Tag Archives: Jim Courter

JIM COURTER: Clueless

Amusing, Submissions, ,

“I have reason to believe my wife has a sleep disorder but is keeping it from me so I won’t worry.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The other day I happened to overhear her on the phone, lamenting to a friend that every morning she wakes up with a jerk.”

Jim Courter’s short stories have appeared in the United States, Canada, and England. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has won an Illinois Arts Council award for short fiction. His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His mystery novel, Rhymes with Fool, was published in 2018 by Peasantry Press. First Things First: Ephemera and Offscourings of a Distracted Writer, a collection of essays, humor, and short stories, was published in 2019.

JIM COURTER: The Test

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Hands folded, he approaches the Master and bows respectfully.

“Are you ready?” the Master says.

“I am.”

“Well then, what is the sound of one hand clapping?”

He blinks slowly, smiles, then says, “I have no idea.”

The Master arches one eyebrow, strokes his long goatee, and says, “Very good.”

Jim Courter’s short stories have appeared in the United States, Canada, and England. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has won an Illinois Arts Council award for short fiction. His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His mystery novel, Rhymes with Fool, was published in 2018 by Peasantry Press. First Things First: Ephemera and Offscourings of a Distracted Writer, a collection of essays, humor, and short stories, was published in 2019.

JIM COURTER: Under a Starry Sky

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

In their backyard on a starry night in August, watching for meteors, she says, “It blows my mind to think the universe is expanding.”

“Mm,” he says.

“Do you not find that amazing?”

“I might when I get an answer to a certain question.”

“And that is?”

“Expanding into what?”

Jim Courter’s short stories have appeared in the United States, Canada, and England. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has won an Illinois Arts Council award for short fiction. His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His mystery novel, Rhymes with Fool, was published in 2018 by Peasantry Press. First Things First: Ephemera and Offscourings of a Distracted Writer, a collection of essays, humor, and short stories, was published in 2019.

JIM COURTER: Flush

Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, , ,

Lou came flush to the game, with a wad of twenties, fifties, and hundreds. After winning that first hand, with a flush, he felt flush with victory. By midnight—broke, embarrassed—he knew he’d been taken.

He went to the bathroom. Finished, he thought, I’ll show them. He didn’t flush.

Jim Courter’s short stories have appeared in the United States, Canada, and England. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee and has won an Illinois Arts Council award for short fiction. His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His mystery novel, Rhymes with Fool, was published in 2018 by Peasantry Press. First Things First: Ephemera and Offscourings of a Distracted Writer, a collection of essays, humor, and short stories, was published in 2019.