Biography

My name is Denise Tolan.
I am a writer who believes what Virginia Woolf says is true: "On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points."
​
I am a pointer.
I love love love the novel Moby-Dick.
​
I love teaching English.
​
I also write both fiction and non-fiction. Check out some of my publications.

News and Stuff
Have a new piece out in Barren Magazine called "The History of Tedium."
My newest work in Crack the Spine is called
Upcoming Pieces:
-
Flock Fall/Winter 2020
-
Penn Review Spring 2021
-
Sonora Review Fall 2020
​
​
My piece, "A Very Short History of Abuse," published in this anthology, was recently nominated for Best Short Fictions 2020!
Order a copy here!
​
Denise's non fiction piece at Bodega , "Things That go Boom," was a finalist for the 2019 Penelope Niven International Literary Award
Click the Bodega link to read!!
Denise was a finalist for the Diane Woods Memorial nonfiction prize.
Read "Betrayed by Blood" in Lunch Ticket
Denise's piece in Lunch Ticket's Amuse-Bouche Spotlight, Because You are Dead, was selected for inclusion in 2018's Best Small Fictions.
Order 2018's Best Small Fictions.
​
Story up at Queen Mob's Tea House. Enjoy!!
Publications and Awards
Fiction
​
Non-Fiction
-
"Divisible by Two." Quirk Magazine (print only)
-
"God Dumps Doug." Reed Magazine (print only)
-
"Saying Goodbye to an Atheist." The Great American Literary Magazine (Nominated for the Best of the Web 2015)
-
"Six o'Clock Mass." Empty Sink Publishing
-
"Something Like a Man." Apple Valley Review
-
"Mutually Miscible." Sleet Magazine
-
"Finding the Pieces." Saturday Evening Post
Available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBNDY19
-
"Because You Are Dead." Lunch Ticket
Also available at Amazon in Best Small Fictions 2018
​
-
"The Terms of Archaeology " West Texas Literary Review
​
-
"Obligations to the Lost" Still Point Arts
​
-
"Thank a Bad Girl" Storyscape Journal
​​
-
"Let's Call Him Pepe" The Raven's Perch
​
-
"We Probably had Sex in Your Yard" The Airgonaut
​
-
"How Would You Grieve Me?" Queen Mob's Tea House
​
-
"A History of Tedium" Barren Magazine​
​
-
"Mercury Rising" Crack the Spine
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
-
"Snake Light" The Tishman Review
-
"Never Two Without the Three" Gravel
​
-
"Divisible By Thirteen" Mojave River Review
​
-
"Making Visible the Invisible" (Academic)
-
"Interview with Kat Meads" Southern Lit Review
​​
-
"Betrayed by Blood" Lunch Ticket
​
-
"Malocchio" Santa Ana River Review
​​
-
"Things That Go Boom" Bodega Magazine
​
-
"A Very Short History of Abuse" Great Weather for Media
Available on Amazon
​
-
"The Underside of Normal" Fugue
Awards
​​
-
2019 Finalist Palooka Press
-
Nominated for Best Small Fictions 2020 by Great Weather For Media
-
2019 Finalist Arts for the People Chapbook Contest
-
2019 Longlist Ink Tears Short Story Contest
-
2019 International Literary Awards, Penelope Niven Prize in Nonfiction: finalist
-
2019 Gambling the Aisle Chapbook Prize: finalist
-
2018 Diane Woods Memorial Award: finalist, non fiction
-
2018 The Best Small Fictions, Lunch Ticket: winner
-
2018 International Literary Awards, Penelope Niven Prize in Nonfiction: finalist
-
2018 Forge Fellowship: finalist
-
2017 Wigleaf’s Top 50, Apple Valley Review, long-listed
-
2017 River Styx Schlafly Beer Micro-Brew Micro-Fiction contest: semi Finalist
-
2017 Saturday Evening Post Fiction Contest: finalist
-
2016 Texas Observer Short Story contest: honorable mention
-
2016 SunStruck Magazine Creative nonfiction writing contest: winner
-
2015 Best of the Net, The Great American Lit Mag: nominee
-
2013 Glimmer Train’s Award for New Writers: honorable mention
-
2012 Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Award: finalist