We recently had a conversation with 2018 Three-Minute Fiction Slam’s second place winner, Dr. Tori Haring-Smith.
In addition to winning second place in the NHWP competition, Dr. Haring-Smith has the distinction of being the first female President of Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. However, she also has a predilection for the arts. She nurtured her passion by being involved in stage performances, serving as a literary adviser to authors and directors for productions, and writing.
“I became interested in Flash Fiction because I could write it quickly and it would help me get back to creative writing after several years of composing only administrative memos and texts,” she said. “I had/have an idea for a longer piece of fiction that I would really like to explore, and I could get to know its characters a little better through flash fiction.”
In 2019, Haring-Smith and her husband retired to Peterborough, NH. Soon after arriving she sought out an opportunity to meet other writers. “I am so very thankful to NHWP for all that it does to support writers in this state,” she said. “I have made wonderful connections through that group and look forward to a time when we can all meet again in person.”
Haring-Smith likes flash fiction “because it forces brevity and precision. Every word needs to be rich in order to convey complex feelings and ideas. It forces discipline on the writer.”
In the 2019 competition her story focused on a man and his wife, who had experienced having a still born child. Haring-Smith explained “The wife is suffering from depression after the still birth, and the husband is struggling to support her, but a distance has come into their marriage. They live in the town where both were raised—but, like their lives, it has changed and not necessarily for the better. Life goes on for both the suffering town and the suffering couple, but the end of the piece shows movement forward for the husband and wife.”
“I entered this same piece into several other competitions, and it was the runner up in the national WOW! Women on Writing Spring Flash Fiction Contest in 2018,” Haring-Smith informed us.
But, we will not see her in the 2022 Three-Minute Fiction Slam. She is currently working on a multi-volume history of the College where she was president for 12 ½ years. “Since it is the 11th oldest college in the US, there is a LOT of history to tell,” she said. “As a result, no time for flash fiction . . . although I would love to get back to it once my first draft of the history is complete. It would provide a welcome break while editing!”
We are pleased to share Dr. Haring-Smith’s 2019 submission: Baby Steps
