ShortCon

The Premier Conference for
Writers of Short Crime Fiction

Alexandria, Virginia
Saturday, June 6, 2026

Join acclaimed crime fiction professionals for an immersive, one-day event and learn how to write short crime fiction, get your stories published, and develop and sustain a long-term career writing short.

Gary Phillips edited or co-edited several anthologies, including the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, Orange County Noir, and Jukes & Tonks: Crime Fiction Inspired by Music in the Dark and Suspect Choices with Michael Bracken. Culprits: The Heist Was Just the Beginning, a linked anthology he conceived with Richard Brewer, was made into the much-different limited series Culprits on Hulu. He’s also written novels, short stories, comic books, and worked in TV. His story “The Blacklight Gizmo Matter” was included in the 2025 edition of The Best American Mystery and Suspense.

Art Taylor (www.arttaylorwriter.com) is the Edgar Award-winning author of two collections: The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions (2023) and The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 and Other Tales of Suspense (2020). His debut book, On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories (2015), won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. His short fiction has also won the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Macavity Awards, and he was the 2025 recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement. He is a professor of English at George Mason University.

Over the past fifty years Michele Slung, whose career began in three different historic bookstores, has reviewed for, among others, both The New York Times and The Washington Post, bringing out at the same time, more than a dozen books of her own. For over four decades, she’s worked with Otto Penzler, since its inception in 1997 concentrating on the annual “Best Mystery Stories” series he oversees.

Michael Bracken (www.crimefictionwriter.com), host of ShortCon 2026, in an Edgar Award-nominated, Shamus Award-nominated, three-time Derringer Award-winning author of more than 1,300 short stories—including crime fiction published in The Best American Mystery Stories and The Best Mystery Stories of the Year. He is also the editor or co-editor of three-dozen anthologies, the editor of Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and an associate editor of Black Cat Weekly.

Stacy Woodson (www.stacywoodson.com) is the co-editor of three anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated Scattered, Smothered, Covered, and Chunked. A Macavity Award-nominated, Thriller Award-nominated, and two-time Derringer Award-winning of almost 40 short stories, her work has appeared in various publications including The Best Mystery Stories of the Year. She made her crime fiction debut in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s Department of First Stories and won the 2018 Readers Award—the second time in the award’s history that a debut has taken first place. Her work has also been adapted for animation.

In addition to presentations, ShortCon provides short-fiction writers with networking opportunities essential to establishing long-term writing careers.

Elaine’s Restaurant will provide breakfast, lunch, and coffee service for attendees, and these meals are included with the registration fee. Dinner is not included.

We have reserved a room block at the nearby Westin Alexandria Old Town
400 Courthouse Square Alexandria, Virginia, USA, 22314-5700
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Hotel Registration Coming Soon

Venue:
Elaine’s Restaurant
208 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314