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Lisa Thornton is a writer and nurse. She has work in SmokeLong Quarterly, Bending Genres, Hippocampus, Pithead Chapel, and other literary magazines. She has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and Bridport Flash Fiction Prize. She won the WestWord Prize in the flash fiction category in 2023. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology. Two of her stories were longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50 in 2025.
Lisa has a history in local journalism, a BA in Political Science from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is an Associate Flash Fiction Editor at JMWW Journal and can be found on Bluesky and Instagram @thorntonforreal. |
Flash Fiction
"The House on the Hill" Epistemic Lit, 9/8/25
"The Oak of a Man" Ghost Parachute, 09/01/25
"The Sweet Darkness" Maudlin House, 07/24/25
"Fancy Thompson" New World Writing Quarterly, 07/10/25
"The Knights of New Hampshire" Temple in a City, 06/16/25
"They Say There Are No Questions Asked" Bath Flash Fiction Volume Nine, 05/2025 (available in print at Ad Hoc Fiction)
"Midge and the Red Blazer" Emerge Literary Journal, 04/8/25
"Wednesday, After School" Necessary Fiction, 03/12/25
"Paradise City" Gooseberry Lie Lit Magazine, 02/20/25
"The Man Under the Blanket" The Cincinnati Review, 12/18/24
"Slaughter" Switch Microfiction, 10/3/24
"Me and Bob Dylan at the Golden Suds on Arapahoe" Roi Fainéant Press, 08/04/24
"Pears, Parmesan, Pareidolia" Leon Literary Review, 06/30/24 (Wigleaf Top 50 longlist)
"Summer in the Midwest" The Mersey Review, 06/17/24
"The Biggest Chicago Bears Fan on the Block" BULL Lit Mag, 06/14/24
"Big Sister" Punk Noir Magazine, 05/11/24
"Saved/Walk the Line/The Old Rugged Cross" Flash Boulevard, 05/04/24
"The Race" Reckon Review, 04/22/24 (Wigleaf Top 50 longlist)
"Jason" JAKE the Anti-Literary Magazine, 03/28/24
"Just Outside Reno, a Mirage" MOTEL: an anthology, Cowboy Jamboree Press, 03/26/24
"Polar Plunge" Fictive Dream, 03/08/24
"Alternate Ending" Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine, 02/22/24
"Untethered" WestWord Journal, 01/26/24 (1st place flash fiction category, WestWord Prize 2023)
"Trap(ped)" Bath Flash Fiction Volume Eight, 01/2024 (available in print at Ad Hoc Fiction)
"Dinner for Two" Tiny Molecules, Issue 17, 11/19/23
"Tuesday, March 29" Bright Flash Literary Review, 10/4/23
"Her Big Chance" Ellipsis Zine, 08/14/23
"Monterey, California" National Flash Fiction Day, 06/24/23
"Any Minute Now" Cowboy Jamboree, Country & Folk edition, 04/26/23
"The Girl Who Was Afraid She Might Float Away" Bending Genres, Issue 32, 04/11/23
"The Resident in Room 402" SmokeLong Quarterly, Issue 78, 12/20/22 (nominated for Pushcart Prize)
Creative Nonfiction
"This One Comes with its Own Set of Obstacles, said the Real Estate Agent" Literary Namjooning, 9/12/25
"All the Details You Hope to Someday Forget" Raw Lit, 06/22/24 (nominated for Pushcart Prize)
"April Afternoon" Five Minute Lit, 06/21/24
"Bang Bang America" The Hooghly Review, Issue 3, 04/30/24
"The Great Wave" Hippocampus Magazine, 04/02/24 (runner-up We Love Short Shorts Flash CNF contest)
"The Snow in Duluth" Pithead Chapel, 02/01/2024
"One Step at a Time" JMWW Journal, 01/25/24
Poetry
"Muscle Memory" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"A Mother's Wish" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"Lost" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"Twenties" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23 (nominated for BotN)
"The Incident" Fiery Scribe Review, 07/1/22 (nominated for BotN)
"Advice"/"Chicago" Roi Fainéant Press, 04/3/22
Accolades:
Wigleaf Top 50 longlist 2025 (two stories)
Finalist, Hippocampus Magazine 'We Love Short Shorts' Flash CNF contest 2024
Finalist, Blue Frog Flash Fiction Contest 2024
First place, Flash Fiction category, WestWord Prize 2023
