When a terraced, supple poem became a single bounding line that careened across margins and bounced off the edge of the page, the comma was born; who in turn brought along his cousin semi and that whole crowd: apostrophes, dashes and diphthongs, and don’t get me wrong—they were all a big help, but the train was nonetheless relentless, had in fact no way to stop, like driving with no brakes, no time to catch a breath, no time to pee, and so just in time, the period came to be.

A sentence emerged. Then two. Then three.

Guy Biederman

is the author of seven books, including Here’s Where We Get Off (Blue Light Press, 2026); Translated from the Original: One-Inch Punch Fiction (Nomadic Press, 2022) and Nova Nights (Nomadic Press, 2021), both of which were acquired by Black Lawrence Press in June 2023; Edible Grace (KYSO Flash Press, 2019); and Soundings & Fathoms (Finishing Line Press).

His stories have appeared in many journals such as Bull; Carve; The Disappointed Housewife; The Ekphrastic Review; Exposition Review (where he was twice a Flash 405 winner); Flash Frontier; Flashback Fiction; great weather for Media; KYSO Flash; MacQueen’s Quinterly; and Riddled with Arrows. His story “Coyotes, Pelicans, & Prisoners” appears in Best Microfiction 2024 (nominated by Six Sentences), and his story “Rosetta Post-Its” is included in Best Microfiction 2025 (nominated by New Flash Fiction Review). His work has received a Publisher’s Choice Award and an Editor’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for Best of The Net.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, gardener, and college creative-writing instructor, Guy lives on a houseboat with his wife, and walks the planks daily.

Author’s website: https://www.guybiederman.com/

Author’s blog: This Day Afloat: Reflections of Life on the Water

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Meow of Now, a tribute to Pierre, beloved companion and writing buddy; in Issue 23 of MacQueen’s Quinterly aka MacQ (April 2024)

⚡ Precious Artifact Repairs, microfiction by Guy Biederman in MacQ-22 (February 2024); nominated by MacQ for Best Microfiction 2025

⚡ Quite, a prose poem by Biederman selected as winner of the “Triple-Q” Writing Challenge in Issue 11 of MacQ (January 2022); to hear him read this piece, see Recordings at his website.

⚡ Edible Grace: An e-Collection of 12 Micro-Prose in MacQ’s predecessor, KYSO Flash (Issue 12, Summer 2019); click on Next Page at bottom left of each piece to access the next one.

Edible Grace is also available in print and offers bonus content, including six additional micro-prose and five more photographs by the author, plus a pen-and-ink drawing by Tula Biederman.

⚡ The Lion Has Lost His Roar, a tribute to Little Bud (aka Cap’n Orange), from the Edible Grace e-collection described above