Tag: Fiction

New Role with Crab Creek Review

Lana Spendl

I’m delighted to share that I’m stepping into a new role as assistant fiction editor at Crab Creek Review.

My relationship with the journal grew over time. I guest-edited their folio on displacement and immigration a couple of years ago, then joined as a fiction reader last year. The conversations since—with editor-in-chief Julia Hands, fiction editor Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, and the wider team—have nudged me into seeing whole different angles to the work we’ve considered.

I don’t take for granted how rare it is to get to read narrative deeply with people who love stories as much as I do. Grateful to Kirsten and Julia for this new chapter, and looking forward to the submissions we receive this fall.

Panel at #AWP26

Lana Spendl

At the AWP Conference in Baltimore, I organized and moderated a panel on memory as a borderland in immigrant narratives. The room was full, and when we opened for questions, hands flew up across the audience. We could only get to a few, but writers and editors rushed up afterwards to continue the conversation.

The panelists—Yang Huang, Samrat Upadhyay, Marianne Villanueva, and Olga Zilberbourg—brought histories spanning countries and an extraordinary range and depth. Together we explored how immigrant writers navigate memory that is fragmented, contested, and politically charged; how personal recollection intersects with collective history; and how storytelling across cultures demands both precision and humility about what language can and cannot carry. I’m deeply grateful to each of them for the generosity and care they brought to the conversation.

AWP always reminds me why these conversations matter. This panel was one of those moments I’ll carry with me.

Story in The Threepenny Review

Lana Spendl

My short story appears in the new issue of The Threepenny Review—turns out Martin Scorsese and I both have pieces in this one!

The piece, “Writeup for the Staffing Firm Newsletter,” started in a dream. I woke up in the middle of the night and recorded the opening lines into my phone, then wrote the entire first draft the next day, all into my Notes app. Each moment tumbled out on its own.

So grateful to Editor Wendy Lesser for her care. And delighted this piece found such a wonderful home. 

Lana Spendl, holding a copy of issue 185 of The Threepenny Review.

Panel at #AWP26 in Baltimore

Lana Spendl

I was delighted to learn today that I and a few fellow writers have had a panel accepted for the AWP Conference in early March in Baltimore. Titled “Memory as Borderland in Immigrant Narratives: The Refuge & Burden of Remembering,” this conversation will explore how memory shapes identity across geographies in both fiction and creative nonfiction.

I’ll be moderating a group of writers whose work spans Nepal, the Philippines, China, and Russia. Together, we’ll examine memory as both refuge and burden and explore how memory intersects with migration, queerness, and reimagined ways of being.

Short Story in Los Angeles Review

Lana Spendl

My new short story, “Birthday at the Hermitage,” is out now in The Los Angeles Review. It’s set at a hermitage on the outskirts of Ávila, Northern Spain, where I spent many summer afternoons as a child. Writing it gave me the chance to revisit those grounds. I even reached out to the hermitage to confirm some details about the preserved crocodile at the sanctuary entrance, and the keeper sent me a wonderfully thorough description and photos. 🙃

Spring Issue of Crab Creek Review

Lana Spendl

I’m excited to share that the spring issue of Crab Creek Review is out now!

After serving as guest fiction editor last year, I’ve stayed on with the journal as a fiction reader, and it was a joy to reflect on the submissions. 

Our fiction theme, “Embodied Lives,” edited by Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum, invited stories that explore how the body—its desires, limits, autonomy, and entanglement with power—shapes identity, perception, and connection. We were delighted to receive and discuss such thoughtful, compelling pieces.

Find copies of the issue on Submittable, and join our virtual launch on June 9 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Guest Edited Issue of Crab Creek Review

Lana Spendl

I was honored to serve as guest fiction editor for the fall/winter issue of Crab Creek Review. The theme for fiction was immigration and displacement, and we’ve curated a moving, complex set of pieces that offers variety in both content and form. Big thanks to Julia Hands for the opportunity! The new issue is available through Crab Creek Review‘s Submittable.

Workshop at American School of São Paulo

Lana Spendl

Last week, I held a workshop at the American School of São Paulo, with the 10th and 11th graders who are interested in creative writing. I spoke about my writing path and my childhood in Bosnia and Spain and read them a flash essay about my parents’ weekend house just outside of Sarajevo when I was little.

The students were from Brazil, China, S. Korea, and the States, and during the session, they wrote about their own childhood neighborhoods and the people who inhabited them. One wrote about a man who’d come down the street, piled up with boxes, to bring his family their weekly fruit delivery. A couple of others said the exercise brought up memories they didn’t know they had.

It was an energizing, deeply engaged session, and I was left wishing we could have had more time together. I also heard from one of their teachers that a couple of students asked whether “Miss Lana could come back.” ❤️

Call for Fiction on Displacement & Immigration

Lana Spendl

We could be reading you in the next issue of Crab Creek Review! Submissions are open for themed fiction on displacement/immigration. I’m honored to serve as guest fiction editor for this issue, and we’ve got a wonderful team waiting to read your subs.

Writers, please submit fiction (up to 3,500 words) or get the word out to others. Submissions are open until April 1. Check out the guidelines!