Writer. Teacher.
Journalist.
About David Flynn
David Flynn was born in the textile mill company town of Bemis, TN. His jobs have included newspaper reporter, magazine editor and university teacher. He has five degrees and is both a Fulbright Senior Scholar and a Fulbright Senior Specialist with a recent grant to teach creative writing in Indonesia. His literary publications total more than two hundred. Among the eight writing residencies he has been awarded are five at the Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, NM, and stays in Ireland and Israel. He spent a year in Japan as a member of the Japan Exchange and Teaching program, and won the Kintetsu Essay Award. He lives in Nashville, TN, and for three years was president of the Music City Blues Society. He is married and has one daughter.
Latest Blog
Whining Is the Prayer of the Dog
How can life languish so poorly when the sun is flaming?
How can sleep seem better than life when the Earth hurtles through space?
I don’t want to whine. Whining is the prayer of the dog.
I want to stop.
The feeling, a block of metal, lies deep inside my chest.
I am gaining weight, inside and out.
Soon I won’t be able to move off this chair.
Soon my fingers will wiggle, then stop.
Naked, because no clothes will fit.
Eyes wide–the last thing I will see is this monitor,
white with smudges of black in lines.
And hearing, the last to go, will be the rush of the air conditioner to my right.
Better asleep than awake; better dead than alive.
That’s the reluctant math.
Gravity into the grave.
“The Anti-Suicide Patrol Drone” appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine (U.S.), 2016. http://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2016/02/29/anti-suicide-patrol-drone/
“Tower of the Senses” appeared in Literary Orphans (U.S.), 2016. http://www.literaryorphans.org/playdb/tower-senses-john-flynn/
“The Handover” appeared in Eclectica (U.S.), 2016. http://www.eclectica.org/v20n1/flynn.html
“Irv was taking cooking lessons appeared in Journal of Microliterature, 2015, Flash Fiction. http://www.microliterature.org/#
“The Taxidermist” appeared in Aphelion, 2015, elements of horror. http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2015/11/Taxidermist.html
“Cowoids” was reprinted in Birmingham Arts Journal, 2015, sci-fi. http://www.birminghamartsjournal.com/pdf/baj12-3.pdf
“Red Boiling Springs”, story about a murderer hiding out in a small town, Danse Macabre.
http://www.ajimagazine.com/uploads/2/2/2/8/22289112/spring2015.pdf
“If Pants Had Brains”, flash fiction, Aphelion.
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/flash/2015/05/IfPantsHadBrains.html
“Harry Was Hairy”, flash fiction, Journal of Microliterature.
http://www.microliterature.org/harry-hairy-john-flynn#
Poems
“My father thought girls,” “Verisimili,” and “Millipedes are small” appeared in Failed Haiku, 2017.
“The Flying Cheetah”, “Fog in the 21st Century”, and “Note Found in a Parking lot” appeared in Emanations: I Am Not a Number, 2017.
“Hijab Love” appeared in London Grip, 2017.
“An Inherited Photograph”, “White Noise”, “Die”, “Birthday”, “An Educated Man” appeared in Scarlet Leaf, 2017.
“My daughter Caitlin in arrogant,” “My daughter Caitlin pokes the air,” “My daughter Caitlin eats spaghetti,” “My daughter Caitlin knows two words of Korean” are scheduled to appeared in Failed Haiku, 2016.
“Susan” and “The Dead Speaker” appeared in Harbinger Asylum, 2016.
“Snow is all there is” appeared in Offbeat, 2016.
“Saccades” appeared in Rat’s Ass Review, 2016.
“the Queen of the Blues” appeared in cattails (U.S.), 2016.
“A lion tears at the meat of an antelope” appeared in PoeticDiversity, 2016.
“APity” appeared in London Grip (England), 2016. http://londongrip.co.uk/2016/02/london-grip-new-poetry-spring-2016/#flynn
“The Heart” appeared in Wordgathering (U.S.) 2016. http://wordgathering.com/issue37/poetry/flynn.html
“My Hand” and “Fired Today” appeared in Coup d’Etat (U.S.), 2016. https://coupbu.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/winter-2016-inside.pdf
“saddest eyes” and “Timex Sinclair 1000” appeared in cattails (U.S.), 2016. http://unitedhaikuandtankasociety.com/senryu161=2.html
“Blues Musicians” appeared in Haiku Universe, 2016. http://www.haikuniverse.com/haiku-by-david-flynn-2/
“My daughter Caitlin / knows two words of Korean” appeared in Haikuniverse (U.S.), 2015. http://www.haikuniverse.com/haiku-by-david-flynn/
“Was the lobster alive when it tried to walk off the platter,” “The Songwriter,” “Cake Figures,” “Two women unconscious try to love more than men,” and “Empty Sac” appeared in Emanations (U.S.), 2015. http://www.amazon.com/Emanations-2-5-Carter-Kaplan/dp/1514336693/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444654663&sr=1-1
“The Ends of the Earth” appeared in London Grip (England), 2015. http://londongrip.co.uk/2015/08/london-grip-new-poetry-autumn-2015-2/#flynn
“Pre-Death” appeared in Three and a Half Point 9 (U.S.), 2014. http://threeandahalfpoint9.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/3/5/29359591/3rd_edition_three_and_a_half_point_9.pdf
“Santa Librada” appeared in Everest Magazine (U.S.), 2014. http://www.everest-magazine.com/spring2014.html#page/30
“Woman in a Black Dress”, London Grip, 2014. http://londongrip.co.uk/2014/11/london-grip-new-poetry-winter-20145/#Flynn
Browse the Catalog
For information about a book or download click on the cover. The printed books of writing cost $5-20, and the ebooks less. Although the photography books are more, the .pdf’s are less than $5. The links will take you to either blurb.com or lulu.com, publish-on-demand sites. Currently there are 15 books in the Flynn catalog.
