Spring 2023
Issue 28
Issue 28 explores the politics of domesticity, the confusion of desire, and dreams of mysterious strangers, flying over borders, and living under a seat in an abandoned movie theater like a desperate, hunched troll. All that, plus tropical maladies, suicidal impulses, sexual obsession, decaying memories, stolen trucks, honking cars, creepy houses, electric crickets, humiliation, and writers who die too young. It’s a vulnerable issue — truthful and deluded.
Featuring new short fiction, poetry, CNF, translations, and art from Cástulo Aceves (translated by Michael Langdon), Victoria Ballesteros, Nikki Barnhart, Sophie Bebeau, Israel Bonilla, Ellis Elliott, Vilde Fastvold (translated by Wendy H. Gabrielsen), Bo Huston, J.G. Jesman, Marream Krollos, Edward Lee, Marina Mariasch (translated by Ellen Jones), Blue Neustifter, Evan Nicholls, Dale Peck, Matthew Roberson, Evan Williams, and David Wojciechowski.
Excerpt from Marriage
Marina Mariasch
Translated by Ellen Jones
“In relationships, everything that matters is hidden and should remain so for the benefit of all major stakeholders. Dirty laundry is a research tool that allows us to penetrate the deepest folds of the conjugal fabric.”
Torch Song of Myself
Dale Peck
“The first man I was sexually attracted to was Luke Skywalker. The first man I loved shot one of his johns when he was fifteen. The first man I had sex with was my best friend in college.”
As Beautiful As It Is
Evan Williams
“I allow that you may carry me upon your back while it is that we walk. I will hold equally onto everything in my life and in yours.”
Excerpt from Fishflies: the Men of the Riverhouse
Marream Krollos
“I waited for Otis to knock on the door of 716, I knew I would recognize the knock. I stared at the door as if … my heart, my stomach, my limbs were bats sending sonar out the door, into the Riverhouse.”
every woman is a perfect gorgeous angel and every man is just some guy
Sophie Bebeau
“every woman is a fossiled fern limestone impression
made of threads that backstitch the first moon
and this moon together”
The Chinkhoswe
J.G. Jesman
“Chitsanzo, whose name means “example,” is very pleased with his outfit for the wedding. He has no idea who is getting married, but the local saying is that, Ants don’t need an invitation to enjoy sugar.”
Big Tragedies, Little Tragedies
David Wojciechowski
“The candlemaker has a secret. He walks it through the darkness. He places it on the ground. Runs away from it.”
Listen to This
David Wojciechowski
Not the sound of a real cricket, but an electric one. That’s what I’m hearing. The stone against stone.
Agónico Marcial 1960 – 1994
Israel Bonilla
“Agónico’s childhood belongs to myth, and it is now irretrievable. We know with confidence that he was born in Visalia. All other information has been gleaned from his letters to Segura.”
Excerpt from Fieldwork
Vilde Fastvold
Translated by Wendy H. Gabrielsen
“In the institute corridors, people whisper that having sex in the field is something everyone does, but no one talks about. I haven’t asked anyone if it’s true because I’d rather console myself with the thought that fieldwork is messy and can’t be pinned down by ethical absolutes.”
A Sudden Set of Stairs
Evan Nicholls
“Nobody asked for it, but there it is. In the way of honking cars and bighorn sheep and clementine oranges. People yelling for it to get out of the way, and watch out.”
Buy the Buoy
Evan Nicholls
“‘Buy the buoy,’ said the salesman.
‘No,’ said the person back.”
Reflections in a Window
Cástulo Aceves
Translated by Michael Langdon
“Two men appear at the door of the airport. The first of them is the client; the second, much older, an investigator. They feel the cold air of the country they are visiting, on a continent where they are foreigners.”
The Waiting Dreamer
Blue Neustifter
“There were only two constants to the dreams: her and him. No matter where she was, no matter how lush or barren the landscape, he was there.”
It Being Fall
Matthew Roberson
“Out and out again into the car. He’s not driving. Not. He turns for the seat belt and reaches and then lets the woman lean over and take hold and pull it to close with a click. She’s driving, the woman.”
Hyde Lake, Memphis
Ellis Elliott
“I want to tell you about the flock
of starlings, pinpricks like pixels,
shifting direction against the grid”
Plans for a Project
Bo Huston
“What follows are transcripts of interviews made sometime in the summer and autumn of 1983. I was so much younger then. I was sad, lonely, optimistic, radical (but a little too cautious to be radical). I took all the drugs that came my way, fucked with all the men who came my way … laughed a lot, but that was becoming a struggle.”
A Different Recollection Than Yours
Edward Lee
Edward Lee’s poetry, short stories, non-fiction and photography have been published in magazines in Ireland, England, and America