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Dawn Tasaka Steffler

@dawnsteffler.bsky.social

1.2K followers 1.5K following 640 posts

Bath Flash Fiction Winner • Smokelong Fellow • Storyknife • Wigleaf Top 50 LL • 2025 Best Small Fictions • words in Pithead Chapel, Flash Frog, Ghost Parachute, Fractured Lit, The Forge • dawntasakasteffler.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · May 28

This morning I woke up to the most incredible act of generosity. It's a dream come true for a writer to hear that their stories resonate with readers, and I'm honored that @turnandwork.com has published a feature on some of my recent flash stories. Hugh, thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️

Turn and Work (Hugh) @turnandwork.com · May 28

If you haven't read @dawnsteffler.bsky.social you don't know what you're missing.

I pulled together a whack of favourites in a post, including a few from a flash-fiction novel she's working on about parenting a transgender teenager.

Gorgeous, devastating and unforgettable stuff.

Links here:

Short stories by Dawn Tasaka Steffler - turn and work

I hate to admit that I almost skipped past the first Dawn Tasaka Steffler story I encountered. It wasn't until I saw her Bluesky post about "The Election Goes

www.turnandwork.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 3d

Always a last minute club person…

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 3d

😂

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 3d

For a change, here's the author's note: "the news splits the conversation into guns or mental health, when the reality is in the AND. It means we have to take care of guns AND mental health AND poverty and the other ANDs"

Amazing poem AND author's note @rriekki.bsky.social @rattlepoetry.bsky.social

Two Mass Shootings, Same Day, Michigan by Ron Riekki - Rattle: Poetry

The half-burned wreckage of her last cigarette, —George Bilgere, “Blank” I went to two locations of mass shootings this week. […]

rattle.com

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 3d

Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Melissa Llanes Brownlee @lumchanmfa.bsky.social · 4d

Squeeee!! So honored for @megankkakimoto.bsky.social’s kind words!

@sfwp.bsky.social
@susanschulman.bsky.social

SFWP @sfwp.bsky.social · 4d

There's just ONE MONTH left until the release of @lumchanmfa.bsky.social's upcoming collection, BITTER OVER SWEET!

With advance praise from @megankkakimoto.bsky.social, author of EVERY DROP IS A MAN’S NIGHTMARE, don't miss out on preordering a copy today! buff.ly/oBUnI6T
@susanschulman.bsky.social

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Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 4d

I want going to dress up for Halloween this year until I stumbled across...

Spirit of Halloween costume, fiction writer, includes laptop notebooks lukewarm coffee bags under eyes and a natural desire to cause characters pain in English

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Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Ani King (they/them) @aniking.bsky.social · 4d

I am so excited for this to come out!

SFWP @sfwp.bsky.social · 4d

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Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · 13d

Yay!!!!!

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

I’m happy to say my first poem ever is in the Writers Resist Fall 2025 issue. Thanks to @kbgressitt.bsky.social and the entire WR staff for making the biggest wish of teenage-me-poet come true. Thanks also to @smokelong.bsky.social where this story (and pretty much every story of mine) was drafted.

They Tell Us – Writers Resist

www.writersresist.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

❤️

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

Thank you Rachel!

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

They say I poked too roughly at our nation’s
history, fragile as a yolk today.

Yes, @taracampbell.bsky.social, it is, isn't it? Writers Resist

The Ministry of Truth – Writers Resist

www.writersresist.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

They Tell Us – Writers Resist

www.writersresist.com

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Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Myna Chang @mynachang.bsky.social · 13d

"Wait, are we a sleeping bear or a dead bear?"

@dawnsteffler.bsky.social in Writers Resist

They Tell Us – Writers Resist

www.writersresist.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 13d

Thank you so much for sharing, Myna! 💜

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 18d

“Wow,” says the shorter man. “Amazing, really,” he says, taking a deep breath. He points at the wall under the crib. “She starts by calculating the weight of the earth,” he says.

“She’s a baby,” says CT.