Long list, SmokeLong Grand Micro Competition 2023
Short list, Bath Flash Fiction Award 2023, 2024
Short list, Bridport Flash Fiction Prize 2023, 2024
Best of the Net nomination (Roi Fainéant Press 2023, Fiery Scribe Review 2023)
Pushcart Prize nomination (SmokeLong Quarterly 2022, Raw Lit magazine 2024)
Finalist, SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2022
"The House on the Hill" Epistemic Lit, 9/8/25
"The Oak of a Man" Ghost Parachute, 09/01/25
"The Sweet Darkness" Maudlin House, 07/24/25
"Fancy Thompson" New World Writing Quarterly, 07/10/25
"The Knights of New Hampshire" Temple in a City, 06/16/25
"They Say There Are No Questions Asked" Bath Flash Fiction Volume Nine, 05/2025 (available in print at Ad Hoc Fiction)
"Midge and the Red Blazer" Emerge Literary Journal, 04/8/25
"Wednesday, After School" Necessary Fiction, 03/12/25
"Paradise City" Gooseberry Lie Lit Magazine, 02/20/25
"The Man Under the Blanket" The Cincinnati Review, 12/18/24
"Slaughter" Switch Microfiction, 10/3/24
"Me and Bob Dylan at the Golden Suds on Arapahoe" Roi Fainéant Press, 08/04/24
"Pears, Parmesan, Pareidolia" Leon Literary Review, 06/30/24 (Wigleaf Top 50 longlist)
"Summer in the Midwest" The Mersey Review, 06/17/24
"The Biggest Chicago Bears Fan on the Block" BULL Lit Mag, 06/14/24
"Big Sister" Punk Noir Magazine, 05/11/24
"Saved/Walk the Line/The Old Rugged Cross" Flash Boulevard, 05/04/24
"The Race" Reckon Review, 04/22/24 (Wigleaf Top 50 longlist)
"Jason" JAKE the Anti-Literary Magazine, 03/28/24
"Just Outside Reno, a Mirage" MOTEL: an anthology, Cowboy Jamboree Press, 03/26/24
"Polar Plunge" Fictive Dream, 03/08/24
"Alternate Ending" Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine, 02/22/24
"Untethered" WestWord Journal, 01/26/24 (1st place flash fiction category, WestWord Prize 2023)
"Trap(ped)" Bath Flash Fiction Volume Eight, 01/2024 (available in print at Ad Hoc Fiction)
"Dinner for Two" Tiny Molecules, Issue 17, 11/19/23
"Tuesday, March 29" Bright Flash Literary Review, 10/4/23
"Her Big Chance" Ellipsis Zine, 08/14/23
"Monterey, California" National Flash Fiction Day, 06/24/23
"Any Minute Now" Cowboy Jamboree, Country & Folk edition, 04/26/23
"The Girl Who Was Afraid She Might Float Away" Bending Genres, Issue 32, 04/11/23
"The Resident in Room 402" SmokeLong Quarterly, Issue 78, 12/20/22 (nominated for Pushcart Prize)
Creative Nonfiction
"This One Comes with its Own Set of Obstacles, said the Real Estate Agent" Literary Namjooning, 9/12/25
"All the Details You Hope to Someday Forget" Raw Lit, 06/22/24 (nominated for Pushcart Prize)
"April Afternoon" Five Minute Lit, 06/21/24
"Bang Bang America" The Hooghly Review, Issue 3, 04/30/24
"The Great Wave" Hippocampus Magazine, 04/02/24 (runner-up We Love Short Shorts Flash CNF contest)
"The Snow in Duluth" Pithead Chapel, 02/01/2024
"One Step at a Time" JMWW Journal, 01/25/24
Poetry
"Muscle Memory" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"A Mother's Wish" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"Lost" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23
"Twenties" Roi Fainéant Press, 03/19/23 (nominated for BotN)
"The Incident" Fiery Scribe Review, 07/1/22 (nominated for BotN)
"Advice"/"Chicago" Roi Fainéant Press, 04/3/22
Accolades:
Wigleaf Top 50 longlist 2025 (two stories)
Finalist, Hippocampus Magazine 'We Love Short Shorts' Flash CNF contest 2024
Finalist, Blue Frog Flash Fiction Contest 2024
First place, Flash Fiction category, WestWord Prize 2023
Long list, SmokeLong Grand Micro Competition 2023
Short list, Bath Flash Fiction Award 2023, 2024
Short list, Bridport Flash Fiction Prize 2023, 2024
Best of the Net nomination (Roi Fainéant Press 2023, Fiery Scribe Review 2023)
Pushcart Prize nomination (SmokeLong Quarterly 2022, Raw Lit magazine 2024)
Finalist, SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2022
