In 1263, matter referred to a maker of mats.  Consider this our welcome mat:

fortune cookies marbles broken drumstick tips skittles buttons figurines pebbles baby tomatoes bunnies temper tantrums stars we see bottled water punctuation hiccups small dogs stationary bikes smart phones smart children doormats dumbbells donut holes greeting cards vampire bats donating blood nicknames stubbed toes raised eyebrows toothbrush paste purell white hairs ukuleles teaspoons hot tubs miniature milky ways ritual sacrifice shivers travel shampoo christmas trees bonsai trees bullets welcome wiffle balls carpools pills espresso coca-cola tic-tacs second-hands wristwatches accidents dams lullabies street signs potholes handguns archeological finds common sense character flaws nail clippers ice cream dippers surround sound cereal somersaults symbolism claustrophobia lighters other people problems channel flickers popcorn kernels truth carbonation characterization stores convenience fireplaces ping pong balls wrapping paper packing peanuts boxes jingles clown cars tic-tac-toe toy poodle umbrellas signatures bugbites quotation model trains portraits tea cups replicas whiskey bottles

Click here to purchase A POCKET GUIDE TO FLASH FICTION, a guidebook to all things flash. Well, not all things. But lots of things.

Matter Press obsesses over compression as a contemporary creative form, and we are much more interested in how compression matters to you than how it matters to us.  Out of a dense singularity that contained the entire universe: matter!  That’s what we are looking for, these particular moments of compression, out of which expand the universal. Or something like that.

To that end, we’ve created a journal that publishes weekly compressions & decompressions, a press that sponsors a chapbook competition, and two blogs, one here and the other at FlashFiction.Net. Tiny things will also appear here & there in the margins. We like to think of compression not as a gimmick or a temporary notion of the times. We like to think of the tiniest things mattering in astounding and lasting ways. We look forward to being wowed by what you bring to the world of compression, of the largeness that expands beyond its confines, astounding us for eons to come.

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  SmokeLong Quarterly Anthology

  The Best of the First Ten Years
  edited by Tara Laskowski
  Now shipping!
  $15 + shipping
  [More Information]
  
  
  
  
  

☸  ☸  &#9784

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  Imprints

  A collection of flash!
  by Cynthia Litz
  $10 + shipping
  [More Information]

  
  
  
  



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  Girl Years

  by Karen Dietrich
  A collection of creative nonfiction flash.
  $5.00 + shipping
  [More Information]

  
  
  
  
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  Index of Placebo Effects

  by Carol Guess
  A collection of flash fiction.
  $6.95 + shipping.
  [More Information]

  
  

Matter Press has published the following writers/artists:

Danielle Abramsohn • Sheri Allen • Steve Almond • Maureen Alsop • Sara Backer • Sybil Baker • Wendy Barker • Barry Basden • Allie Marini Batts • Eleanor Bennett • Barbara Black • Wendy Blankenship • Emma Bolden • Justin Bond • Bruce Boston • Robert Bradley • Kevin Bray • Rae Bryant • Mark Budman • Stace Budzko • Aaron Burch • Lauren Camp • Jesse Cheng • Peter Cherches • Floyd Cheung • Elaine Chiew • Kim Chinquee • James Claffey • Elizabeth Colen • Myfanwy Collins • Sue Ann Connaughton • Emily Conner • Christina Cook • Lydia Copeland • Tasha Cotter • Nanette Crane-Post • Adam Crittenden • Katya Cummins • Michael Czyzniejewski • Nicelle Davis • Jeanine Deibel • Josh Denslow • Karen Dietrich • Brian Duke • David Ebenbach • Meg Eden • Theresa Senato Edwards • Nicole Elizabeth • Sarah Rose Etter • Jeff Fearnside • Kathy Fish • Sherrie Flick • Larry Fondation • Kelly Fordon • Stefanie Freele • Abby Frucht • Elisa Gabbert • Avital Gad-Cykman • Scott Garson • Molly Gaudry • Roxane Gay • Vanessa Gebbie • Mx. Glass • Peter Grandbois • Shasta Grant • Nicholas Grider • Carol Guess • Claire Guyton • Martin Heavisides • Kathleen Hellen • Kyle Hemmings •Tiff Holland • Jamie Iredell • Beverly Jackson • Hall Jameson • Nick D’Annunzio Jones • Jared Joseph • Len Joy • Jennifer Schomburg Kanke • Joe Kapitan • Kirsten Kaschock • Christopher Kennedy • Michael Kimball • Clare Kirwan • J.I. Kleinberg • Cody Klippenstein • Laura Kochman • Adrian Gibbons Koesters • Kim Peter Kovac • Minter Krotzer • Len Kuntz • Rich Larson • Tara Laskowski • Sueyen Juliette Lee • Cathy Lennon • Nate Liederbach • Kate Light • Jami Nakamura Lin • Sara Lippmann • Cynthia Litz • Nathan Long • Sean Lovelace • David Luntz • Helen Mallon • Ravi Mangla • Michael Martone • Tara Masih • Courtney Mauk • Mary McCluskey • Ross McMeekin • Mary Meriam •  Mary Miller • David Mohan • Katie Jean Moulton • Ariana Nadia Nash • Darlin’ Neal • Stefanie Nellen • Bill Neumire • Mary Noble • Takamichi Okubo • Eric Otto • Pamela Painter • Ellen Parker • M.E. Parker • Simon Perchik • Lori Powell • Chad Prevost • Sam Price • Marcia Lynx Qualey • Stephen Ramey • Bruce Holland Rogers • Ethel Rohan • Nicholas Rombes • Daniel Romo • Kathleen Rooney • Amy Rossi • Jim Ruland • Thaddeus Rutkowski • Jenny Sadre-Orafai • Matthew Salesses • Sarah Sarai • Sheena Sauls • John Savoie • Peter Schwartz • Betsy Seymour • Sagirah Shahid • Marian Shapiro • Bill Sheehan • Marc Sheehan • Greg Shemkovitz • T.L. Sherwood • Julia Shipley • Marge Simon • Mark Simpson • Hal Sirowitz • Robin Slick • Curtis Smith • Amber Sparks • Victor Stabin • Mike Stanko • Janice Wilson Stridick • Robert Swartwood • Art Taylor • Aaron Teel • Christina Thatcher • Girija Tropp • Dean Marshall Tuck • Nance Van Winckel • Ania Vesenny • Kathleen Volk Miller • Ray Vukcevich • Daniel Wallace • Hellen Wallace • Lin Wang • Mark Lee Webb • Brandi Wells • Quinn White • Louisa Wolf • Lee Wright • Jane Yolen • Joseph Young • Changming Yuan • Shellie Zacharia