Recent Publications
Writing Blog
A new poem and story every month. http://writing-flynn.blogspot.com/
Stories
“The Woman Covered in Flies”, fiction set in Israel, Aji Magazine.
http://www.ajimagazine.com/uploads/2/2/2/8/22289112/spring2015.pdf
“If Pants Had Brains”, flash fiction, Aphelion.
“http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/flash/2015/05/IfPantsHadBrains.html
“Harry Was Hairy”, flash fiction, Journal of Microliterature. http://www.microliterature.org/harry-hairy-john-flynn#
“The Star Ferry”, story set the first day after the Handover in Hong Kong, Eastlit, http://www.eastlit.com/eastlit-may-2014/eastlit-may-2014-content/star-ferry/
“Haunted Clothes” sci-fi, Bewildering Stories, http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue564/haunted_clothes.html
“He Was Obsessed with His Chair”, flash fiction, Miracle. http://issuu.com/miracleezine/docs/issue8/70
“The Estimator”, fantasy, Aphelion. http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2013/12/TheEstimator.html
“The Sea”, story set in Japan, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore. http://www.qlrs.com/story.asp?id=916
“Serious Monkeys”, story set in India, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore. http://www.qlrs.com/story.asp?id=873
Narrative Essays
“Unquenchable Bucket”, set in Japan, SNReview. http://www.snreview.org/0313Flynn.html
“Two Miscarriages”, Litro. http://www.litro.co.uk/2013/03/two-miscarriages/
Poems
“Pre-Death” appeared in Three and a Half Point 9 (U.S.), 2014. http://threeandahalfpoint9.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/3/5/29359591/3rd_edition_three_and_a_half_point_9.pdf
“Santa Librada” appeared in Everest Magazine (U.S.), 2014. http://www.everest-magazine.com/spring2014.html#page/30
“Woman in a Black Dress”, London Grip, 2014. http://londongrip.co.uk/2014/11/london-grip-new-poetry-winter-20145/#flynn
“Poem Found in an Email to Jennifer,” “Her Hair,” “Jennifer Is Blue Water,” “With You,” The Quill and the Heart, romantic poetry, 2014. http://thequillandtheheart.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page.html
“Furyu: the sadness,” “My friend cuts fugu”, “Very teacher, he said, “ “On Athletics Day,” and “Daikon legs, thick calves”, haiku, appeared in Blognostics, 2014. http://blognostics.net/blognostics-an-innovative-experience-in-literature-poetry-and-art/2014/04/21/haiku-john-flynn
“Hired Man”, poem, London Grip. http://londongrip.co.uk/2014/08/london-grip-new-poetry-autumn-2014/#flynn
“Are Pond Pumps Required to Operate Every Day?”, blog-post, guide. https://pondpumps.guide/do-pond-pumps-need-to-operate-all-the-time/
“This is a piece of tin left outdoors for six decades,” poem, The Lake. http://www.thelakepoetry.co.uk/poetry/david-flynn/
“Two Seasons,” “Cars on a Train” and “The Bottom”, early poems, Miracle.
http://issuu.com/miracleezine/docs/issue_9-tring_?e=5788141/8616723
“After death we are reunited with our parents,” “Our heavenly house,” “Resurrection of the body,” and “They closed the casket,” haiku, Blognostics. http://blognostics.net/blognostics-an-innovative-experience-in-literature-poetry-and-art/2014/04/21/haiku-john-flynn/
“Naked Lovers Biting the Heads Off Ginger Men,” poem, The Lake. http://www.thelakepoetry.co.uk/poetry-archive/may/
“Blur,” poem, London Grip. http://londongrip.co.uk/2013/11/london-grip-new-poetry-winter-2013/#flynn
“A bad stretch of easy street,” poem, Fat City Review. http://fatcityreview.com/a-bad-stretch-of-easy-street-john-flynn
“A friend from my youth,” haiku, Haiku Journal. http://haikujournal.org/issue.php?id=19&issue=19
“Two Seconds,” poem, Abramelin. http://thegiantgilamonsters.com/abramelin/?p=204
“Scrolls”, poem, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore. http://www.qlrs.com/poem.asp?id=961
“Sumo serves my lunch,” haiku, Creatrix. http://creatrix.wapoets.net.au/2012/03/issue-16-haiku/#DavidFlynn
Work in Magazines with No Web Version
“Bound”appeared in The Muse: An International Journal of Poetry (India), 2014.
“The Arctic,” “Objects”, “A Poem with Your Valentine Roses,” and “No one is out there,” appeared in Emanations.
“Kawachi speaking” and “Mr. Midnight City” appeared in Ginyu International Haiku Quarterly.