Fiction
The Carney
Franklin Klavon
Scott suddenly remembered all the good advice he’d been given in his life, particularly by his own mother, forewarning of the dangers of picking up hitchhikers.
Nonfiction
Athertonians
Jason Warshof
Jesse had a laugh so consuming that it caused his entire body to quake, often upsetting his balance as he stood there with his cane on the sidewalk, or even in the middle of Atherton Street when traffic was light.
Poetry
Birth Day
Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
She’s illusion Some say She’s creation /
plays with imagination Then rips /
the magic carpet away
Review
Her Body and Other Parties
A review of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties
A reader can take from these stories and their discussions of bodies many lessons, meanings, and interpretations, but they all ultimately return to one central truth: having a body is horrifying.
Fiction
Unknocked
Chris Daley
The more excluded she was from the conversation, the more she felt like the tequila congealed in her throat.
Interview
Riddles, Etc.
A Conversation with Geoffrey Hilsabeck
The first line of “Remaking the Music Box” was said to me in a dream by the painter Franz Kline. The sixth line was something my daughter said one day when we were coloring. Are these moments then not me, not mine?
Nonfiction
It Started with a Centerfold
Cindy Bradley
Kathy sought out new experiences and people with unrivaled exuberance. She collected new friends, stray animals the way I collected favorite books and authors.
Review
The Book of Resting Places
A review of Thomas Mira Y Lopez
Thomas Mira y Lopez uses his grief over his father’s death to ponder the various approaches humans have taken when burying or otherwise memorializing the dead.
Review
In the Distance
A Review of Hernan Diaz’s In the Distance
At its core, In the Distance speaks to the isolation felt by many who, through immigration, are forced to confront the vast and foreign landscape of the United States.
Feature
The Thin Black Taste of Summer
Feature Nonfiction by Isidra Mencos
It felt good to have a secret, to be noticed after always feeling lost within the blurry abundance of ten siblings.
Feature
A Tyranny of Bounty
Feature Poetry by Catharine Lucas
What part of me is so afraid /
it would be wasteful /
To leave some for the birds?
Feature
Net_Work
Feature Fiction by Richard Thomson
[+] New message from Greg!
Greg: Helloooo I know you’re online because Gmail
Greg: Please don’t ghost me again
Feature
The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded
McCully Brown
What McCully Brown’s work in empathy amounts to is nothing short of wild and exquisite….
Letter from the Editors
Dear Reader,
a letter from the Editors, Callie Wofford & Marilyse V. Figueroa
2017 may be ending, but the many events that took place will continue to influence the new year. New writing is what encourages us in aftermaths such as these.