Kara Kahnke
@karakahnke.bsky.social
I’m a writer with a passion for micro and flash fiction. Published in BULL, The Citron Review, Under the Gum Tree, Raw Lit, Micromance Magazine and other places. Pushcart and Best Small Fictions nominated.
Pinned
Kara Kahnke
@karakahnke.bsky.social
· Sep 30
Hands | MrBullBull
mrbullbull.com
Here is my CNF piece about an experience I had with my disability in college. I’m grateful to BULL for publishing it.
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
Yay for FlashGiving with @smokelong.bsky.social!
It's FlashGiving! Follow @smokelong.bsky.social if you don't already, then like and share this post to get your name in the hat to win $200 holiday money. Deadline is midnight ET, November 26th! Winner chosen randomly on Nov 27th. Please tag @smokelong.bsky.social so that we know you've posted!
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Yay for FlashGiving with @smokelong.bsky.social!
Happiness is when my awesome new writing books accidentally match my apartment’s color scheme.
October 30, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Happiness is when my awesome new writing books accidentally match my apartment’s color scheme.
I’m so proud of my dad! A T.V. reporter in Minnesota did a story about his guitar pick art.
www.fox9.com/news/former-...
www.fox9.com/news/former-...
Former Minnesotan strikes a chord with guitar pick art
A Waseca native now living in Arizona has found a new dimension to his love of his guitar.
www.fox9.com
October 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I’m so proud of my dad! A T.V. reporter in Minnesota did a story about his guitar pick art.
www.fox9.com/news/former-...
www.fox9.com/news/former-...
Here is my CNF piece about an experience I had with my disability in college. I’m grateful to BULL for publishing it.
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
Hands | MrBullBull
mrbullbull.com
September 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Here is my CNF piece about an experience I had with my disability in college. I’m grateful to BULL for publishing it.
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
Reposted by Kara Kahnke
Our workshop participants slay us! More than 30 publications reported to us in September! We couldn't be prouder. Congratulations, trousers! www.smokelong.com/smokelong-wo...
SmokeLong Workshop Celebration — September 2025 - SmokeLong Quarterly
Each month we celebrate our current and previous workshop participants’ publications reported to us through Submittable (The SmokeLong Workshop Prize). Each of the publications below, with the excepti...
www.smokelong.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Our workshop participants slay us! More than 30 publications reported to us in September! We couldn't be prouder. Congratulations, trousers! www.smokelong.com/smokelong-wo...
This is a beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing it, @the-big-quiet.bsky.social.
Sharing this piece of mine from @yalereview.bsky.social last spring so I can pin it. Also as a way of saying hi to the new community here.
Steve Edwards: "Yellow Band"
An autism diagnosis in adulthood changes the writer's relationship to his work and to himself.
yalereview.org
September 23, 2025 at 2:34 PM
This is a beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing it, @the-big-quiet.bsky.social.
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 14. Since I have a journalism degree, I couldn’t resist posting this one. “Be hungry, we’re told. Professor Michael’s paces like he’s caged. Chase down leads. Go deeper. . .”
“TK” by Sara Lippmann 2013 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201308TK.htm
“TK” by Sara Lippmann 2013 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201308TK.htm
Lippmann: 'TK'
Fiction by Sara Lippmann
wigleaf.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:17 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 14. Since I have a journalism degree, I couldn’t resist posting this one. “Be hungry, we’re told. Professor Michael’s paces like he’s caged. Chase down leads. Go deeper. . .”
“TK” by Sara Lippmann 2013 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201308TK.htm
“TK” by Sara Lippmann 2013 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201308TK.htm
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 13 This piece sums up years of a relationship in one sentence, and also brings everything full circle. Amazing. “It’s Happened to Everyone” Bezalel Stern 2015 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201502everyo...
wigleaf.com/201502everyo...
Stern: 'It's Happened to Everyone'
Fiction by Bezalel Stern
wigleaf.com
July 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 13 This piece sums up years of a relationship in one sentence, and also brings everything full circle. Amazing. “It’s Happened to Everyone” Bezalel Stern 2015 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/201502everyo...
wigleaf.com/201502everyo...
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge Day 12 A beautiful and poetic ghost story. “There were ghosts in the woods that lived as birds do.” “There Go Birds” by Peter Markus 2020 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/202004birds....
wigleaf.com/202004birds....
Markus: 'There Go Birds'
Fiction by Peter Markus
wigleaf.com
July 6, 2025 at 1:18 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge Day 12 A beautiful and poetic ghost story. “There were ghosts in the woods that lived as birds do.” “There Go Birds” by Peter Markus 2020 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/202004birds....
wigleaf.com/202004birds....
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 11 A beautiful fairytale with hope for a better world. “…and then it’s all just lightness, forever.”
