William E. Burleson

Burleson is the author of two books of fiction. Ahnwee Days (2025 Blackwater Press) is a novel about a small town that has seen better days and the mayor who tries to save it. Rory’s Not That Guy: And Other Tales from Middle America (coming April 1, 2026, from Blackwater Press) is a short story collection that takes the reader on a tour of “flyover country,” from struggling small towns to honky-tonks to the parts of cities that don’t make it onto postcards.

Speaking of short stories, his award-winning short stories have appeared in over two dozen literary journals and anthologies to date, including The Prague Review, The New Guard, and American Fiction 14 and 16.

In non-fiction, Burleson is the author of Bi America: Myths, Truths, and Struggles of an Invisible Community (2005 Haworth Press), which takes the reader inside a community that is both huge and usually ignored. Burleson has also been published extensively in places such as the Hennepin History Magazine, and the Star Tribune, and numerous other publications.

Lastly, he is the founding editor for Flexible Press, LLC, Minneapolis, publisher of a wide range of award-winning literary fiction. He lives in Minneapolis, a stone's throw from the Mississippi River.