Franks
Eli says I can come over on Saturday, but I have to be quiet when we go inside, because his mom will be home all day. One time on the playground behind the swings, Eli told me that he hates his mom, a...
hexliterary.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
New flash out with Hex Literary about the horror of childhood and the allure of finally finding an escape! I’m proud of this one!
“Eli says he wants to show me a secret. He says even his mom doesn’t know it, and she’s always spying on him trying to figure it out.”
“Eli says he wants to show me a secret. He says even his mom doesn’t know it, and she’s always spying on him trying to figure it out.”