“In This World, They’re Married” by Ashlynn Perez in Wigleaf 2024
wigleaf.com/202409world....
“In This World, They’re Married” by Ashlynn Perez in Wigleaf 2024
wigleaf.com/202409world....
Perez: 'In This World, They're Married'
Fiction by Ashlynn Perez
wigleaf.com
July 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 11 A beautiful fairytale with hope for a better world. “…and then it’s all just lightness, forever.”
“In This World, They’re Married” by Ashlynn Perez in Wigleaf 2024
wigleaf.com/202409world....
“In This World, They’re Married” by Ashlynn Perez in Wigleaf 2024
wigleaf.com/202409world....
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 10. A beautiful disability-focused piece. “Our daughter imagined how the blind read with the touch of a finger. She asked which words were written in the creases of trees’ bark.”
“Dusk” by Andrew Siegrist Wigleaf in 2024.
wigleaf.com/202401dusk.htm
“Dusk” by Andrew Siegrist Wigleaf in 2024.
wigleaf.com/202401dusk.htm
Siegrist: 'Dusk'
Fiction by Andrew Siegrist
wigleaf.com
July 4, 2025 at 1:25 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 10. A beautiful disability-focused piece. “Our daughter imagined how the blind read with the touch of a finger. She asked which words were written in the creases of trees’ bark.”
“Dusk” by Andrew Siegrist Wigleaf in 2024.
wigleaf.com/202401dusk.htm
“Dusk” by Andrew Siegrist Wigleaf in 2024.
wigleaf.com/202401dusk.htm
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge Day 9 The tension in this piece is heartbreaking. “God says happiness is complicated and bad for business.”
Uncertain Bodies by Kate Tooley in Wigleaf 2023.
wigleaf.com/202301bodies...
Uncertain Bodies by Kate Tooley in Wigleaf 2023.
wigleaf.com/202301bodies...
Tooley: 'Uncertain Bodies'
Fiction by Kate Tooley
wigleaf.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge Day 9 The tension in this piece is heartbreaking. “God says happiness is complicated and bad for business.”
Uncertain Bodies by Kate Tooley in Wigleaf 2023.
wigleaf.com/202301bodies...
Uncertain Bodies by Kate Tooley in Wigleaf 2023.
wigleaf.com/202301bodies...
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 8. Here’s some more quiet happiness. “We will lie in our bed in the dark gray dawn and listen to the birds sing and swear it is the first time we have heard them.”
“Tonight, We Are Awake” by Melissa Goode in Wigleaf in 2018.
wigleaf.com/201802tonigh...
“Tonight, We Are Awake” by Melissa Goode in Wigleaf in 2018.
wigleaf.com/201802tonigh...
Goode: 'Tonight, We Are Awake'
Fiction by Melissa Goode
wigleaf.com
July 2, 2025 at 1:42 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 8. Here’s some more quiet happiness. “We will lie in our bed in the dark gray dawn and listen to the birds sing and swear it is the first time we have heard them.”
“Tonight, We Are Awake” by Melissa Goode in Wigleaf in 2018.
wigleaf.com/201802tonigh...
“Tonight, We Are Awake” by Melissa Goode in Wigleaf in 2018.
wigleaf.com/201802tonigh...
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 7. There are so many beautiful lines in this. “Over the four months she had imagined language, it had gained shimmering spires and immense glass floors.”
“Noise” by Ellen Ellis in Wigleaf 2019.
wigleaf.com/201903noise....
“Noise” by Ellen Ellis in Wigleaf 2019.
wigleaf.com/201903noise....
Ellis: 'Noise'
Fiction by Ellen Ellis
wigleaf.com
July 1, 2025 at 1:26 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 7. There are so many beautiful lines in this. “Over the four months she had imagined language, it had gained shimmering spires and immense glass floors.”
“Noise” by Ellen Ellis in Wigleaf 2019.
wigleaf.com/201903noise....
“Noise” by Ellen Ellis in Wigleaf 2019.
wigleaf.com/201903noise....
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 6 This is an amazing way to explore desire. “I Did All the Asking” by Emily James from Wigleaf in 2019.
wigleaf.com/202301asking...
wigleaf.com/202301asking...
James: 'I Did All the Asking'
Fiction by Emily James
wigleaf.com
June 30, 2025 at 12:58 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 6 This is an amazing way to explore desire. “I Did All the Asking” by Emily James from Wigleaf in 2019.
wigleaf.com/202301asking...
wigleaf.com/202301asking...
