Kim Chinquee
Kim Chinquee is the author of numerous. Her most recent is Pipette, which is forthcoming in the fall of 2022. Her other collections are Snowdog(2021), Wetsuit(2019), Shot Girls(2018), Veer(2017), Pistol, Pretty(2010), Triple 3 Series, and Oh Baby(2008). She was the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and a Henfield Prize.
Chinquee has published hundreds of pieces of fiction and nonfiction in journals and magazines including NOON, Denver Quarterly, Conjunctions, Ploughshares, The Nation, Story Quarterly, Fiction, Mississippi Review, Notre Dame Review, and countless more. In addition, she is Chief Editor of ELJ (Elm Leaves Journal) and Senior Editor of New World Writing.
In a review of Snowdog, LIT HUB wrote: “Kim Chinquee’s flash collection is a fantastic display of brevity and brilliance. The book is divided into three parts, each of them focusing on recurrent characters, including humans and dogs, and their relationships during a certain period. The dogs reflect the main character’s emotions, and bring into the book some playfulness and some heartbreak… This is a small book that accomplishes a lot in its preciseness and insight.”
In an interview with 100 Word Story, Chinquee elaborated on some recurring themes in her writing: “I guess I’ve had a lot of ambiguous relationships! Honestly, I think most relationships are. In fiction, I like getting to the heart of them, exploring their guts. How we deal with our relationships is a big part of who we are; they can either make us stagnate or they can change us. As far as loneliness, leaving a relationship—whether with a romantic partner, or a business partner, or a friend, or a family member—can feel lonely at first. I believe, as humans, we are constantly changing, and regrowing. And sometimes that lends to loneliness and isolation. I try to convey that in my writing. I actually like being alone a lot of the time—it allows me to see things in a way I may not otherwise, and I like to capture those things in writing.”
Chinquee served in the medical field in the Air Force and is often referred to as the “queen” of flash fiction. She has lived all around the world including England, Germany, Minnesota, and Texas. After leaving the Air Force, she began to write seriously after taking a creative writing class in school. After obtaining her M.A. from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers, she went to the University of Illinois for her M.F.A. She was the 2022 guest judge for The Masters Review Flash Fiction Contest.
Chinquee grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She is the Senior Editor of New World Writing, Chief Editor of Elm Leaves Journal (ELJ), and co-director of SUNY—Buffalo State’s Writing Major. She is a competitive triathlete and lives with her three dogs in Tonawanda, New York.
Updated June 2022