Issue 23
Number 23 features a wide range of talents and styles, including fiction by Mark Hitz, Jared Hason, Noah Davis, Kristen Arnett, Ross Feeler, Whitney Collins, Sam Berman, Leyna Krow, and Jackie Thomas-Kennedy. The new issue also includes creative non-fiction by John Paul Larson, as well as poetry by Christine Byrne, Amanda Chiado, Dante Di Stefano, and Hisham Bustani.
Fiction
Nobody wants to see a Ford when they’re looking for a Brontosaurus.
Every night, something new awaited me. I was impressed by the variety of situations she conjured.
He wants to pass along that momentary faith, performing a miracle all his own.
We found the candles one of us had been saving for romance. We lit them.
Clyde remembers making snow angels.
Billie turned in her seat and watched the house through the back windshield: nobody stood at the door. The air was clear and cold and empty.
After two hours in the sand, delirium took over.
She has a gun. It’s upstairs, in a velvet case.
Poetry
The big dipper, a ladle where I rest my hunger.
I wanted to see if you would follow me
Non-fiction
Ivan writes to me that in the solitude of the monastery, one can find a peace akin to a great slab of marble.
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I’m just fascinated by that world. The different way of making art, as opposed to sitting and writing as you and I do. We’re not there when people read it. But with live music, every night is the final product and you’re always making it anew.
Whenever I work on a project, I want to watch how queerness moves through the world. Since I’m queer, everything I make is queer. Every place I go. Like, I was talking to a friend the other day, and I said every bar is a gay bar if I’m in it.
You are not just a productive machine. You are not just defined by labor or output. You’re allowed to nourish yourself with companionship, and inspiration, and reading.
Looking back matters. We should recognize what is of value in tradition, or what our contemporary culture doesn’t pay attention to. But we need to also recognize the truth of the past, which, well, for a long stretch of this country’s history, it didn’t make enough room for folks.
We second guess ourselves so much during writing. We'll stop, read, edit, overthink… I think by starting with something wild, we can get rid of some of the overthinking.
