books
Earthquake Weather, Indirect Books, forthcoming
"At the heart of Hormel’s collection, readers will find a deep investigation of the human connection that powers domestic life. In a striking reflection of reality, Earthquake Weather’s characters meditate on the mundane, examine their own interiority without judgment, and often take the unexpected route—especially where community, love, and family life are at stake. The women in these stories are anything but simple—with sharp wit and fearless honesty, Hormel uncovers for us the vast and intricate emotional landscapes that both differentiate and unite the characters across their pages. Earthquake Weather takes stock of the human strengths and fragilities at play both in daily life and over time, asks as many questions as it answers, and above all, delivers an honest portrayal of the human psyche—all punctuated by the city that binds these characters together."
—Alexandra Romero
prose
"Earthquake Weather," Foglifter, forthcoming
"Aftershock," Pithead Chapel
*Best Microfiction 2026
"Whales Have Funerals Too," Gooseberry Pie
"Tiger House," SmokeLong Quarterly
"Our Long-Distance Trick," Tiny Love Story, The New York Times
"Sour Heat," Passages North
"Coal Miner's Daughter," Hobart Pulp
awards & honors
Shortlisted, "Earthquake Weather," Abode Press 2026
Best Microfiction 2026
Vermont Studio Center Resident 2025
"Smoke & Mirrors with Ella Hormel" (interview by Melissa Llanes Brownlee), SmokeLong Quarterly 2023
Harvey Swados Fiction Prize 2023
"These short stories consider the concrete—lemons, pigeons, hearing aids—to get at something larger and looser and more abstract: the passage of time, the density and devotion of human feeling, a family’s dissolution, a mother’s distance. I admire the stories’ directness of language, compressed form, and dramatization of subtle and lasting discoveries. From 'Hearing Aids': 'She could hear her thoughts clearly. She was surprised by how uncomplicated they were without the distraction of noise.' These stories struck me like that. They live simply and profoundly on the page." —Corinna Vallianatos
Wellstone Center Emerging Writer in Residence 2020
California College of the Arts Writing & Literature Award 2019