Nothing to Declare
Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence
Edited by Robert Alexander, Eric Braun, & Debra Marquart
A ground-breaking anthology of cross-genre work with a unique focus—the flash sequence, defined as an “accumulation of two or more prose pieces, with each segment not to exceed 500 words”—Nothing to Declare brings together over fifty of America’s most compelling writers with their own vision of the flash sequence, including linked prose poems, narrative sequences, lyrical essays, koans, fairy tales, and epistolary addresses.
Contributors
Nothing to Declare contains work by 56 authors, including Nin Andrews, Leah Browning, Cathleen Calbert, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Elisabeth Frost, Molly Fuller, Maureen Gibbon, Carol Guess, Jim Harrison, Pamela Hart, Holly Iglesias, Siel Ju, Jenn Koiter, Gian Lombardo, Debra Marquart, Kathleen McGookey, Pamela Painter, Irena Praitis,William Reichard, Richard Robbins, Laura Tansley, Mark Vinz, Julie Marie Wade, Cecilia Woloch, and Gary Young. Introduction by Nickole Brown, afterword by Robert Alexander.
Accolades
“Nothing to Declare is a rich tapestry of voices from some of the best contemporary writers who have chosen to both create and champion ‘hybrid forms.’ Within these prose poems, lyric essays, flash fictions, and other close, elbow-rubbing cousins, so much is explored, transformed, contemplated, revealed and, most important, accomplished—linguistic eloquence, bold narratives, unbounded energy, compelling and often odd characters traversing equally compelling and often odd landscapes. A heartfelt thanks to Mr. Alexander, Mr. Braun, and Ms. Marquart for envisioning and delivering Nothing to Declare.”
“Looks like we have us a brave new narrative genre on our hands, the flash sequence, and if Nothing to Declare is any indication, the genre is both protean and bountiful. These innovative and fearless narratives combine the art of the glimpse with the craft of the gaze. They are what Virginia Woolf would have called little miraculous illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark. Buy this book, savor it. You’ll be tempted to read it straight through, but you’ll also want to stop after each piece and consider what just shook you and rattled your mind. A reader’s happiest dilemma.”
“Nothing to Declare: A Guide to the Flash Sequence reads like the world of our dreams, except we don’t want to awaken from these imaginings: so unexpected, so revelatory, such exquisite prose (and poetry). These ‘sequences,’ as the editors choose to call them, may be undefinable, but they are certainly not indescribable. I describe them as hypnotic, startling, and alive.”
“An important addition to the burgeoning exploration of brief prose and flash fiction. The editors, in Nothing to Declare, have gathered an abundance of rich, fragmented, carefully crafted moments that carry import on their own, but woven together create a new kind of fervent energy.”
