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Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words. Five minutes is edited by Susanna Baird, with editorial support from managing editor Maria s. picone, newsletter editor kate meen, and founding reader bobbi lerman, plus our rotating team of guest readers, who you can meet in the latest newsletteR. Five Minutes was founded in October 2020, with the Salem (Mass.)-based writing group Carrot Cake Writers supplying the journal’s first pieces. We’d love to read your five. Submit here. 

Five Minutes One hundred words

Oct 14
Oct 14 My Uncle's Game

Jean Buie

He is older, stronger, and straddles me, holding my arms spread wide.

Oct 11
Oct 11 Tiny Love Story

Thaddeus Rutkowski

When my father passed, I wanted someone to keep me company.

Oct 10
Oct 10 The Heist

Laura Barr

In a room that smells a mix of joy, grief, and cafeteria pancakes, your birth mother makes her offering.

Oct 8
Oct 8 White Flag

Gretchen Clark

“Drink with me.” He lifted the glass of Guinness to my lips, holding it there like a holy chalice.

Oct 7
Oct 7 Assimilation

Jennifer Stark

Speeding away from the campground to the nearest hospital, I'm riding on my mother’s lap ...

Oct 4
Oct 4 Bus to T or C

David Cameron

Dude greets me as his Brother in Christ.

Oct 3
Oct 3 The Resident

Molly Lindsey

The resident refuses to keep his shirt on but can’t take it off himself.

Oct 1
Oct 1 Daydreams

Michelle La Vone

Let’s go on vacation, Opa muses, eyes closed.

Sep 30
Sep 30 Frustrations

Alex Rost

There’s some guy jaywalking, holding out his hand like STOP to oncoming traffic.

Sep 27
Sep 27 NCAA Finals, 2016

Erica M. Dolson

4.7 seconds remain. Tied score. Villanova shoots.

Sep 26
Sep 26 Joy

Adebisi Amori

I don't immediately notice that joy has made my heart its abode.

Sep 25
Sep 25 Tough Love

Elizabeth S. Wolf

The teen shelter I was living in was closing.

Sep 24
Sep 24 Niagara, 1964

Brenda Kienan

I’m eight years old, wearing my first eyeglasses, filled with dread.

Sep 20
Sep 20 The Commode

Sundar Visweswaran

Paati paused her TV show, indicating to me that she needed the bathroom.

Sep 19
Sep 19 Eclipse

Makayla Wamboldt

We had driven 1,200 miles.

Sep 19
Sep 19 Do You Hear Me?

Sherry Spuches

“Do you need anything from the store?” I say loudly into the phone.

Sep 17
Sep 17 Postmortem

Jenn McKee

The day after I find my father dead in his apartment, I ask my family to share memories of him during dinner.

Sep 13
Sep 13 Burn in Smoke

Muhammad Alif Alhafiz

I accidentally dropped my father's ashtray.

Sep 12
Sep 12 In Between

Karen Zey

At ten, I yearn to begin my grown-up life.

Sep 11
Sep 11 Molotov Cocktail

Joe Reynolds

Everyone talks about the troubles; they tell me they can tell which side you’re on just by looking.

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Five Minutes features micro-memoirs,
hundred-word pieces about five minutes in a life.
We’d love to read your five. Submit here. 
To receive our monthly newsletter, Five Minutes More, email susanna@fiveminutelit.com with the subject line: Newsletter.
To receive our weekly digest, containing the week’s stories, email susanna@fiveminutelit.com with the subject line: Digest.

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