Today at the Winter Wheat Writing Festival in Bowling Green, Ohio, one of the sessions I attended debated the flash fiction versus prose poem issue. How does one determine which is which? Is the distinction necessary? Or is it just a submission/marketing label that makes little difference to the reader? Eric Schlich and Jade Ramsey led us through discussions of 6 pieces and asked us to try and determine how each piece had been published.
Consider this piece by Mike DiChristina: is it fiction? Or a prose poem? Does it matter? (In my opinion, the last line of the piece and the fact that it moves from internal thinking to external action on the part of the narrator place it more in the realm of fiction. But the attention to language is also evident, as well as the fantasy world of interior dialogue.)
So, for this week’s prompt, try to write your version of a prose poem- one that includes a narrative arc or elements of dialogue or no lineation. You might surprise yourself with something new.
I think this is kind of a prose poem! It was certainly what I intended it to be. http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/influx-wordle-13-11-11/
Gives me an idea.
This would be the beginning http://briarcat.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/for-the-tow-truck-prose-poem/
A bit long, but then again, I never do these things: Elizabeth, Expecting