Want to find your own poetry from pages of The Great Gatsby just like Janet Dale? She created a PDF of the last page of each chapter of the book so you can find poems.
Share them with us on social media (or in the comments here, or via DM/email/etc) when you’re done! We’d love to see and share what you create.
I’m thrilled to announce that Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle, my hybrid chapbook written with Janet Dale, is out today!
Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle offers a striking reimagination of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, told as a collaborative chapbook of found poetry and flash fiction. Using only the first page of each chapter from the novel, Dale and Renner craft a fresh meditation on the classic story—one that explores a boy’s struggle to break free from the place that made him, questioning the very notion of the American Dream.
The authors create a seamless dialogue with Fitzgerald’s work, transforming familiar passages into something entirely new. Each flash fiction piece and poem reflects themes of ambition, yearning, and the pursuit of freedom, while offering a thoughtful exploration of the literary masterpiece.
You can buy a copy directly from me and get it delivered in a shiny green mailer along with a book cover postcard and sticker.
In the meantime, add it as “Want to Read” on Goodreads and The StoryGraph, then share your thoughts when you’ve read it.
You can now purchase signed copies of my book directly from this site! (I mean, you still have to go through PayPal, but you can avoid Amazon, so it’s still a win.)
If you buy a copy (or multiple) of Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle, you’ll also get a book cover postcard and sticker!
If you buy a copy (or multiple) of Won’t Be By Your Side, you’ll also get a custom bookplate!
I’m thrilled to have a piece of flash fiction in the Spring Equinox, Spring/Summer 2025 – vol 6, i.1 issue of Ink In Thirds.
I wrote this piece in a Sarah Freligh workshop (surprise surprise!) in November 2023. It was a particularly windy week – I didn’t remember feeling wind like that before, unless it was during the typical Memphis in May tornado season.
I have been trying to find a home for it since, and am so happy to have it with Ink In Thirds… and even happier that it was published during another week of unseasonably wild winds.
You can take a peek at the issue online and grab a digital or print copy for yourself to read it all, along with the other amazing words and art in this issue.
I’m excited to announce that my second fiction collection is coming out April 10th!
Does that date sound familiar? It might to literary nerds (me) and English majors (also me)—it’s the 100th Anniversary of The Great Gatsby! Since our upcoming book is inspired by that classic, it only seemed fitting to release it on that landmark publication date.
The book is now in public domain, so Janet Dale used the first page of each chapter to create found poetry (aka blackout poetry) and I used a sentence from the first page of each chapter to write an entirely new flash fiction piece.
We’ll share some more insight and glimpses behind-the-scenes in time, but we can’t wait for you to read the finished product in just six short weeks!
So this is now old news because I forgot to share it back in August, whoops!
I had a short story published in the Third Bullshit Lit Anthology: “Ecclesiastes 10:19.”
This is a piece I wrote in a Nancy Stohlman Pop Lit workshop and I submitted everywhere because I really wanted it out there. And now it is!
I feel like it’s especially fitting now, with the religious hypocrisy right in front of our faces… so ENJOY!
I’m thrilled to have a piece in the Away From Home anthology from Stanchion!
I wrote “Bonnie’s House” as a micro in a Sarah Freligh workshop – I know that’s not a surprise at this point, as most of my pieces that eventually get published start there! I loved the idea for this anthology because I’m obsessed with getting glimpses into other people’s houses, so I knew I didn’t want to miss my chance to explore that.
I can’t wait to read all the other amazing stories included in this anthology! It’s officially out on September 10th, but you can preorder the book here: Away From Home Anthology
Last month I took part in the Ekphrastic Review‘s Ekphrastic Marathon for my second time! Last year was Lucky 8 and this year was Nine Lives. (Here’s my post about last year.)
As with before, I wrote several pieces based on amazing works of art. I really enjoy using art as writing prompts, so I look forward to this marathon every year.
I’m excited that my story inspired by “If only i hadn’t wished for what I thought i was missing” by Paraskevi Frasiola was featured in the Marathon Showcase!
Read it, and many other amazing pieces, here.
click the pic to read the full piece
I had a great time writing and submitting to The Write-In on National Flash Fiction Day! I’m thrilled that 10/10 of my submissions were published! I’m sharing the links here, along with the prompts to give an idea of the guidelines/constraints.
Tidal: Write a flash about a rare weather or meteorological phenomenon.
Leave It All Behind: Write a flash in four sections, with each section having a heading ‘Air’, ‘Earth’, ‘Water’ and ‘Fire’, no more than 300 words!
And Now It’s Here: Write a flash in which someone encounters the end of the earth.
Wreckage: Write a micro flash of exactly 13 words. Give it a title.
“People Also Ask”: Write a flash or micro in which every sentence includes at least one use of the word ‘why’.
Life Changing: Write a 50-word flash (or shorter) that starts and ends with the same sentence.
Not Simple: Find a FlashFlood story and choose five interesting words from it. Write a flash of no more than 100 words that uses all five of these words.
Fish on Vacation: Write a flash about someone who feels like a fish out of water…
The Grocery Gatsby: Write a flash using or referencing characters from fiction or poetry that was written at least 100 years ago. Set it in modern times.
Make Your Move: Write a flash in the form of a series of directions to somewhere.
(The featured post image showcases the badges I earned for the pieces I wrote and submitted.)
Allison Renner Writes 