Splonk is an online flash fiction journal set up in January 2019 by a group of flash writers and editors in Ireland. The word ‘splonk’ is the anglicised form of the Irish word ‘splanc’:
splanc, noun fem. flash, spark. A splaincín (derived from splanc) is a spirited, fiery female.
Issue 1 of Splonk was published the 1st of May 2019.
Editorial team:
Nuala O’Connor – Editor
Nuala O’Connor is a Galway based writer. Her fifth short story collection Joyride to Jupiter (2017) was published by New Island; her story ‘Gooseen’ won the UK’s 2018 Short Fiction Prize, was published in Granta and was shortlisted for Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Nuala’s fourth novel, Becoming Belle, was published to critical acclaim in September 2018. Nuala has won many awards for her flash fiction including the Dublin Review of Books Flash Prize and her chapbook of flash Of Dublin and Other Fictions was published in the USA in 2013. www.nualaoconnor.com
Robert Barrett – Co-editor
Robert Barrett writes flash fiction, short stories, and plays in the wilds of west Wicklow. He has a particular grá for short fiction with powerful narratives and clear, beautiful writing. Flash wise, he enjoys reading the work of writers like Christopher Allen, Dave Eggers and Kathy Fish. He was a runner-up in the Fish Flash Fiction competitions of 2015 and 2016 and also in the Doolin writers’ weekend competition of 2017. His flash fiction has been published in The Incubator, Flash Fiction Festival Anthology One, The Irish Times, and on RTE Radio 1.
Marie Gethins – Co-editor/Interviews Manager
Marie Gethins’ flash fiction has featured in NFFD anthologies, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Jellyfish Review, Litro, NANO, Wales Arts Review, Banshee, Synaesthesia, The Incubator, The Nottingham Review, Spelk, Ellipsis Zine, Words with JAM, Paper Swans, 101 Words, Word Bohemia, RTE Book Show’s 100 Words, 100 Books, and others. She won or placed in Dorset Fiction Award, The Short Story, Tethered by Letters, Flash500, Dromineer, The New Writer Microfiction, Prick of the Spindle, and 99fiction.net. Marie is a Pushcart and Best of the Short Fictions nominee. Marie is pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.
Adam Trodd – Co-editor
Adam Trodd’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times, The Incubator Journal, Crannóg, Banshee, The Molotov Cocktail, Ellipsis, The Launchpad and The Caterpillar as well as the Bath Flash Fiction, National Flash Fiction Day and KYSO Flash anthologies. He won the inaugural Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and the Book of Kells Creative Writing Competition as well as being one of the selected poets for Ireland’s first Poetry Jukebox installation in Belfast. He was a Best Small Fictions 2018 nominee. He likes flash fiction full of inventive language that pushes the boundaries. blankpageworrier.blogspot.ie Twitter: @A_Trodd
Lisa Nic an Bhreithimh – Irish Language Editor
Lisa Nic an Bhreithimh is a writer of flash fiction in both English and Irish. Originally from Dublin, she spent time in Connecticut as a Fulbright scholar where she took writing classes with author Gina Barreca and won a non-fiction graduate writing award. She writes on a variety of themes with a particular focus on women and their lives. In recent years she was awarded first prize in both Comórtas Gearrscéalaíochta Uí Mháine (national Irish language short story competition) and the Irish Writers’ Centre’s ‘Imbolc’ flash fiction competition. She regularly partakes in English and Irish language writing workshops and groups.
Twitter: @LisaNicanB
Janice Leagra – Visual Editor
Janice Leagra is an American writer and mixed media artist. Her flash fiction has featured in Spelk, Ellipsis Zine, Dodging the Rain, Paper and Ink Lit Zine, and Ghost Parachute. Her writing and art have also featured in Riggwelter Press. She was shortlisted for the 2017 Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction and is a Best of the Net nominee. Janice is inspired by a range of artists, mediums, and concepts. She believes art and writing are a byproduct of everything that happens to us, so she is especially drawn to works that intertwine story and art and that take risks. Twitter: @JaniceLeagra
Finbar McLoughlin – Website Manager
Finbar is a software developer based in Galway. Twitter: @insinbad