Matt Leibel is a writer living in San Francisco. His short and very short fictions have appeared in 70+ print and online publications, including Electric Literature, Portland Review, Post Road, Quarterly West, The Normal School, Carolina Quarterly, Wigleaf, and many more. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and his writing has been included multiple times in the Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction anthologies. Matt has more than 25 years of experience as a professional copywriter and editor for a variety of organizations.

Selected Short Fiction

From Strange Instructions, a collection in progress

“How to Buy a Snow Globe” -ette (included in Best Microfiction 2026and featured on pod-ette podcast)

“How to Become an Auctioneer” matchbook (included in Best Microfiction 2025)

“How to Remember Your Dreams” Afterimages: Thirty West Publishing (Best Small Fictions 2026 nominee)

“How to Skip a Rock Across the Pacific” Literary Namjooning (Pushcart Prize nominee)

“How to Go Through the Drive-Thru Car Wash Without Your Car” Burningword

“How to Find Real Love on a Fake TV Show” Hunger Mountain

“How to Get to First Base”The Museum of Americana

"How to Travel to a Parallel Universe” JAKE

“How to Build a Sandcastle” Does It Have Pockets? (Best Small Fictions 2026 nominee)

"How to Get Unstuck” Does It Have Pockets?

“How to Grow a Beard” Miracle Monocle

“How to Tie a Necktie” Miracle Monocle

“How to Survive in a World Without Hats” Miracle Monocle

“How to Get Elected Mayor with a Hamburger for a Head” Defenestration

Longer Short Stories

"Town” LEAN

“Crushed” Post Road

“Martha” Short Story, Long

“The Food Taster” The Normal School

“The Patterns” Socrates on the Beach (Pushcart Prize nominee)

Very Short Stories

“Infinite Rodeo” The Bulb Region

"Matinee” Vestal Review

"The Wedding Photographer Photographer” Aquifer: The Florida Review Online (included in Best Small Fictions 2024)

“The Man with a Stop Sign Sticking Out of His Head” Gone Lawn

“My Personal Brand” X-RAY (Included in Best Small Fictions 2020)

Micro Stories

“Garage Sale” and “The Fakes” Gooseberry Pie

“Five Love Stories” Electric Literature

"Six Micros from the Future” Heavy Feather Review

"Five Microfictions” Juked

“Four Micros” Wigleaf

“The Museum of Numbers” Negative Capability Press (100 word story contest, 3rd place winner)

Interviews and Articles

pod-ette podcast: I discuss my story “How to Buy a Snow Globe”

A short interview about my story “Martha” (trial subscription required)

An interview with The Write Stuff

Book review: The Last Book I Loved, Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky, The Rumpus