Natalie Harris-Spencer

I have some bonkers (or more aptly, conkers) news: I won the Chestnut Review Stubborn Writers Contest! I am so thrilled, bewildered, and grateful to the Chestnut Review readers, judges, and my fellow participants. The old adage is true: winning isn’t everything. But it is humbling. And validating. And all those other spectacular feelings that […]

Since graduating from my MFA in Creative Writing, I’ve been seeking connection. Community. Yes, I have my regular text cheer squad, my weekly writing group, and my Zoom writing pals. I love these people dearly. They are phenomenal writers. But nothing quite beats the sense of community that you get from immersing yourself with other

I’m usually the one doing the interviewing, so it was lovely to be the one being interviewed for Real Writer purposes for Oyster River Pages in their latest contributor showcase, where my short story, Fish Out of Water, was selected under their Emerging Voices in Fiction category. Honestly, I did this interview about a year

My wonderful alma mater Stonecoast, USM, runs a student-led bi-weekly reading series called the Stone House Readers’ Series, livestreamed to audiences on Facebook and YouTube. This neat initiative provides faculty, current, and former students, and friends of Stonecoast with a platform to read and share their work. Here I am, in the prodigious company of

I’m shocked, honored, astounded, and frankly a little baffled to announce that I am the winner of the 2021 Hummingbird Flash Fiction Prize. Anyone who knows my work knows that I write twisty, troubling tales of surprise, usually involving immigrants doing unexpected things in strange settings, fish women, food, ghosts, satire, and other horrible weirdness.

Two years ago, I started my MFA program in Creative Writing at Stonecoast, University of Southern Maine. I entered the program with the goal of finishing my first novel. I remember feeling terrified that I was too old to be a student again. What if it was all recent undergrads? What if I was too

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that my creative work has been published again! My short story, Oubliette, an investigation into identity and integration set in a French chateau, will appear in Issue 14 of the Stonecoast Review. This one’s especially nice, as the Stonecoast Review is judged blind. So even though I’m a student in