What led you to flash fiction?
My route to Flash Fiction began in the 1980s when I read Sudden Fiction, the collection edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas. A story by Mark Strand called ‘Dog Life’ appealed to me as did ‘Mother’ the wonderful Story by Grace Paley, which is the first story in that anthology. Then in 2005 the Observer weekend supplement published very short stories each week by Dave Eggers which I found intriguing. After reading those, I wrote a piece for the Fish Flash Fiction Prize which began around that time, but Flash Fiction was all a bit mysterious to me then. I wrote much more after I arranged for Tania Hershman to come and lead a short workshop on Flash Fiction for Writing Events Bath in 2013. She really got me going. I didn’t look back.
The flashes in your new collection, The Chemist's House, paint an intimate coming of age portrait. Was that your intention for the collection or did it evolve organically?
It was an organic process. I wrote fictional stories based on memory fragments about the house where I grew up because I’d dreamed about it for years and years. Then when I saw the submission window for V Press, I had a look at the pieces I had written and they all fitted together quite well. It seemed to make sense to arrange them in a linear timeline.
The Bath Flash Fiction Award attracts international attention and the long and shortlists combined are producing great anthologies. When you founded it did you ever envisage flash fiction gaining such popularity?
I think when we founded the competition the interest in Flash Fiction was already growing fast and we caught the wave at Bath Flash Fiction. I enjoy thinking of more and more ways to support flash fiction writers. I like the way the form seems to appeal to all ages. And brings in writers from so many different cultures.
If you have one flash rule, what is it?
Probably don’t stick to any rules. Keep experimenting.
What is it about the form that particularly moves you?
It’s the way writers use language. The rhythm of sentences. How so much can be implied in so few words. I often feel a physical thrill when I read fictions where all these elements are in play. It’s like being in love over and over.
Who is your favourite flash fiction author and why?
I don’t really have a favourite writer. I read so much great flash from different worldwide writers. There are many stunning pieces In the Lobsters Run Free, Bath Flash Fiction Vol 2. I also love the strange and witty dis-junctions Meg Pokrass uses, the way Kathy Fish experiments and packs a punch. I find many stories by David Swann deeply moving. He is able to pinpoint certain things about British culture very exactly. Recently, I was awestruck by a flash fiction written by Christopher Allen for Jellyfish Review. I am amazed by the way Christopher builds the back story and how involved I became with the character during such a short read.
Do you experiment with longer forms, novels, short stories etc.?
I have been successful in several short story competitions in the past and was writing a novel during the MA in Creative writing I did at Bath Spa University. I didn’t finish it. Sometimes I wonder if I could turn it into a novella in flash, or even a novel in flash. It could probably work much better in a compressed form. The novella-in-Flash form does intrigue me which is why I set up that Award for Bath Flash Fiction. It’s fascinating to see how others work with it and create such a variety of structures.
What's next for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and Ad Hoc Fiction?
Bath Flash Fiction is funding the second flash fiction festival UK on 21-23 July in Bristol this year. We’ve already got some great presenters lined up and the new venue in Bristol is a wonderful place for the Flash Fiction community to meet up with their friends, write, read and listen to Flash. It was so much fun last year and we think it will be even better this year as there is more opportunity for socialising. We’ll also continue with the three times a year Awards and the Novella Award.
I’m very excited that Ad Hoc Fiction has just opened an online bookshop bookshop.adhocfiction.com and as well as publishing the Bath Flash and festival anthologies, will also be publishing flash fiction collections from individual writers. More about that last venture soon!
Biography
Jude Higgins is published in Flash Frontier, the New Flash Fiction Review, Great Jones Street, the Nottingham Review, The Blue Fifth Review, the Fish Prize Anthology and National Flash Fiction Day Anthologies among other places and she has won or been placed in several Flash Fiction competitions. Her debut pamphlet, The Chemist’s House was published by V.Press in 2017. She is the founder of the Bath Flash Fiction Award and is Director of Flash Fiction Festivals UK @judehwriter, judehiggins.com
