Bio
Sophia Veltfort is a fiction writer, essayist, and scholar. Her short fiction has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Writer’s Digest online (first place, Annual Writing Competition), the Santa Monica Review, Narrative online (30 Below Contest finalist), Chicago Tribune online (Nelson Algren finalist), Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. Her nonfiction has appeared in Harvard Review and been selected as a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays. She is currently completing her first novel and story collection. Her novel follows a woman’s search for her father, an anonymous sperm donor. Her story collection considers competing narratives that structure people’s lives—instances of reading and misreading, negotiating stories, and moments when such fictions come into conflict. Her scholarly research focuses on representations of speech and thought in twentieth-century fiction.
Selected Publications
- “Movie Stubs.” Forthcoming in The Normal School.
- “Queen of the Dryads.” Prairie Schooner 95 No. 3. 2022.
- “How Easy It Is To Leave.” Pigeon Pages. March 27, 2022.
- “Schism, 1995.” Writer’s Digest online. First place in the Literary / Mainstream Short Story Category of the 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. November 4, 2020.
- “Ex-Lover.” Santa Monica Review 32 No. 2. 2020.
- “Generalized Barotrauma on a Fifteenth Birthday.” Narrative online (Story of the Week). 30 Below Contest Finalist. 30 Below 30 List. February 28, 2020.
- “Gingersnaps.” Meridian 44. Pushcart Prize nominee. 2020.
- “Plus One.” Quiddity 11.2. December 1, 2018.
- “Olivia.” Chicago Tribune online. Nelson Algren Award finalist. June 2, 2018.
- “Bishop Street.” Post Road 33. First Place in Flash Fiction Contest. 2017.
- “Clown College.” Hobart. September 8, 2017.
- “Pigeons.” Saturday Evening Post online. May 12, 2017.
- “Taking Things.” Alaska Quarterly Review 33 No. 3 & 4. 2017.
- “Missing.” The Harvard Review 42. Finalist in the Norman Mailer College Writing Awards. Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2013. 2012.
Teaching
- Beginning Fiction Workshop: Metamorphoses
- Technical Seminar in Fiction: Who Sees and Who Speaks?