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 5. I love this quiet moment of happiness in “Soap” from Katrina Denza from 2008 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/200804soap.htm
wigleaf.com/200804soap.htm
Denza: 'Soap'
Wigleaf fiction by Katrina Denza.
wigleaf.com
June 29, 2025 at 2:37 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 5. I love this quiet moment of happiness in “Soap” from Katrina Denza from 2008 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/200804soap.htm
wigleaf.com/200804soap.htm
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 4. I love how strange and imaginative this one is. “Miracle Cake” by Ravi Mangla from Wigleaf in 2008.
wigleaf.com/200810cake.htm
wigleaf.com/200810cake.htm
Mangla: 'Miracle Cake'
Wigleaf fiction by Ravi Mangla.
wigleaf.com
June 28, 2025 at 1:55 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 4. I love how strange and imaginative this one is. “Miracle Cake” by Ravi Mangla from Wigleaf in 2008.
wigleaf.com/200810cake.htm
wigleaf.com/200810cake.htm
This story is amazing! Congratulations, Cole! @nomad-sw18.bsky.social
"Whatever happened to Richard looking hot as hell in his bomber jacket, Marissa partying in a tutu, Lola marching for climate justice?"
@nomad-sw18.bsky.social's "The things Shauna never knows, the things she does"
trampset.org/the-things-s...
@nomad-sw18.bsky.social's "The things Shauna never knows, the things she does"
trampset.org/the-things-s...
The things Shauna never knows, the things she does
by Cole Beauchamp
trampset.org
June 27, 2025 at 10:12 PM
This story is amazing! Congratulations, Cole! @nomad-sw18.bsky.social
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 3. This one isn’t from long ago, but I love the dreamy time travel. “I’m in Love with the Cave Man” Epiphany Ferrell 2024 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/202403cavema...
wigleaf.com/202403cavema...
Ferrell: 'I'm in Love with the Caveman'
Fiction by Epiphany Ferrell
wigleaf.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge day 3. This one isn’t from long ago, but I love the dreamy time travel. “I’m in Love with the Cave Man” Epiphany Ferrell 2024 in Wigleaf.
wigleaf.com/202403cavema...
wigleaf.com/202403cavema...
@smokelong.bsky.social One more for Archive Challenge day 2. I love the language in this one. “It was a shaky morning, infested with car horns…” Howie Good “Hitchhiking Through the Apocalypse” 2016 in Wigleaf
wigleaf.com/201612hitch....
wigleaf.com/201612hitch....
Good: 'Hitchhiking Through the Apocalypse'
Fiction by Howie Good
wigleaf.com
June 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social One more for Archive Challenge day 2. I love the language in this one. “It was a shaky morning, infested with car horns…” Howie Good “Hitchhiking Through the Apocalypse” 2016 in Wigleaf
wigleaf.com/201612hitch....
wigleaf.com/201612hitch....
I’m honored to have my erasure poem in the beautiful issue 7 of Raw Lit. Thank you to EIC @delgeo14.bsky.social
rawlit.weebly.com/issue7.html
rawlit.weebly.com/issue7.html
ISSUE7
Being human has always involved joy and despair, but the world has felt particularly raw since 2020. Raw Lit is an amazing outlet for artists to express their feelings on the rawest of...
rawlit.weebly.com
June 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I’m honored to have my erasure poem in the beautiful issue 7 of Raw Lit. Thank you to EIC @delgeo14.bsky.social
rawlit.weebly.com/issue7.html
rawlit.weebly.com/issue7.html
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge: I love the quiet interactions between the couple in “Apocalypse Story” by Roxanne Gay from 2012.
wigleaf.com/201203as.htm
wigleaf.com/201203as.htm
Gay: 'Apocalypse Story'
Fiction by Roxane Gay
wigleaf.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge: I love the quiet interactions between the couple in “Apocalypse Story” by Roxanne Gay from 2012.
wigleaf.com/201203as.htm
wigleaf.com/201203as.htm
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge: I love the way Eric Beeny plays with language in this one. From Wigleaf in 2012.
wigleaf.com/201204alone....
wigleaf.com/201204alone....
Beeny: 'You Will Be Alone for the Rest of Your Life'
Fiction by Eric Beeny
wigleaf.com
June 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Archive Challenge: I love the way Eric Beeny plays with language in this one. From Wigleaf in 2012.
wigleaf.com/201204alone....
wigleaf.com/201204alone....
Coming on Thursday!
June 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Coming on Thursday!
@smokelong.bsky.social Here’s one for the archive challenge. Both heartbreaking and beautiful. “The Cure” from Wigleaf in 2024 by @megpokrass.bsky.social.
wigleaf.com/202409cure.htm
wigleaf.com/202409cure.htm
Pokrass: 'Cure'
Fiction by Meg Pokrass
wigleaf.com
June 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
@smokelong.bsky.social Here’s one for the archive challenge. Both heartbreaking and beautiful. “The Cure” from Wigleaf in 2024 by @megpokrass.bsky.social.
wigleaf.com/202409cure.htm
wigleaf.com/202409cure.htm