Absolutely brilliant story by @emilyrinkema.bsky.social @okaydonkeymag.com

Emily Rinkema @emilyrinkema.bsky.social · 18d

I’m so proud of this story and to have it in the amazing @okaydonkeymag.com! It’s about parental expectations and a baby with a Sharpie—I hope you like it!

Okay Donkey Magazine @okaydonkeymag.com · 18d

"'She starts by calculating the weight of the earth,' he says.

'She’s a baby,' says CT."

"13.1 Septillion Pounds" by @emilyrinkema.bsky.social, new flash fiction out today at OKD. 📝

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 18d

I have a speculative one about the moon watching the earth die. inkfishmag.com/what-moon-wo...

‘What Moon Wouldn't Give’ by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Flash Fiction

inkfishmag.com

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Reposted by Dawn Tasaka Steffler

Literary Namjooning | Submissions Closed @lit-namjooning.bsky.social · 26d

📢📢 Issue 2 is LIVE! Chock-full of literary deliciousness. We hope you will enjoy (and share!)
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/issue-2
#namjooning #happyrmday

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 26d

Innately, Clive knew Thomas wasn’t going to be there, no matter how much he hoped otherwise. And sure enough, upon opening the door, the sinking feeling he’d experienced numerous times throughout the week ramped up.

Chris Farrington in @fictivedream.bsky.social
Recommended by @turnandwork.com

Fictive Dream @fictivedream.bsky.social · Aug 24

“The puzzle is the same, the one they’d been working on the previous week, but it’s made next to no progress.” The Jigsaw Ferry by Chris Farrington #shortstory #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy 💔 fictivedream.com/2025/08/24/t...

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 26d

Sorry Hugh, forgot to tag you in my original post, but I just love reading your Shortlists. @turnandwork.com

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 26d

Sorry Hugh, forgot to tag you in my original post, but I just love reading your Shortlists. @turnandwork.com

Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 26d

In all likelihood he was on drugs, but so were many of us, escaping from our own lives into chemically enhanced worlds. It was the last time we would see him.

Casey Jo Graham Weimers @mrbullbull.bsky.social

MrBullBull @mrbullbull.bsky.social · 27d

"We didn’t know if his name was Jerry or Jeremy, and we never bothered to find out. To do so would have granted him personhood, and an upsetting place in our tenuous, paper-doll world." - Casey Jo Graham Welmers
mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 26d

It is not the same as moving my mother. Things here are organized, though there is a similar sense of urgency. The house has become uninhabitable in a different way.

Divorce can be a kind of eviction.

Read This. Meg Doyle in @electricliterature.com

Electric Literature @electricliterature.com · 27d

“We do not mention the amount of drugs in the house. We do not hold up the needles and pill bottles to shout, ‘KEEP?’ or ‘TRASH?’ from the top of the staircase.”

Navigating My Mother’s Eviction, and My Own - Electric Literature

I ask the social worker what my mother’s options are. He tells me there is a seven-year waitlist for Section 8 housing

buff.ly

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 27d

She remembers running her finger over the tattoo and laughing, which pissed him off. He grabbed her, hard, and for the first time, she thought maybe she’d made a mistake.

the tension just oozes in this one @emilyrinkema.bsky.social @fictivedream.bsky.social

Fictive Dream @fictivedream.bsky.social · Aug 29

"The defendant turns and she thinks he’s going to look right at her, and her ears get hot and she looks away..." Juror Number Eight by Emily Rinkema @emilyrinkema.bsky.social #flashfiction #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/08/29/j...

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 27d

I’ve never seen Sarah cry, not even when her dad left, and she says, “I don’t want my mom to die,” and Chrissy keeps pulling her socks up and pushing them down, and I realize it’s going to be on me to pull our shit together.

just fabulous voices @emilyrinkema.bsky.social @frazzledlit.bsky.social

Emily Rinkema @emilyrinkema.bsky.social · Aug 31

It’s here! My 3rd place story “Amy’s Mom” in @frazzledlit.bsky.social! www.frazzledlit.com/p/amys-mom

Amy's Mom

By Emily Rinkema (Winner - 3rd Place)

www.frazzledlit.com

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Dawn Tasaka Steffler @dawnsteffler.bsky.social · 29d

aw, thanks!