Josje Weusten

I am an international fiction author, writing in English, living in Belgium. Next to a writer, I am a senior lecturer and academic. I hold a ​PhD in literary studies and am an alumna of Faber Academy ​London. I teach literature, poetry, and creative writing ​at Maastricht University, the most international university in ​the Netherlands.

My work ​has been nominated for Best Small Fictions (2024 edition) awarded by ​Altcurrent Press in the category micro-fiction.

My short stories have appeared in Litbreak ​Magazine (NY), Flash Fiction Magazine (NY), and Low Hanging Fruit (California). I am a regular essayist for The Independent Publishing Magazine and the founder and editor of Telling Stories Magazine

My debut novel Fake Fish, published by Sparsile ​Books LTD (UK, Glasgow), is a high-paced, cinematic dystopian story unravelling the chilling impact of deep fakes on personal lives and nations. Think Atwood meets Tarantino.

I love stories, which are both character- and event-driven, which are fast-paced yet imbued with poetic rhythms and sounds.

Most of all, I love ambiguous stories, open to interpretation, inviting us to consider multiple perspectives; never settling down on one meaning. Striving for this in my own writing, I take to heart Oscar Wilde’s words that 'A truth in art is that whose ​contradictory is also true.’

I am currently working on my next novel and a composition collection of short stories.