How did you first come to postcard prose? What is it about the form that resonates?
It was only when I started reading lit mags online so I could submit this one short piece I had written that I discovered the form of microfiction and prose poetry, and I was immediately drawn to it. I've always leaned towards brevity in my writing, and was delighted to discover that you could write something in 100 words or less, leaving out so much in-between the lines for the reader to infer. I loved that it could be fun and mysterious and surreal.
How does a story begin?
Often it starts with a phrase or image that sticks in my mind, and I try to expand on it in surprising ways. Sometimes I'll draw on memories and make them weird.
Do you see your writing as a single, extended project, or a series of threads that occasionally weave together to form something else?
More of a series of threads. I have a few themes and images I like to keep exploring, and those will often connect several pieces together.
Have you a daily schedule by which you work, or are you working to fit this in between other activities?
I am a full-time caregiver for my autistic son, so I don't often have time during the day to write. At the end of the day, I'll try to jot some things down, or piece together random ideas that have been floating in my mind.
What are your favourite print or online literary journals?
HAD, hex literary, Scaffold Lit, The Citron Review, 100 Word Story, and Wigleaf, among many.
Who are some of the writers you are reading lately that most excite you?
K-Ming Chang is a huge inspiration to me. I also love
a recent chapbook I picked up called Destruction Myth by Mathias
Svalina.
Elena Zhang is a Chinese American writer and mother living in Chicago. She is the author of the tiny chapbook, The Moon, My Heart (tiny wren lit, 2025). Her work can be found in HAD, The Citron Review, and Flash Frog, among other publications. She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, and was selected for Best Microfiction 2024 and 2025.
She has work in the fourteenth issue.